Marketing Cloud Account Engagement, formerly known as Pardot, is a B2B marketing automation solution that empowers businesses to sell more effectively and build long-term customer relationships.

The Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Specialist credential(Pardot Certification) is designed for individuals who would like to demonstrate their skills and knowledge in designing and building marketing campaigns within Account Engagement. The candidate possesses the experience and knowledge to build focused marketing processes that incorporate the different strategies for email marketing, lead generation, and lead qualification. The candidate should also be able to effectively use reports to make data-driven decisions.

Exam Overview of Pardot Certification

• Number of Questions: 60 scored questions + 5 unscored questions.
• Question Format: Multiple-choice/multiple-select.
• Time Allotted: 90 minutes.
• Passing Score: 72%.
• Exam Fee: $200 USD (plus applicable taxes).
• Retake Fee: $100 USD (plus applicable taxes).
• Delivery Options:
  – Onsite proctored exam at a testing center.
  – Online proctored environment.
• Prerequisite: No prerequisites are required, but Salesforce Administrator Certification is recommended.

Exam Objectives and Weightage of Pardot Certification Exam

The Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Specialist Exam measures a candidate’s knowledge and skills related to the following objectives. A candidate should have hands-on experience integrating the Account Engagement platform into marketing workflows and can demonstrate the application of each of the features/functions below.

Visitors and Prospects (8%)

• Relationship Between Visitors and Prospects – Everything starts with an unidentified visitor. After visitor provides an email address, you have a prospect and you’re ready to go.
• Using Prospect Audits: Prospect audits provide a detailed history of a prospect’s activities. Each prospect record includes an audit table that displays details about changes to the record.

Administration (11%)

• Pardot Salesforce Integration for Lightning App
• Describe the capabilities of the Account Engagement Recycle Bin.
• Illustrate how to create, edit, and map fields.

Account Engagement Forms, Form Handlers, and Landing Pages (20%)

• Forms – Enable data collection from prospects directly on your website.
• Form handler – Form handlers are an alternative to hosted forms that you create in Account Engagement. You can use a form handler to integrate your third-party or custom forms and track submission data .Integrate existing forms with Account Engagement to track submissions.
• Landing page – A landing page is a web page that a visitor reaches after clicking a link or advertisement. This page generally displays content that is specific to the advertisement, search keyword, or link clicked. Landing page visitors can be more likely to convert when you present them with relevant, actionable content.

Lead Management (24%)

• Automation Rules: Use automation tools to perform actions on prospects, build prospect lists based on criteria, and react to prospect actions.
• Lists: Dynamic lists automatically captures prospects based on criteria, while static lists remain fixed.
• Completion Actions: Completion actions automate basic marketing tasks so your team can focus on other things. Add an action to adjust a prospect’s score when they access a file, or add prospects to a list when they fill out a form.
• Segmentation Rules: Segment prospects based on specific attributes or behaviors.
• Page Actions: Page actions are completion actions that are triggered by a prospect’s page views. You can apply page actions to any page that contains your tracking code.
• Scoring and Grading:
  Score: Measures a prospect’s engagement level based on activities.
  Grade: Indicates how well a prospect matches your ideal customer profile.
• Custom Redirects: Track clicks on specific links to measure engagement.

Email Marketing (20%)

• Email vs. Email Templates: Templates provide reusable designs for creating consistent emails.
• Email Use Cases: Send newsletters, promotional campaigns, or nurture emails tailored to specific segments
• Email Metrics: Metrics include open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and spam complaints, helping to refine future campaigns.

Engagement Studio (17%)

• Engagement Programs: Create automated workflows to nurture leads over time based on their behavior.
• Program Updates: Modify workflows and associated assets without disrupting ongoing campaigns.

Guide for Preparation for Pardot Certification

Preparing for the Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Specialist(Pardot Certification) requires a structured approach to make sure that you have covered all necessary topics. Here’s a detailed, step-by-step strategy to help you get ready for the exam:

Start with the Official Exam Guide

Understand the Exam Structure: The official exam guide provides an overview of the exam format, including the number of questions, time limit, and passing score. Go through with these details to set realistic goals.

Identify Key Areas

The guide highlights the topics covered in the exam, which allows you to focus your studies on essential areas. Mark the sections that require more attention based on your current knowledge and experience and try to give extra time to those topics.

Engage with Trailhead

Complete Related Trails: Salesforce Trailhead offers various modules related to the certification. Start with the Drive Sales with Account Engagement trail, which provides foundational knowledge of the platform. Follow it up with the Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Specialist Certification (Pardot Certification) Prep trail to gain a deeper understanding of the certification topics. These resources are designed to enhance your expertise in lead management, email marketing, automation rules, and more, ensuring you’re well-prepared for the exam.

Utilize badges and quests

As you complete modules, focus on earning badges and complete quests. This approach not only makes learning interesting but also helps you track your progress and enhances your knowledge through practical.

Hands-on Practice

Since Marketing Cloud Account Engagement features aren’t available in a Salesforce Developer Org, the best way to gain practical experience is by working on real-world projects. If you’re part of a team using Account Engagement, take the opportunity to assist with tasks like setting up email campaigns, creating automation rules, or analyzing lead performance. These hands-on experiences will help you understand how the platform works in real scenarios, preparing you effectively for the certification exam.

Practice Tests

Take Practice Exams: Use practice tests for pardot certification to check your understanding of the material. These tests will help you familiarize yourself with the exam format and identify areas where you may need additional study.
Review Incorrect Answers: After completing practice exams, spend time on analyzing your questions you missed. Understanding why your answer was incorrect.

Time Management Strategies

During practice, focus on time also. This will help you manage your time when you are giving the actual exam, ensuring you can answer all questions within time.

Final Review

Before submitting your exam once, go through all the questions that you have marked the correct answer to and check if any question is left by mistake.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Specialist Certification(Pardot Certification) is a great way to showcase their skills in managing and optimizing Account Engagement. It helps professionals understand how to use powerful tools for lead generation, email marketing, automation, and data analysis to drive business growth.

Earning this certification demonstrates your expertise in building smart, data-driven marketing campaigns and sets you apart as a skilled marketing automation specialist. It’s ideal for individuals who want to enhance their marketing knowledge and make the most of Salesforce’s Account Engagement platform.

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