SFMC Email Specialist is an entry level certification for Salesforce Marketing Cloud and is a prerequisite for other marketing cloud certifications like consultant, admin or developer.

Exam Details:

  • No of questions: 60 – MCQ with 1 or more correct answers
  • Time allowed : 90 minuets
  • Passing score: 65%
  • Registration fee: USD 200

Exam Guide: trailhead.salesforce.com

This exam test one’s knowledge around Email studio and how to optimise it to get best possible performance with least amount of effort.

As per studies email is still the most relevant form of commercial and transactional communication with your users hence knowing SFMC email capabilities is a must for anyone aspiring a career in the field of marketing automation. 

Exam Topics

  • Data storage – Lists vs Data Extensions
  • Concept of subscribers, profile center and subscription centers
  • Content builder including migration from classic ui.
  • Email design optimization including CAN-SPAM guidelines.
  • Send Classifications – Send & Delivery profile.
  • Automation studio
  • Journey builder
  • Contact builder
  • Audience builder

By initial looks these topics might look overwhelming but they are quite simple and straightforward. Any person who receives and sends mail can easily understand these basic principles. 

I was fortunate to attend a 5 day instructor led training on the above topics which allowed me access to a sandbox where I can go in and do hands on. This helped me a lot in understanding the implementing these concepts. However that was way back in March second week and due to work I couldn’t attempt the certification. By the time I planned my certification the training details were not enough as I forgot most of the stuff without practice.

Basically I started from 0 when I started the preparation for the exam and used Trailhead and help.salesforce.com to read through all these concepts. You can use the following trailmixes for the preparation. They cover almost everything you need to attempt this exam.

Trailmixes

  1. https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/users/gajendra/trailmixes/marketing-cloud-email-specialist-for-partners
  2. https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/content-builder-basics
  3. https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/content/learn/trails/advance-your-marketing-strategy
  4. https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/content/learn/trails/learn-marketing-best-practices
  5. trailhead.salesforce.com
  6. help.salesforce.com

Additionally you can look through the videos hosted on Youtube by Marketing Cloud Mojo : youtube.com and few more.

These should be good enough for you to clear the exam. Please look for some mock tests online and attempt them to get more confidence. 

PS: Try to get access to marketing cloud account (If your a partner or client) or sandbox(Partners might get) as its very important to get familiar with the screens and flows to understand the concept easily. Trailhead do have simulators which can help you but doing hands on is always helpful. 

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Author: Raman Aggarwal is a Digital Transformation Expert and an AEM Practice Lead. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.

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