Q1. What is Salesforce Marketing Cloud and what are its key features, also mention the limitations.
Ans Marketing Cloud is the platform for delivering relevant, personalized journeys across channels and devices – enabling marketers to deliver the right messages to the right people via the right channel. It enables you to know your customer, personalize with intelligence, and engage across the entire journey.
Key Features
- Email Marketing
- Mobile Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Advertising Studio
- Journey Builder
- Automation Studio
- Data Management
- Analytics
Limitations
- Complexity
- Cost
- Integration Challenges
- Data Limitations (on storage)
Q2. What is a Business Unit?
Ans A business unit is a self-contained environment that allows marketers to manage their marketing campaigns and data separately from other business units. It is uniquely identified by MID.
Each business unit has its own set of users, data, and assets that are managed separately from other business units.
Q3. Mention some of the products of SFMC and their uses.
Ans:
| Email Studio: | Use: Design, send, and manage email campaigns. Includes tools for creating personalized content, segmenting audiences, and analyzing email performance. |
| Journey Builder: | Use: Create and automate multi-channel customer journeys. Design and implement complex workflows to engage customers based on their interactions and behaviors. |
| Marketing Cloud Personalization: | Use: Deliver personalized experiences across email, web, and mobile channels. Uses data to tailor content and recommendations to individual customer preferences. |
| Audience Studio: | Use: Manage and segment customer data. Create detailed audience segments based on behaviors, demographics, and interactions for targeted marketing efforts. |
| Advertising Studio: | Use: Integrate and manage digital advertising campaigns. Sync customer data to create targeted ad campaigns across platforms like Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn. |
| Mobile Studio: | Use: Send SMS, push notifications, and in-app messages. Engage customers via mobile channels with personalized and timely communications. |
| Web Studio: | Use: Create and manage web content such as landing pages and forms. Integrate with other SFMC products for seamless data collection and customer interaction. |
| Social Studio: | Use: Manage and analyze social media interactions. Schedule posts, engage with audiences, and monitor social media performance. |
| Analytics Builder: | Use: Analyze and report on marketing performance. Create custom reports and dashboards to track campaign effectiveness and customer engagement. |
| Data Designer: | Use: Design and manage data models. Organize and optimize data structures for better use in marketing campaigns and customer interactions. |
Q4. What are the different types of data models available in SFMC, and how are they different from each other?
Ans: In Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC), there are two main types of data models: Lists and Data Extensions.
Lists
- Purpose: Used primarily to store subscriber information.
- Ease of Use: Simple to use with minimal technical knowledge required and basic configuration.
- Data Types: Supports only Text, Date, and Numeric data types.
- Email Address Requirement: Requires an email address to add a contact.
- Capacity: Generally used for databases with 500,000 contacts or fewer.
- Functionalities: Includes standardized reports not available in Data Extensions. Lists are not shareable across different company accounts.
Data Extensions
- Purpose: Can store various types of information beyond just subscriber data. Used for more complex data storage needs.
- Complexity: More complex and versatile, allowing for extensive configuration and inclusion of various data types.
- Data Types: Supports Text, Number, Date, Boolean, EmailAddress, Phone, Decimal, and Locale data types.
- Email Address Requirement: This does not require an email address for adding contacts.
- Capacity: Supports more than 500,000 contacts.
- Functionalities: Data Extensions can be shared among different company accounts, offering greater flexibility and integration.
Q5. What are the different types of Data Extensions in SFMC?
Answer:
- Standard Data Extension: Created from scratch with custom fields and structure.
- Filtered Data Extension: Created by applying filters to an existing Data Extension to segment data.
- Random Data Extension: Created to hold a random sample of records from a source Data Extension.
Q6. What do you mean by IP Warming and why is it important?
Answer: IP warming is the process of gradually increasing the number of emails sent from a new IP address. This is important because ISPs (Internet Service Providers) are cautious with new IP addresses since spammers often use them. By slowly ramping up your email volume over about 30 days, you help establish a positive sending reputation and avoid being flagged for suspicious activity. Essentially, it’s about building trust and demonstrating to ISPs that your emails are legitimate and not spam.
Q7. What is the need for a dedicated IP, which one would you prefer over another?
Ans. A dedicated IP refers to having a unique IP address exclusively assigned to your organization or account.
When choosing between a dedicated IP and a shared IP in SFMC, it depends on your specific email marketing needs, volume(above 250k), and requirements. If you have a relatively small email volume or are just starting with email marketing, a shared IP might be a cost-effective option. However, if you require greater control, scalability, and customization, and have specific compliance needs, a dedicated IP is generally recommended. It offers more control over deliverability, sender reputation, and data separation, ensuring the success of your email marketing campaigns.
Q8. ISP vs ESP, give a few examples of both.
Ans. ISP stands for Internet Service Provider, while ESP stands for Email Service Provider. ISPs provide access to the internet, e.g. Comcast(USA), Jio(India), and BTGroup(UK).
ESP specializes in providing email marketing and delivery services. They focus on email deliverability, automation, analytics, and other features specific to email marketing e.g. are SFMC, Mailchimp, SendGrid, etc.
Q9. UpdateData vs UpdateDE
Ans. UpdateData→Updates existing information into a data extension as indicated by the array containing the listed column name and value pairs. You can include multiple column names and value parts in a single call. You can use this method in non-sendable contexts, such as landing pages. This call returns the number of rows modified.
UpdateDE→Updates existing information into a data extension as indicated by the array containing the listed column name and value pairs. You can include multiple column names and value parts in a single call. You can use this method in sendable contexts, such as email messages. This call returns the number of rows modified.
Q10. What is the A/B Testing?
Ans: A/B testing is one of the most common strategies leveraged by marketers to determine which version of their emails gets a better response from subscribers.
SFMC offers A/B testing as a standard feature. Candidates need to be aware of the various features involved.
To answer the question: A/B testing for an email can be applied to the Email Subject Line, Email Preheader, From Name, Content Area, and Send Time.
When setting up an A/B test, you set the criteria which will determine the winning email automatically. You have two options for choosing the winner:
The version with the highest unique open rate.
noThe version with the highest unique click-through rate (CTR).
Q11. Can you describe a situation where you used A/B testing to improve campaign performance in Salesforce Marketing Cloud? (Testing & Optimization)
How to Answer:
Share a specific example where A/B testing was applied to a campaign, outline what variables were tested, how the tests were set up, the results, and the actions taken based on the results.
My Answer:
In a recent campaign, we used A/B testing to optimize email open rates in Salesforce Marketing Cloud. We tested two different subject lines:
- Subject A: “Unlock Your Exclusive Membership Benefits!”
- Subject B: “See What’s New with Your Membership Today!”
We split our email list into two segments, ensuring similar demographic and engagement characteristics. After deploying the emails, we monitored the performance in SFMC’s Email Studio.
| Metric | Subject A | Subject B |
| Open Rate | 20% | 25% |
| Click-through Rate | 5% | 7% |
Given the higher performance metrics of Subject B, we used it for the remainder of the campaign. This simple test led to a noticeable improvement in engagement.
Q12. What is a publication list and why do we use it?
Ans. Publication List is a specific type of list used for managing subscription status and preferences for email communications. It allows subscribers to control their subscription settings, such as opting in or out of specific email categories or updating their preferences.
Q13. What are the different levels of unsubscribes?
Ans . List level – unsubscribe from a specific publication list
Master level – unsubscribe at the account level
Global level – unsubscribe from all the accounts
Q14. Explain what the different Wait Activity controls do in Journey Builder.
Ans. A Wait Activity is a period of time that contacts are held between activities. There are three types of wait activity:
- Wait by Duration: waits for specified hours, or days.
- Wait Until Date: waits until the specified end day and time.
- Wait by Attribute: waits until the day and time stored in a date field is reached.
Q15. Can contacts re-enter a journey
Ans. Yes You can choose from three options in the journey’s settings to determine if/when a contact can enter a journey:
- No re-entry
- Re-entry anytime
- Re-entry only after existing
Q16. Is it possible to delete a user in SFMC?
Ans. No, we cannot delete a user in Salesforce, but we can freeze them to get deactivated.
Q17. What is the Contact And Subscriber
Ans: In Salesforce Marketing Cloud, here’s the difference between a Contact and a Subscriber:
- Contact: A contact is anyone you interact with through various channels, like email, SMS, or social media. Think of it as anyone who is part of your overall list of people you might communicate with. For example, Jane Doe, who has visited your website and interacted with your social media, is a contact.
- Subscriber: A subscriber is someone who has specifically signed up to receive communications through a particular channel, like email. So, if Jane Doe has subscribed to your email newsletters, she’s a subscriber. Her information is stored in the email system you use.
Key Point: All subscribers are contacts, but not all contacts are subscribers. For example, Jane Doe is a contact because she interacts with your brand across channels, but she is a subscriber-only because she has opted into receiving email communications
Q18. How to include personalization in an email without using AMPscript?
Answer: Use the Dynamic Content feature in Content Builder. This allows you to display different content based on recipient criteria, like location or purchase history, by setting up rules and creating content blocks for each scenario.
By using Dynamic Content, you can effectively personalize your emails based on recipient data without needing to write AMPscript.
Q19. What are Personalization strings?
Answer. It is a string-based identifier enclosed in a delimiter (%%), which can be included in messages or landing pages.
There are two types –
Attribute Strings – Derive the values from a field in a data extension or an attribute related to Contact or Subscriber.
System Strings – System-defined strings that display output based on the context of contact or subscriber.
Example -emailaddress, MOBILE_NUMBER, etc.
Q20. Mention the components of Send Classification.
Ans: Sender profile – Includes the ‘From Name’ & ‘From Email’, ie specifies the From information for a send in a central location
Delivery Profile – Specify the IP address to use and the physical mailing address mentioned in the email footer
CAN-SPAM classification
Commercial
– Includes promotions or advertisements to promote the products or services
– Must include an unsubscribe mechanism
Transactional
– Transactional in nature. Example – Password reset, Transaction receipts, etc.
– Optional to have an unsubscribe feature
Q21. How does Dynamic Email work?
Answer. You can define a dynamic content block in an email to display (render) information based on the subscriber’s attributes, data extension values, or audiences.
Example: to personalize an email according to gender, instead of building 2 emails (one for male subscribers, and another for females), you can create a dynamic content block that will render the correct content based on gender.
Q22. Explain the difference between hard bounce and soft bounce.
Answer:
Soft Bounce:- A soft bounce occurs when the email server rejects the email due to a seemingly temporary condition due to the following reasons
- Mailbox is full
- The user account is over quota.
Hard Bounce:- A hard bounce occurs when the email server rejects the email due to permanent conditions. This bounce typically results when user unknown or domain not found errors occur.
Q23. How do you fetch data from a data extension using ampscript?
Answer: Lookup, LookupRows, or LookupOrderedRows can fetch data from DE.
Q24. What Data Integration options are available in Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC)?
Answer: – To import and export data from SFMC, you have four options:
- FTP
- API
- CloudPages
- Manual Import
Q25.Can you explain the significance of IP Warming and its process in Salesforce Marketing Cloud? (IP Management)
Ans: IP Warming is a crucial process in email marketing, particularly when using a new IP address. It involves gradually increasing the volume of emails sent with the new IP to build a good reputation with Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Steps in the IP Warming process:
| Week | Volume of Emails |
| 1 | 1,000 |
| 2 | 5,000 |
| 3 | 10,000 |
| 4 | 25,000 |
| 5+ | Scale as needed |
