Career Development Archives - The Spot

Introducing the 2024 Salesforce Marketing Champions: Sercante Edition

Erin Duncan — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 20:04:04 +0000

Congratulations to the 2024 Salesforce Marketing Champions! We are honored and excited that some of our own Sercante dragons were selected as part of this prestigious group. Let’s get to know our new Marketing Champions.

What is a Marketing Champion?

Before we meet our new Champions, what exactly is a Salesforce Marketing Champion? Marketing Champions are nominated by the Trailblazer community for their expertise in the marketing industry, their wealth of knowledge with Marketing Cloud, and for actively helping other members of the Trailblazer Community grow and thrive.

We also want to send a BIG congratulations to the entire Salesforce Marketing Champion class of 2024! See the complete list here.

Meet our new Marketing Champions

Aaron Stayman

The Spot Author page
Linkedin
Location: New York, NY
Why are you excited about joining the Marketing Champions Program?
- I am honored and excited to join my peers in this year’s class, and I am eager to learn from the expertise of others. I hope that my presence shines a spotlight on the incredible capabilities of Marketing Cloud Intelligence as a tool for marketers looking to utilize data for decision making.
Favorite Salesforce Tool:
- Marketing Cloud Intelligence (f.k.a. Datorama), it’s how I entered the Salesforce ecosystem and still the tool I love to dive into in new and exciting ways every day.
Something Fun:
- I am a board game fanatic-my favorite games are Star Realms, Splendor, Business Walrus, and Monikers (depending on the crowd). When I want a lively evening out, I enjoy concerts and Broadway shows (Guternberg! The Musical! is a somewhat recent favorite).

Ambre Juryea-Amole

The Spot Author page
Linkedin
Location: Reading, PA
Why are you excited about joining the Marketing Champions Program?
- Content is in everything marketers touch. I’m excited meet other content marketers through the program and create a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to the marketing tools we use.
Favorite Salesforce Tool:
- Engagement Studio Programs (Account Engagement/Pardot) – I love all the creative use cases beyond standard prospect nurtures. At the same time, it’s got that user-friendly aspect that makes it easy to turn nurture strategies into Engagement Studio Programs.
Something Fun:
- My happy place is skanking in circle pits at ska and punk shows. A couple of my faves in 2024 were Voodoo Glow Skulls, Folly, The Interrupters, NOFX, The Bouncing Souls, Lagwagon, Catbite, and We Are the Union.

Cara Clanton Pope

The Spot Author page
Linkedin
Location: Atlanta, GA
Why are you excited about joining the Marketing Champions Program?
- I have been following and learning from my fellow Marketing Champions for years. When I first got started in the ecosystem I remember reading their blogs, being amazed by their knowledge, and just wanting to be part of this esteemed group. I am excited to continue to learn but to also give back to the community. I hope to continue to bring analytics and reporting for marketers to the forefront.
Favorite Salesforce Tool:
- I am a CRM Analytics/ B2B Marketing Analytics girly all the way . I love being able to help customers analyze their marketing efforts. This sounds dorky, but genuinely being able to make a really awesome dashboard that shows how hard the marketing team has been working legitimately makes me excited.
Something Fun:
- I sang in an a cappella group in Atlanta for 10 years! Even though I am retired now, they are still some of my closest friends! I even sang for President Barack Obama in college!

Heather Rinke

The Spot Author page
Linkedin
Location: Peterborough, Ontario
Why are you excited about joining the Marketing Champions Program?
- I have learned from and admired this group of awesome people for a long time. Not just their knowledge, but their willingness to help support others in the community. I’m thrilled to join this group, to continue to learn, and also to give back and pay it forward to help others learn.
Favorite Salesforce Tool:
- Salesforce Flow! I’ve been a #flownatic for years and love to build cool solutions for marketing teams. I have been so excited about how this tool has evolved and enjoy digging in and trying out what’s possible.
Something Fun:
- I took up pottery a few years ago and it’s become my favourite way to get away from the computer, chill out, and get my hands dirty.

Theron Troxel

The Spot Author page
Linkedin
Location: Adams, Nebraska
Why are you excited about joining the Marketing Champions Program?
- I’m excited about joining the Marketing Champions Program because it offers an incredible opportunity to network with and learn from some of the best minds in the Salesforce marketing ecosystem.
Favorite Salesforce Tool:
- There are so many, but I find myself using Sercante’s HTML to Email Text Converter daily.
Something Fun:
- I’m a huge fan of arcade and pinball machine restoration. You can find me elbow-deep in wiring, schematics, and bringing vintage games back to life!

Repeat Sercante Marketing Champions

We’re super proud of our new Marketing Champions. But let’s all take a moment to recognize members of the Sercante team who were named Marketing Champions in the past (once you’re in, you’re in for good) and are already seasoned pros when it comes to championing marketing for Salesforce.

Connect with the Salesforce Marketing Champion Community

One of the qualities of a Salesforce Marketing Champion is that they put themselves out there to be helpful to the greater Salesforce community. Champions frequently write blog posts, speak at Salesforce events, lead user groups, answer questions in Slack and trailblazer communities, etc. Consider this your invitation to connect with Marketing Champions!

Follow Marketing Champions on Twitter and Linkedin with #MarketingChampions
Connect with Champions in the Trailblazer Community or in Slack in the Pardashians Community
Check for Trailblazer Community Groups in your area
Attend a Community Conference or World Tour event

Learn from Marketing Champions during MarDreamin 2024

Original article: Introducing the 2024 Salesforce Marketing Champions: Sercante Edition

The post Introducing the 2024 Salesforce Marketing Champions: Sercante Edition appeared first on The Spot.

Empowering Users to Overcome Disabilities and Learn Salesforce

Cara Weese — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 20:14:55 +0000

Learning how to use and customize Salesforce can be a rewarding experience, but it can also present unique challenges for individuals with disabilities. Whether it’s navigating the interface, processing complex data, or communicating effectively with colleagues, users with disabilities may encounter barriers that hinder their learning journey.

It’s a topic that’s near and dear to my heart, and I had the pleasure of presenting a session on this topic at WITNess Success, a Salesforce community conference.

In this blog, we’ll explore the experiences of individuals who have learned Salesforce while managing disabilities, highlighting their strategies, successes, and the resources available to support them.

Emphasizing the importance of accessible online learning modules to learn Salesforce while overcoming disabilities

The Salesforce community includes inspiring members who have shared insights into the experiences of individuals with disabilities learning Salesforce.

Here’s what they have to offer.

Akasia Parran

Akasia Parran, who has been legally blind for five years, found her path to a Salesforce career through the support of the Blind Institute of Technology and Salesforce’s accessible online learning modules.

Akasia completed her Salesforce Administrator certification in just six months. “I wouldn’t have a career without Salesforce’s continuing efforts to create accessible software,” she shares.

This accomplishment showcases the significant impact of accessible technology on career development (Salesforce) (Trailhead | The fun way to learn).

Thomas Frantz

Thomas Frantz, Senior Manager of Accessibility Partnerships and External Communications at Salesforce, emphasizes the role of inclusive design and community support.

He has been instrumental in promoting accessibility within Salesforce and shares how the company’s efforts have helped him and many others thrive in their careers.

His work continues to foster a culture of inclusion and accessibility within the tech industry (Salesforce).

Leveraging Assistive Technologies

A range of assistive technologies is available to help users with disabilities learn Salesforce.

Screen readers like JAWS and NVDA help visually impaired users navigate the Salesforce interface.
Voice recognition software such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking enables users to input data and commands through speech, which can be particularly beneficial for those with mobility impairments or dyslexia.
Alternative input devices, like adaptive keyboards and mice, provide valuable support, allowing users to interact with Salesforce more comfortably and efficiently.

Seeking Personalized Support

One of the most effective strategies for learning Salesforce with a disability is to seek personalized support.

The Salesforce Trailblazer Community is a fantastic resource where users can connect with others who share similar experiences. Local user groups and accessibility resources provide additional guidance and support. By reaching out to these communities, users can access tailored advice, mentorship, and encouragement.

Embracing Universal Design

Inclusive design practices ensure that Salesforce training materials and resources are accessible to users of all abilities. Organizations should advocate for and implement universal design principles, ensuring their training content is user-friendly and accommodating. This includes providing alternative formats for materials, ensuring compatibility with assistive technologies, and creating an inclusive learning environment.

Building a Supportive Community

Fostering a culture of empathy and support within the Salesforce community is essential for empowering disabled users. Encouraging open dialogue about challenges and sharing strategies for overcoming them helps create a more inclusive and understanding environment. Users should feel empowered to share their experiences, learn from one another, and support each other in their Salesforce journeys.

Learning Salesforce with a disability may present unique challenges, but it is possible to succeed with the right strategies, resources, and community support.

Remember, your unique perspective is a source of strength, and your experiences can inspire and empower others on their learning journeys.

Original article: Empowering Users to Overcome Disabilities and Learn Salesforce

The post Empowering Users to Overcome Disabilities and Learn Salesforce appeared first on The Spot.

How to Pass the Salesforce Business Analyst Certification Exam

Kelly Ryan — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 12:02:48 +0000

Do you have an organized brain, enjoy project managing across multiple stakeholders and departments, love visualizing a process, and want to prove it with a new Salesforce certification? Well, then the Salesforce Business Analyst Certification is the right one for you!

Here is our guide to passing the Salesforce Business Analyst Certification exam. Good luck!

Step 1. Review the Salesforce Business Analyst Exam Guide & Schedule Your Test

Quick reminder that there are no longer any prerequisites for the Business Analyst exam! It is helpful to know or have experience with Salesforce and understand platform functionality and terminology though.

According to the Salesforce Business Analyst exam guide, this certification is “designed for Business Analysts with Salesforce experience. The successful candidate understands business needs, captures requirements, and collaborates with stakeholders to support the development of Salesforce solutions which drive business improvements.”

If you are interested in refreshing your Salesforce skills or earning one of the related certifications first, here are two helpful resources:

A Pocket Guide to Earning the Salesforce Associate Certification – great for beginners!
Salesforce Administrator Certification Exam Tips & Tricks

Salesforce Business Analyst Exam Outline

Customer Discovery: 17%
Collaboration with Stakeholders: 23%
Business Process Mapping: 12%
Requirements: 18%
User Stories: 18%
Development Support and User Acceptance: 12%

The exam guide goes into each objective in more detail and also describes the person who is more likely to succeed with this certification (a.k.a. you!).

Schedule Your Exam

Once you have confirmed that this is the certification for you, schedule your test so we have a deadline to study for. Here is the link to make this the easiest step.

Step 2. Organize Your Study Resources

We already established we have well-organized, to-do list, and process-visualization brains so I’ve gone ahead and done the pre-work (Googling) for you to track down our favorite resources, practice tests, and study guides. Plus we’ve included some key topics to revisit based on our experience earning the Business Analyst certification.

Trailheads & Trailmixes

Blogs

Salesforce Ben – Salesforce Business Analyst Certification Guide & Tips
Focus on Force Salesforce Business Analyst Certification Guide
Automation Champion – How to Pass Salesforce Business Analyst Certification Exam
How to Pass the Salesforce Business Analyst Certification Exam – Two pages (hard-to-miss arrow on the second page at bottom-ish)

Practice Exams & Courses

This is an essential step for the Salesforce Business Analyst certification! You need to get in the head of the Salesforce test writers to best understand the use cases and user stories they are presenting because at first glance, most of the answers are going to appear correct. However, we want to choose the best process, steps, model, team structure, etc. that matches the specifics of the situation outlined.

Cert Prep: Salesforce Business Analyst – free, there are good practice questions within the Trailhead modules (not the questions at the end for checking understanding, but these are helpful too)
Focus on Force Salesforce Business Analyst Certification Practice Quiz and Sample Questions – free
Focus on Force Salesforce Business Analyst Practice Exams – paid course
Salesforce Ben – Practice Exam Pack – paid
Salesforce Certified Business Analyst Exam Actual Questions – free
Salesforce Certified Business Analyst Exam Practice Test – free, flashcards
Udemy – The Complete Salesforce Certified Business Analyst Course – paid

Study Groups

Salesforce certifications are difficult. Lucky for us, there are a ton of welcoming communities that we can reach out to for support.

One of our favorites is co-led by one of our own Sercante team members, the Boston Area Community Group with Jordyn Jaffer. This group hosts annual, virtual certification camps that are run completely by attendees. The attendees work together to present different topics each week to help each other prepare for taking the certification. Jordyn says, “ We are in our fourth year of facilitating these and are tackling the Salesforce Advanced Administrator Certification (for the second time!).” Check out their upcoming camps on their Trailblazer Community page here – Boston Women in Tech.

Topics Worthy of a Second Glance

Know the process chart names and when to best use them based on the use case described. There are specific matches Salesforce will be looking for and there are going to be a lot of lengthy use case and user story questions.
Understand the order of the four phases of the implementation lifecycle.
- Video: Business Analyst: Skilling Up for the Implementation Lifecycle
Understand the differences in processes/workstreams, diagrams, and use cases for each of these project management styles – Agile, Kanban, and Scrum.
- Trailhead: Scrum and Kanban at Salesforce
- Blog: Agile vs. Waterfall: Which to Choose for Your Salesforce Projects
Remember what SIPOC stands for and the process order, not necessarily the detailed steps.
- Trailhead: Speak the Process Mapping Language
The Universal Process Notation (UPN) will come up, so understand the main components of this diagram.
- Trailhead: Understand Universal Process Notation

Step 3. Ready? Pass the Salesforce Business Analyst Certification!

You might never feel ready to take the Business Analyst test – there are endless ways to think about processes and user stories and everything in between. But just like the solutions we are managing and building, there has to be an activation date.

Test-Taking Tips from the Sercante Dragons

Find Keywords
- These phrases in the questions can indicate the answer or what you can eliminate as an answer.
Mark Questions for Review & Read Them Carefully
- Always refer back to the full question during or at the end of the exam when you are starting to second guess yourself, there might be something key you missed when you first read it.
- The correct answers for this exam are going to be very order-dependent so make sure you read them slowly.
Pay Attention to How Questions Answer Each Other
- The use cases being described usually highlight a specific title or department so consider that when choosing the correct answer.
- Think about how they phrased other questions as that might help you focus on the correct answer for a question you were unsure of.
Don’t Overthink Questions that Seem Easy
- There are going to be a lot of questions that sound the same in this exam – don’t get stuck in a second-guessing loop when the answer seems too simple.
Using Synonyms of Words Can Help Answer a Question
- For example, “what is the best diagram for this?” One of the correct answers is “the big picture.”
Have a General Understanding of the Main Salesforce Products
- There will be questions and answers that list actual Salesforce platforms or functionality by name. For example, “your team/client/customer has this problem, which feature/product would help solve this?”

Good luck, you’ve got this!

Share any resources or problem topics in the comments section to help prepare the next group of Salesforce Business Analyst test takers.

Original article: How to Pass the Salesforce Business Analyst Certification Exam

The post How to Pass the Salesforce Business Analyst Certification Exam appeared first on The Spot.

Evolving Your Skills as an Account Engagement Pro

Mike Morris — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 17:06:13 +0000

Marketing Cloud Growth Edition is here and its infrastructure represents a fundamental shift compared to Account Engagement. While Account Engagement is “near core,” Marketing Cloud Growth Edition is built on the Einstein 1 platform and leverages Data Cloud, Flow, and Einstein capabilities. This signals a shift in the skills that marketers will need in the future. But don’t worry, we’ve curated some resources to help you get a head start.

Is Marketing Cloud Account Engagement being retired?

Absolutely not. This question has come up in just about every social post that I’ve seen and has been addressed in detail in the blogs below by Andrea Tarrell and Erin Duncan, so we’re not going to dig too deeply into it here.

The short reason is that Marketing Cloud Growth Edition is a distinct offering geared toward small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). However, innovations and features from this product will make their way into Marketing Cloud Account Engagement, so there will be a need for marketers to evolve their skills.

What are these new skills that you keep mentioning?

After playing with Marketing Cloud Growth Edition a bit, three areas really stood out to me.

Audiences are created using Data Cloud
Assets are built with Experience Cloud
Automations (including email series) are powered by Salesforce Flow

While Data Cloud, Experience Cloud, and Flow might sound a little scary, these represent great opportunities for Account Engagement pros to develop new skills. To make things even easier, Salesforce has provided excellent learning resources for all these topics in Trailhead. Let’s get started!

Data Cloud

Data Cloud is a dream come true for marketers. Imagine having all your customer data from different applications centralized in a single location and available when creating your marketing segments. Imagine no more as that’s exactly what Data Cloud delivers.

Marketers need a general understanding of the tool and key terminology. They will also need to be able to utilize Data Cloud to build segments.

Key Data Cloud Terms

Data Stream: A data source ingested into Data Cloud. Examples include Salesforce CRM and Amazon S3 – and many more.
Data Lake Object (DLO): A storage container for the data ingested into data streams.
Data Model Object (DMO): A Data Cloud object created from data streams, insights, and other sources.
Customer 360 Data Model: Data Cloud’s standard canonical data model. Data ingested into Data Cloud is mapped to DMOs found in the Customer 360 Data Model.
Starter Data Bundles: A Salesforce-defined data stream that includes mapping to the Data Cloud DMO structure.

Here are some of the sources that can be used as data streams in Data Cloud

Recommended Trailhead Modules

Data Cloud for Marketing Basics
Segmentation and Activation
Create a Data Stream in Data Cloud (I highly recommend this module to get hands-on experience with data cloud)

Here’s an example of how a segment focusing on Sales and Marketing titles based in the United States would look in Marketing Cloud Growth Edition.

Experience Cloud

Assets in Marketing Cloud Growth are built using Experience Cloud. The experience feels similar to the Account Engagement Lighting Builders, but the foundation is different and there are some cool upgrades. I’m a big fan of the campaign-based workflow, the ability to publish/unpublish forms, and the ease with which forms can be styled — without the need for CSS.

Marketing Cloud Growth Email Builder

Marketing Cloud Growth Form Builder

At this time, the best way to prepare for the asset-building experience in Marketing Cloud Growth is to get hands-on with the lightning builders in Account Engagement. If you have not yet enabled them in your org, take a moment to do so using this blog as a guide. You can still access and use the classic builder after the lighting builder is activated, so you are not locked into a single builder.

Recommended Trailhead Modules

Set Up a Customer Site with Experience Cloud (while not directly related to the Marketing Cloud Growth builders, this is a fun project to learn about Experience Cloud.)

Salesforce Flow

Salesforce Flow is at the heart of Marketing Cloud Growth and represents a great learning opportunity for account engagement pros. Flow has historically been the solution of choice for Salesforce admins when creating declarative automations within Salesforce, but it’s now a marketing tool as well (and you’re going to love it).

Marketing Cloud Growth generates a pre-built flow when assets are created. These are an excellent starting point and can be customized to specify tracking (for emails), subscriptions, and wait step times (in minutes, hours, days, months, or a specific time of day). Branch logic can also be added to further customize the recipient journey and more features are on the roadmap for future releases.

Flow is one of the tools that is best learned by doing. Fortunately, there are plenty of great Trailhead modules, projects, and superbadges on this topic. If you learn better with the help of an instructor, our Salesforce Flow Basics For Marketers Workshop is for you!

Recommend Trailhead Modules

There are also a few posts on the Spot that will guide you, step-by-step, through creating flows that address common marketing needs. These are fun little projects that are highly relevant, so be sure to check them out. As always, practice in your sandbox or Trailhead org.

Start building your Marketing Cloud Account Engagement skills for the future

The current release of Marketing Cloud Growth Edition is not a replacement for Account Engagement, but it does give us a glimpse into the future. Many innovations and features from Marketing Cloud Growth Edition will make their way into Marketing Cloud Account Engagement, so it’s time to begin evolving your skills in preparation.

Original article: Evolving Your Skills as an Account Engagement Pro

The post Evolving Your Skills as an Account Engagement Pro appeared first on The Spot.

Evolving Your Skills as a Marketing Cloud Engagement Practitioner

Kirsten Schlau — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 16:29:45 +0000

The role of marketers is continually evolving. This is especially true for those working within the Salesforce ecosystem. With the advent of advanced technologies, products, and functionalities to support — all while sticking to data-driven strategies — marketers are expected to adapt and expand their skill sets to stay competitive and relevant in the industry.

One significant shift that I see for Marketing Cloud Engagement professionals is the need to add Data Cloud and Flows into their skill repertoire.

In this blog post, we’ll explore why Marketing Cloud Engagement professionals should upgrade their skills to include Data Cloud and Flows, along with practical steps to start this learning journey.

Why upgrade your Marketing Cloud Engagement skills?

1. It’s the future for the Mothership

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re likely very aware of how much rapid growth and development Salesforce has invested in its Data Cloud product — not only are the release cycles happening much more frequently than other products. This in turn unlocks new features and integration points with other products in the ecosystem, and there’s also a version of Data Cloud being offered at $0 for Sales and Service Cloud customers and just recently announced for Marketing Cloud Customers too.

If that’s not a sign, I’ll give you one more reason: Data Cloud is the data foundation and Flows power automation for Salesforce’s new product, Marketing Cloud Growth Edition. Marketing Cloud Growth Edition is built on Einstein 1, which has been the pipe dream for many of us Marketing Cloud Engagement fans who have dealt with wonky UX, and clunky integrations over the years. Reading between the lines, cough cough SAFE Harbor cough cough sometime in the future (likely a few years), there will be a single marketing automation application that current Marketing Cloud Account Engagement and Engagement users will want to use.

So now that I’ve convinced you (hopefully) of the WHY — let’s dive into how these tools/features can help you as a marketer.

2. Become a better marketer by offering better customer experiences

Enhanced Targeting and Personalization

Data Cloud can enable you to take your target and personalization efforts even further when using Data Cloud with Marketing Cloud Engagement through segmentation and activation.

Data is the lifeblood of modern marketing. By incorporating a solid understanding and foundation of data models and the Data Cloud platform into your skill set, you’ll be able to visioncast and architect how to leverage vast repositories of consumer data, enabling you to create more targeted and personalized marketing campaigns and customer experiences.

Understanding how to leverage data effectively within Data Cloud allows you to segment your audiences more precisely, tailor your messaging, and deliver content that resonates with individual preferences and behaviors in Marketing Cloud Engagement and beyond. (you also might want to read up on Consent Management)

Seamless Automation and Optimization

For those who have no clue about Flows (no I’m not talking about the Progressive Lady), let’s give you a breakdown: Flows allow you to build complex business automation using clicks instead of code. For Salesforce admins, Flows are your best friends because they allow you to be able to handle the majority of complex business requirements without the help of a Salesforce developer.

Flows are not currently a feature/functionality in Marketing Cloud Engagement however it accomplishes many of the same needs you’d use Automation Studio and Journey Builder for. While the need and exposure for flows in your immediate feature might be limited, getting familiar and a basic foundation will allow you to go further faster in the future.

3. Gain a Competitive Edge and Future-Proofing

Marketers who embrace emerging technologies and methodologies gain a significant advantage in a competitive landscape. By upgrading your skills to include Data Cloud and Flows, you position yourself as a forward-thinking marketer capable of leveraging cutting-edge tools to drive results. Moreover, as the marketing landscape continues to evolve, proficiency in these areas ensures that you remain adaptable and prepared for future developments in the industry.

How to start your learning journey

1. Make time for training and education

For many practitioners, finding or making the time for training and education can be hard. As the old adage goes, “Investing in yourself is the best investment you will ever make.” So, invest! As your reward for reading through this entire article, we’ll provide you with our recommended learning path to begin upskilling in these areas.

Begin by seeking out training programs and educational resources focused on Data Cloud and Flows. Many online platforms offer courses and certifications specifically tailored to marketers looking to expand their skill sets in these areas. Look for reputable sources such as industry-leading tech companies, online learning platforms, or professional associations.

2. Be realistic

Just like most things — be realistic with your goals. As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Getting a shiny new certification might be the goal for some but doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right goal for you. Set learning goals that make sense for your current role, day-to-day responsibilities, and where you want to go in your career.

3. Look for hands-on practice and experimentation

Theory is essential, but practical experience is equally crucial. Take advantage of sandbox environments or trial versions of Data Cloud and Flows functionality. (Unlike Marketing Cloud Engagement — these do exist!)

From experimenting with building automated workflows, setting up data streams, mapping data, and creating segments to exploring data analytics tools, and analyzing results, hands-on experience will deepen your understanding and proficiency in these areas.

4. Collaborate and Network

Engage with peers and industry professionals who are already proficient in Data Cloud and Flows. Join online communities, attend webinars, and participate in networking events to exchange knowledge, seek advice, and learn from others’ experiences. Collaborating with experts in the field can provide valuable insights and accelerate your learning process.

Conclusion

As marketing continues to evolve in the digital age, we see Data Cloud and Flows becoming increasingly vital for success. By upgrading your skills in these areas, you can unlock new opportunities for not only yourself but also for ultimately driving better results for your organization. Start your learning journey today:

Data Cloud Learning Path

Administer Data Cloud (Trail)
Build Data Strategy for Data Cloud (Trail)
Enhance Data in Data Cloud (Trail)
Explore Data Cloud (Trail)
Model Data in Data Cloud (Trail)
Create a Data Stream In Data Cloud (Project)
Prepare for your Salesforce Data Cloud Consultant Credential (Trail Mix)
Data Cloud Quick Start Guide (Trail Mix)
Salesforce Data Cloud Product (Video)

Flows Learning Path

Salesforce Flows (Workshop)
Build Flows with Flow Builder (Trail)
Automate Your Business Processes with Salesforce Flow (Trail)
- Build a Simple Flow (Project)
Flow Elements and Resources Specialist (Superbadge)
Screen Flow Specialist (Superbadge)
Screenless Flow Specialist (Superbadge)
Flow Management Specialist (Superbadge)

Original article: Evolving Your Skills as a Marketing Cloud Engagement Practitioner

The post Evolving Your Skills as a Marketing Cloud Engagement Practitioner appeared first on The Spot.

What Marketing Cloud Growth Edition Means for Your Career

Andrea Tarrell — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 18:55:29 +0000

There’s some fear in the air.

I’m sensing major mixed emotions swirling for many with the announcement of Marketing Cloud Growth Edition and the vision of marketing automation on the Einstein 1 (a.k.a. Salesforce core) platform.

On the one hand — it’s everything we’ve all been asking for. True one platform, no-integration-needed shared infrastructure for marketing to work seamlessly with all customer data.

But there’s a glimmer of doubt with people thinking: “What does this mean for me? Are my skills still relevant? What does this mean for my product, my team, or my consulting business?”

Don’t bet on innovation being slow

There is a very large population of people who benefit from the status quo as it sits today.

Employees benefit from their skills being in demand to drive up compensation.

Consultants benefit from their experience being rare and slow to accumulate to stay relevant.

Product companies have grown to address a specific product gap or market need in today’s toolset.

But if the technology changes, all of that gets disrupted. When I hear people asking about timelines for the expansion of Marketing Cloud Growth Edition, I feel like they’re actually hoping that the pace of innovation on this will be slow. When I tell them I don’t think that’s going to be the case, that statement is met with uneasiness, and it’s clear that‘s not what they were hoping to hear.

Big change takes time, for sure. But I really wouldn’t bet on this freight train moving slowly. This has been a long time coming, and there’s momentum behind this new product that is incredibly exciting.

Remember that the technology is only one piece of the puzzle

I think that the fear of change here is somewhat misplaced.

Yes, there is a lot of power in the technical knowledge of any platform — Marketing Cloud Engagement, Account Engagement (Pardot), Salesforce, and any number of new tools.

But even harder to come by are the soft and business skills that make you successful with those platforms. Things like:

Understanding business process
Mapping out data relationships
Wrangling colleagues from across sales, marketing, customer service, and product to get agreement on content
Training and driving the adoption of a new tool or process
Defining project plans and dependencies with the work of other teams
The logistics that go into the execution of any complex campaign
Spotting a gap or a need, and the extreme ownership you bring to “I’m going to figure out how to solve it”
Spreading best practices & defining standard processes
Breaking complex terminology into terms anyone on your team can understand

Just think about your job today: How much of it is actually hands-on configuration in a tech platform, and how much of it is “tech-adjacent” planning, organizing, collaborating, and communicating?

I bet it’s a blend of both, and as you move up the ladder in your career the “tech adjacent” becomes more critical.

Time to go back to school

So, if we could flip a switch and change all customers to the new platform overnight — the skills and experience we’ve all gained from many years on Pardot and Marketing Cloud are still super useful, even if we’re logging in at a different URL.

We’re not being sent back to the starting line. But we do probably have some relearning to do to keep our edge and stay relevant. But I choose to view that as exciting and not daunting. (Well maybe a little daunting. But I’m going to crack open a Red Bull and push through.)

The way I think of it is this: Someone has to emerge as leaders, thinkers, and builders on any new platform. Who better than you and I? Let’s leverage the hard-won experience in this ecosystem as a springboard in this next chapter.

Let’s lean into the next-gen set of tools that are going to bring marketing strategies to life on the Salesforce platform, and let’s go build some cool stuff.

Some quick shameless plugs

I can’t resist sharing two more things on this topic…

#1: Check out our Salesforce Flow for Marketers course

Flow is a big piece of how Marketing Cloud Growth Edition users can automate customer journeys. Need to brush up on your skills? Sercante has a Salesforce Flow Basics for Marketers Workshop that will kickstart your learning.

#2 Come join a team of growth-minded learners

When change is in the air, it’s a great time to be among like-minded learners. If this article resonated with you, I would invite you to come check out roles on the Sercante team. We’re committed to always learning, always chasing that edge, and we are eagerly seizing opportunities to get our team’s hands on the “next gen” ASAP. It’s a great spot to try on new skills and figure out the role you want to play in the next chapter of your career. Drop us a note at hiring@sercante.com if you’d like to chat!

Original article: What Marketing Cloud Growth Edition Means for Your Career

The post What Marketing Cloud Growth Edition Means for Your Career appeared first on The Spot.

5 Ways to Adopt a Salesforce Architect Mindset Today

Brian Roff — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 16:29:09 +0000

You don’t have to be a technical person to start thinking like a Salesforce architect. In this article, I will share 5 concepts to bring a little architect-thinking magic to your everyday work.

Salesforce architect reflections from Northeast Dreamin’

In October 2023, I attended the premier Salesforce community event in the Northeast, Northeast Dreamin’. There were plenty of informative sessions about AI, non-profit success, and others. I chose to focus my time on the sessions run by Salesforce Architects.

Architect Like a Pro: Using the Five Ws from Primary School – this session was led by Roger Mitchell from Dodge Labs. He shared a compelling approach to uncovering the real needs of clients during requirements-gathering sessions. The simple rubric of who/what/where/when/why can be an inspirational way to unlock deeper understanding. Because after all…
A Salesforce Admin’s Guide to Data Modeling for Scalability and Performance – Here Brian Shea, a Fractional Salesforce Architect, shared principles for designing a data model utilizing the Salesforce Well-Architected framework. A big takeaway is the importance of sketching out your data model using Salesforce Data Model notation before you start building. This process makes our work more easily approachable and structured which makes it easier to understand for yourself and when shared with others.

But wait, just for Salesforce architects?

I was struck during these sessions, that the concepts are important to have in mind even if you are not a technical person or someone preparing to head down an architect career path. The reality is that everyone, in every position, can use the basic tenets of a Salesforce architect mindset to improve their everyday work and provide enormous value to our companies.

5 switches to activate your Salesforce architect mindset

When setting the stage for architectural thinking, it is important to zoom out and think about the big picture. Sure there are tactical details that need to be considered, but starting at a higher level will enable you to imagine beyond what is in front of you today.

An architect’s mindset is not reactive. It takes in various viewpoints and inputs that can help anticipate what your next move could or should be. No matter your role, the concepts below can help you elevate your thinking.

#1: Get curious

Think about your work in terms of the broader company and even industry trends. Think through a growth mindset lens and expand on what the questions are. With the growth mindset, the possibilities are limitless as we break away from a fixed mindset.

#2: Zoom out

Next time you are in a meeting, think about your mindset in terms of your camera. Your mind is like an aperture, when you open it you let more light in. How does this change your relationship with what is being discussed? When asked to make a change or perform a task, let more light in, zoom out, and ask broader questions to get to the heart of the why behind the ask.

#3: Get creative

Thinking like an architect is only sometimes a straight line. A heavy dose of thinking about the Art of the possible will open your mind and excite your stakeholders. Open a doc or a notebook and write out the wildest ideas you can think of. This is your chance to push the boundaries and turn some heads.

#4: Think longer term

Don’t be like Homer. Think about what the needs of your company might be in 1 year, in 3 years, in five years. What changes? What changes if you layer on a once-in-a-generation industry-shaking change? How would this inform how you build today with an eye toward a scalable and profitable future? You can go fast AND far.

#5: Analytics for the win!

Wherever possible, use data to support your thinking. This is especially important when pitching concepts to your stakeholders. If you and the teams you work with are using Salesforce, then lots of data is available to you. Moreso, if there has been an investment in more advanced analytics tools like Data Cloud and Einstein Analytics or B2BMA. With so much data at our fingertips, why not share?!

Bonus Tips!

Be nimble as the needs of your company change throughout the year. Unexpected headwinds could force a change that can be faced head-on by thinking about the work differently.
Don’t be afraid to share your work. Especially during fast-moving times, our ideas can really make a difference but we need to share them!

Whether you’re a developer, admin, or even a casual user, adopting an architect’s mindset can transform your work. So go beyond the tactical in what you do. By zooming out, getting curious, thinking longer term, and using data to guide decisions, you could lead to an architect mindset revolution in your organization.

Original article: 5 Ways to Adopt a Salesforce Architect Mindset Today

The post 5 Ways to Adopt a Salesforce Architect Mindset Today appeared first on The Spot.

The Big Salesforce Consultant Differentiators: A Recruiter’s View

Kelly Rodich — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 15:22:51 +0000

Let’s just start by stating a few facts: we live in a super-connected, yet totally disconnected world. Nobody wants to go back into the office (yes, I’m going here two sentences into this blog post, so hang on to your seats!), but everybody wants to be virtually plugged in 24/7. Nobody wants to actually drive to the store, but everybody wants the stuff they order from their phones to arrive the same day.

How in the world do we actually reach and keep up with our consumers?! It’s a funky time for marketers to market!

People to power the tech strategies

We’re forced to rely on the creme de la creme of marketing products and strategies to keep up with the ~~completely crazy~~ consumer lifestyle. At this point, you’ve been living under a rock if you aren’t aware that Salesforce marketing tools have been a top choice for companies both big and small for eons. Just last month alone, Salesforce was yet again announced as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant — both for B2B Marketing Automation and Multichannel Marketing Hubs. Thank goodness for solutions!!

So we’ve got this huge marketing opportunity, and we’ve got amazing tools from our friends over at Salesforce, but what happens next? NOTHING is more irritating than being told a product, appliance — really, anything — will solve all of our woes. And right after we sell the farm to pay for the golden solution, we realize we actually have no clue how to use it.

That’s when frustration and immediate buyer’s remorse starts to sink in. We so desperately need people to implement the technology [CORRECTLY] and teach us how to “do all the things.” We need an advocate, a guide, a mentor, a technical wiz — someone who has walked in our shoes and will tell us exactly how the solution will make our lives much easier, as it was promised, once our sales rep is long gone chasing other deals down to meet their quota. The question is: what trees do these people grow on and how do we even know what to look for?

Key differentiators in MarTech talent

Candidates are flying off the shelves. Offers are being extended left and right. Employees aren’t settling for “mediocre” in the name of loyalty as their parents and grandparents did and are now choosing to leave if they don’t feel a work environment, team, or job meets their expectations. Everyone is working fast to scoop up the top talent and retain them.

Speaking of….What exactly defines “top talent” in MarTech?

To set the record straight: I ~~hate~~ ~~despise~~ strongly dislike the phrase “top talent.” It reminds me of old school staffing industry terminology where any candidate you wanted to pitch to a client is “top talent” .

But in reality, there are differentiators we look for here at Sercante when hiring that set candidates who could probably do the job apart from candidates we know our clients are going to be over the moon to work with.

What exactly are these attributes, might you ask? Well dear reader, keep on reading.

A technology lovin’ kinda person

Yes, you may have your certs, that Coursera course on coding under your belt, and know your way around the backend of the system. But do you actually think it’s cool? Do you geek out on reworking the puzzle pieces to better serve the environment in which the technology will be used? Do you tinker with other related Salesforce marketing tools just because you like to? This is what sets apart someone who does it because they have to from someone who does it because they WANT to.

I’ve told nearly every candidate I’ve hired in technology that the job will get boring very fast if you don’t actually think it’s cool and interesting. And I stand by that. You’ve gotta love the product for your excitement and knowledge to shine through to a customer. The passion for the technology in a candidate unlocks the keys to the kingdom for our clients.

The project manager hat

Every job has some flavor of project management. Even in recruiting, we have hiring deadlines to meet. Hiring managers to chase down to make sure we stay on track. A budget to be mindful of, and an approval process if we need to go outside of the budget. Standing updates to give so they know we’re actually working and are aware of the wins and challenges. The list goes on!

If you’re actually PMP certified, you’re probably rolling your eyes at this point because being a project manager means so much more than this — and, you’re right. We get it.

BUT, there is truth that even if you’re the guru for Marketing Cloud implementations, if you can’t wrangle a bunch of other people who have competing deadlines and projects and drive them together towards a collective goal — you just ain’t gunna be successful (sorry not sorry for southern grammar to hit home the emphasis). That project management mindset and experience is crucial to make sure we do what we say we are going to do, the way we say we’ll do it, and nothing slips through the cracks.

Mother Goose Instincts. I mean, a consultative approach.

Being able to check off the to-do list is great and feels like an accomplishment. We did what we were asked to do — hooray! But, there’s more to it than a list.

Knowing how to anticipate and recommend what even needs to be on the to-do list is what elevates a MarTech candidate. Leading with empathy. Anticipating what’s around the corner and planning ahead. Thinking big picture of how the project/implementation/audit/etc. impacts the rest of the business. Digging into the other pain points not mentioned in the original scope that we also may actually be able to help with in the future.

These are all beautiful phrases that sound easy and natural, but in reality, take time and courage to develop. They are the difference between a “they can get the job done” kinda hire and a “our CSAT is 5/5 because Client XYZ can’t live without our consultant” kinda hire.

Sercante + MarTech Talent = Success

The Secret Sauce

One question we often get from candidates interviewing with us is what sets us apart from the hundreds of other Salesforce partners in the ecosystem. We LOVE this question. It gives us an opportunity to show how we’ve been successful and in turn, why a lot of our customers choose us.

In short, we’re marketers at heart. We truly love what we do. A lot of us started on the client side and have walked in a version of our customers’ shoes before. We want to empathize with you and make it easy (hello Sercante core value: Simplifying Complexity). It. Just. Shouldn’t. Be. That. Hard! We weren’t founded off of trying to be the world’s best or biggest consultancy. We were founded off of trying to help marketers and salespeople be wildly successful on the Salesforce platform.

Landing this plane

If you are a partner in the Salesforce ecosystem reading this, I hope it encourages you to lift the pen-to-paper bullet points off the job description and think more about the customer and how much of an impact each hire has on customer success, happiness, and truly the long-term success of your own organization.

If you’re a Sercante client or prospective client who wants a peek behind the curtain as to how we deliver, I hope it’s reemphasized the amount of thought and quality that goes into staffing here at Sercante. If hiring in MarTech is still fuzzy, reach out — we’d love to hear from you and give the gift of knowledge that we’ve gratefully received over the years.

Original article: The Big Salesforce Consultant Differentiators: A Recruiter’s View

The post The Big Salesforce Consultant Differentiators: A Recruiter’s View appeared first on The Spot.

Florida Dreamin’: A Conference Where Soft Skills Shine

Abbey Freund — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 16:04:42 +0000

In the beautiful sunshine and chill vibes of Clearwater Beach, FL, Salesforce community members of all kinds came together recently for Florida Dreamin’. The Dreamin’ events are community-led Salesforce conferences around the globe each with their personality. Florida Dreamin’ specifically strives to, “provide inspiration, coaching, and guidance on how to truly blaze your own trail.”

This comes from a perceived, “gap in Salesforce education when it comes to career pathing and guidance.” From my experience as a first-time attendee, this conference lives up to its vision by serving up an abundance of project management/team dynamics & soft-skill content.

Of the 44 sessions on offer, over half had a non-technical focus with topics spanning from career path advice and how to negotiate like a pro to advice on building diagrams and running demos that are informative and effective.

Some Soft-Skill Session Highlights

I attended many wonderful sessions across a variety of technical and non-technical topics, but wanted to highlight three soft-skill sessions in particular. Two of them I found especially illuminating and will be taking tips and tricks back to my consulting work and the third one is my speaking session, which I certainly hope provided impactful guidance to those in attendance.

5 Critical Change Management Steps for Successful Adoption

In this session, Paula Cervoni and Stacey Chery of Silverline emphasized the importance of dedicated and continual change management throughout the lifecycle of a project and into the training and adoption phase. Good change management helps get to the end goal of successful happy users which is what we all want! The change management steps Paula and Stacey outlined are:

Alignment – to the vision and mission of the project with engagement from Stakeholders, SMEs, Executive Team Members, and end users
Communication – a concerted strategy and communication plan to keep users informed every step of the way,
Training – curated applicable training paths for each user group/business role using real-world examples when possible to demonstrate utility,
Reinforcement – making sure that users are actively supported and know exactly who to go to when they have issues at go-live,
Measurement – getting some data behind adoption and success with both formal and informal measurement methods

With these steps, you too can change manage with the best of them and help your projects succeed, not just from a technical perspective, but from an adoption and satisfaction perspective as well.

The Surviving & Thriving Handbook for Accidental Admins

I was honored to give my first-ever Salesforce speaking session at Florida Dreamin’ and am especially happy to be able to join in on the soft-skills theme. My session highlighted my journey into accidental adminship* at a nonprofit organization and the struggles I faced trying to be successful in my day-to-day job as well as my Salesforce Admin duties.

To help bring myself from surviving to thriving, I enacted a number of actionable processes which streamlined my responsibilities, set expectations for my end users, and increased buy-in and end-user satisfaction.

Suggested steps for others facing accidental adminship included:

Establishing 2x yearly full organization Salesforce expectations and communication meetings
Offering regularly scheduled office hours to your end users
Identifying and leveraging your super users to be your champions, beta testers, and day-to-day support for other users in their departments
Setting up a Salesforce Request queue process to allow the Admin to triage, manage, and systematically work through end-user needs and issues
Bringing in a trusted partner, such as Sercante, for support

If this sounds like a topic you could use some support on please reach out to Sercante! We are here to help ease your Admin burden.

* An Accidental Admin is, “someone who had not considered a career in Salesforce until some event brought Salesforce into their work life and who juggles Salesforce admin responsibilities in addition to their regular job” – Source: Salesforce Ben

Just a Demo? Never! Always Demo Like a Pro

Jennifer Kinstle, Principal Architect at Zennify, gave a super practical guide on how to demo like a pro. She highlighted three key steps to a successful demo which ultimately can lead to increased adoption and project success.

Her recipe for a great demo is the following:

1. Know the business – Understand the specific audience you will be demoing to. Tailor your demo to the language and topics that will be most understood and valued by the demo audience.

2. Tell the story – A good demo has a beginning, middle, and end and works with an applicable business use case. Jennifer suggested always “share the why” – making it clear to your audience why the demo is important to them and their business.

3. Prepare & practice – This includes preparing your space, both physical and digital to ensure there are no unexpected interruptions… error messages or chat messages, and the like.

Jennifer also advises tailoring your demo script to what you need. If you need a full line-by-line script, do that, if you do better with bulleted talking points, then go for it. She also highlighted the importance of the run-through, do the demo exactly as you would for the demo audience in the environment where you will be doing the final demo. This is a critical step to mitigate unexpected errors or bugs so you can fix them before show time.

Following the tips in this session, I feel like I will be able to improve the utility of my demos for my clients.

Florida Dreamin’ for the Win!

Florida Dreamin’ was a wonderful conference experience and a great place to give my first ever speaking session. The manageable size of the conference, beautiful location, and focus on soft skills and the Ohana spirit make this an ideal conference for everyone from the seasoned pro to the brand new trailblazer.

Gorgeous ocean sunsets and delicious tiki drinks aside, this conference has a strong sense of community and inclusion with loads of meetups (including a nonprofit lunch meetup that I attended) and excursions. Folks were there to learn a lot, network, and have a fun time doing it, and I don’t think you can ask for much more out of a Dreamin’ event.

Be sure to check out these other posts from my fellow dragons who attended Florida Dreamin’ with me and shared details about their favorite sessions there.

The Art of Delivering Empathetic and Joyful User Experiences | Catherine Williams

How to Write like a Marketer: Intro to AMPscript for Salesforce Marketing Cloud | Kayla Border

Original article: Florida Dreamin’: A Conference Where Soft Skills Shine

The post Florida Dreamin’: A Conference Where Soft Skills Shine appeared first on The Spot.

Can’t-Miss Sessions for Marketers at MarDreamin’ 2023

Pam Carey — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 12:34:50 +0000

If you’re like me, you get immediate brain paralysis with your first look at an event agenda. It happened again with MarDreamin’ 2023 (which — by the way — is RIGHT around the corner: Nov. 1-3). In hopes of sparing you from your own brain freeze, I’ve collected groups of “can’t-miss” sessions below.

(Note that these sessions are not an exhaustive list of ALL sessions you’ll find at MarDreamin’. There are many more to be found in the full agenda!)

Good to know: The online MarDreamin’ agenda includes filters to help you find your desired sessions quickly. Each session also has a “Related” section at the bottom.

Did you register? If you haven’t done this yet, register now (it’s free – what do you have to lose?!). Can’t attend live Nov. 1-3? Register anyway and catch up with on-demand sessions. You can also amp up your learning and get in on the Oct. 31 Workshop day (you can attend 3 on the day, then catch up with all the others afterward).

Marketing Leadership

Insightful sessions to help you create strategy, empower your team, and report to executives.

5 Next-Level AMPscript Tips For Hyper-Personalized Content

Get ready to unleash the power of Marketing Cloud to deliver custom 1:1 personalization. You’ll learn five ways to use AMPscript to deliver the ideal customer experience.

Boost Your Business Performance and Revenue With B2B Marketing Analytics

Explore the benefits of B2B Marketing Analytics and why businesses must incorporate it into their marketing strategy.

Building a Marketing Tech Stack for Highly Effective Marketing

This session covers best practices for marketing technology, pitfalls to avoid, and approaches for more effective problem-solving.

Can GPT Replace A Salesforce Marketer?

This session covers 9 aspects/responsibilities of marketers on the Salesforce platform (from content creation to inbound lead funneling, user adoption, and more) and details how GPT can have an impact and why there needs to be a human in the loop.

Designing An Effective Demand Gen Funnel & Reporting For Your SMB

Be prepared for the next time your CEO asks, “What’s marketing’s impact on generating sales pipeline?” Learn how to select and build the right funnel for your business, make the stages of your funnel meaningful, get buy-in across the organization to measure your team’s efforts, and more.

Explore How MOPs Gets Things Done

Hear from the panelists on how they keep up-to-date on the latest trends in Marketing Operations, how they lead cross-functional teams, and how they stay organized and work efficiently to be able to go home on time to their families.

Going Beyond SLAs: How To Build A Stronger Strategic Team

This session includes ways that marketing operations, revenue operations, and marketing teams can work together to build lasting partnerships and get more done.

Say Goodbye to Leads & Hello to Account-Based Strategy

Shifting from a lead-based sales and marketing approach to an account-based strategy is crucial for success in today’s business climate. This session aims to guide strategic leaders through the process of making this transition effective.

The Art Of Listening: Crafting Impactful Customer Journeys In Marketing Cloud

We all know about the magic of Journey Builder in Salesforce Marketing Cloud. There are plenty of resources out there that prepare you for the technical configuration of your flow. But what needs to happen BEFORE you open your instance? How do you shape the design of the solution?

Winning The Quest For Marketing Attribution

How can you accurately attribute revenue generated by a marketing campaign to see the most effective channels your customers take to arrive at a purchase? This session will help you figure that out so you can finally reach the pinnacle of marketing attribution.

Why Generative AI Is The Calculator For Content Marketers

Learn how content marketers can tap AI tools to do everything faster and better than ever before. You’ll leave with ways to implement these tools today. Then you can empower content teams and multi-hat-wearing marketers to do more with less. You’ll also get strategies to avoid potential risks the tools can bring as you ride into the future.

Marketing Ops

Tools, tips, tricks, and know-how for those of you in the trenches!

5 Essential Data Configurations For Marketing Cloud Engagement

Explore 5 data configurations you can implement in your Marketing Cloud Engagement account today to enrich your marketing strategy and streamline your marketing operations.

Building Dynamic Personalization At Scale By Leveraging First-Party Data

This session highlights the significance of leveraging a strong first-party data foundation to build personalization at scale. Hear useful tips on what you can be doing today to ensure you are making good use of your first-party data.

Creating A Roadmap For Your Salesforce Journey In MOPs

Gain guidance, knowledge, and strategies to navigate, and excel in the dynamic field of marketing operations.

Data Privacy Future: Upgrading Your Account Engagement Reporting Strategy

If your email strategy’s success is based on clicks, opens, and assumed opt-ins, then you may be in for a rude awakening with the data privacy landscape of the future. Learn how to start preparing now!

5 Strategies For A Cleaner Account Engagement Database In Preparation For AI

This session includes 5 strategies for creating and maintaining a clean database in Account Engagement to help marketers prepare for the future use of AI.

Engaging Customers Throughout Their Lifecycle with Engagement Studio

Learn how an enterprise software company builds and optimizes customer lifecycle journeys using Engagement Studio in Marketing Cloud Account Engagement.

Going Global: One Account Engagement Form, Multiple Languages

Explore a new, more efficient method to create multiple-language Account Engagement forms with improved reporting and a streamlined translation process.

How To Create Amazing Emails Without All The Back-And-Forth

For 80 percent of companies, it takes two or more weeks to get just one marketing email out the door. Hear how to cut creation time by up to 90 percent while boosting email performance.

Streamline Your Campaign Architecture & Attribution With These Best Practices

Learn how to leverage campaigns for ROI and attribution, gain best practices for setting up campaign hierarchies, and hear about AI-driven analysis with Einstein Attribution.

Unifying Your Marketing Funnel With Campaign Members

With a unified marketing funnel, you can track individuals and accounts from start to finish and better understand how your marketing efforts are performing. Learn about the advantages of a unified marketing funnel and see how to build it.

Salesforce Admin

We’ve got sessions for you, the wizard behind the curtain that keeps the Salesforce org running smoothly.

Data Cloud: 5 Tips For Getting Started

Accelerate time to value with 5 realistic tips and takeaways for a successful Data Cloud implementation.

Demystifying AI + Data + CRM: Where To Start

Take a look at core concepts and foundational functionality and hear tips to start assessing where you are in the AI + Data + CRM journey.

Developing A Complete Digital Customer Experience Within Salesforce

Listen to this journey in building a truly digital customer experience by using Experience Cloud involving migrating and creating several websites, automation, emails, and analytics by leveraging this tool.

Exploring Data Cloud For Marketing: Architecture And Orchestration

Explore the Salesforce Customer 360 landscape through the lens of Data Cloud for marketing and learn how to approach a multi-cloud implementation in a thoughtful and well-constructed manner to scale the overall technology stack.

Exploring What’s Possible With Analytics

What happens when this data becomes a barrier versus a catalyst for change? Hear how this panel has improved operations, processes, and reports to ultimately leverage Salesforce as their North Star.

One Marketing Cloud Key To Rule Them All

Explore the various types of keys in Marketing Cloud and learn how to use one key to rule them all. Walk through the right processes (and not-so-good practices) that keep our data clean and our marketing consistent.

Personalize Multi-Touch Attribution Dashboards With Ease

This session is great for everyone who is not familiar with CRM Analytics and uses only the default dashboards offered by Salesforce. Learn how to personalize the dashboard to get the metrics you need by diving into the data flow, modifying the initial data, and adding filters, tables, and charts.

Everyone

Looking for more well-rounded topics? These are for you:

7 Easy Tips For Effective Email Campaigns

Take a high-level look at what goes into building emails and walk away with practical tips to incorporate into your marketing strategy today.

Better Together: AI-Powered Marketing Solutions

A deep dive into the world of AI-powered marketing campaigns to discover the secrets to driving some pretty cool results.

Explore How Slack Is Changing The Way Marketers Work

Take a look at how innovative tools such as Marketing Cloud Intelligence Insights, Digital Command Center, Account Engagement, and Slack GPT can supercharge Slack and your marketing efforts to deliver more personalized experiences.

How Salesforce Marketing Cloud Works With Consent Management Framework

Learn how to incorporate the consent management objects from Salesforce CRM into Salesforce Marketing Cloud and see how consent status is synchronized and stored in different clouds.

Marketing in the Age of Generative AI

This presentation and fireside chat with Salesforce product leaders explores how innovations in AI help marketers better understand and activate data to create personalized customer experiences. Hear tactics to prepare organizations to use AI – from getting your data house in order, to thinking about AI and trust.

Marketing Cloud Product Roadmap

Learn about key upcoming features in Marketing Cloud and how they can help you optimize your marketing.

Unleashing the Power of 1:1 Personalization: A $4.5M Case Study

Explore the transformative power of omnichannel personalized marketing strategies. This session showcases a real-life case study of how one team dramatically increased its revenue by $4.5 million over a 10-week pilot.

Register for Mardreamin Today

The bottom line is: No matter where you are in the martech world, you need to attend MarDreamin’ 2023! Register today.

Original article: Can’t-Miss Sessions for Marketers at MarDreamin’ 2023

The post Can’t-Miss Sessions for Marketers at MarDreamin’ 2023 appeared first on The Spot.