I took (and passed) the Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Administrator Beta test in early October. For those of you who are not aware of what a Beta test is - it was 180 questions and I had 180 minutes to answer all the questions (plus add comments on questions that did not make sense or had typos). I also had to squeeze in a bathroom break and a couple trips to the check-in desk to drink some tea because I had a terrible cough/cold. In other words, it was a little painful, but I enjoyed the challenge.
Given that the actual test has been whittled down to 60 questions, I cannot guarantee what is on the actual test. However, I have a pretty good idea on how to study for it.
First of all, read the Exam Guide! This one is a no-brainer. My big take-away from the Exam Guide is that the passing score is 67%. This means that you can have some serious blindspots and still pass the test! For example, I know very little about Mobile Studio because I have never used it. I did my best to study this area, but when I was actually taking the test, I definitely felt like there were scenarios I just was not able to answer based off my lack of experience.
Next, there are two ways to study for this test (do both!).
The first is the fun way: Trailheads. There are two trails referenced in the Exam Guide. I combined them in this Trailmix and added another module that is new to trailhead. I will also add to this Trailmix as I run across relevant modules.
The second way is the painful way: read the implementation guides. Read every guide that has the For Admins column checked. This is a joke! They all have the For Admins column checked, which means that you should read every implementation guide. Again, you only need 67% to pass, which means you can get 100% proficient in 67% of the content, or 67% proficient in 100% of the content. The choice is yours!
A couple other hints I would recommend based off of what I remember from the test:
Familiarize what the options are for Journey Builder entry events and activities.
You will probably see one Social Studio question, but it might come from Social Studio or Social Studio Automate. Do you want to study for this one question? Probably not. If you are in a time crunch, don't bother. But if you have plenty of time and want to know more about Social Studio anyway? Cool, read the implementation guide as well as this information on Social Studio Automate.
Familiarize yourself with the difference between GroupConnect, MobileConnect and MobilePush.
Everything else I can think of is pretty well covered in the trailheads and implementation guides. This test is pretty straightforward, they do not try to trick you and I think it should be pretty easy to pass. Of course, I have no idea what my score was or what it would be if I sat for the test today, but I do remember walking out of the test thinking: "that was manageable."
Good luck!
Comments