SFMC Interview Questions – Part 2

Q1. Which language do you prefer to use for email personalization?

Ans- Salesforce Marketing Cloud offers a powerful scripting language called AMPscript, which allows marketers to create highly dynamic and personalized email content based on subscriber data.

Q2. What is the difference between master and list-unsubscribe?

Ans- List Unsubscribe: A list unsubscribe occurs when a user unsubscribes from a list only. Master Unsubscribe: A master unsubscribe occurs when a subscriber unsubscribes from every email sent by your company.

Q3.  What is the minimum time for automation, the minimum time for sync from Salesforce CRM,

Ans – Automation Minimum Time Interval:

• The minimum time between automated runs in Automation Studio is 15 minutes.

Data Sync from Salesforce CRM:

• The minimum sync frequency for synchronized data extensions from Salesforce CRM to Marketing Cloud is typically 15 minutes

Q4. Difference between SSJS and amp script?

Ans – Let’s discuss first SSJS and JS – Introduction

• SSJS is a server-side scripting language and is similar to JavaScript.
• Executed at the Salesforce Marketing Cloud servers.
• SSJS works with the libraries provided by the Marketing cloud.
• Server-side JavaScript is executed at the time of rendering.
• Server-side JavaScript can be declared as:

<script runat=server>

             [Insert JavaScript Here]

</script>

• JS is divided into two types
  • Server Side:
    • Executed on the server instead of the web browser/client side.Developer uses this as this has the advantage of interacting with databases, making API (Application Program Interface) calls to external systems, etc.The server-side JS is more secure than client-side execution.Example of server-side JavaScript is Node JS
  • Client-side:
    • As the name suggests, this is executed at the client side means at the browser level.
    • In this, there is a high risk of security as the code is executed at the browser level.

AMPscript –

• It is the proprietary scripting language within Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
• This language is used for dynamic content in emails, landing pages, SMS, and push messages.
• If I talk about myself then some of my favorite things to do with AMPscript is to personalize emails and create complex dynamic emails with conditional logic.
• AMPscript can be used within the HTML code of the email which is also known as inline or in code blocks.
• All inline AMPscript starts and ends with percent signs. Example: %%=value=%%

Q5. Give me the Scenarios of both languages(AMPscript and SSJS)

Ans: Scenarios which will give clarity on both the languages:

• For the web developer who is new to both languages, for them, AMPscript has a shorter learning curve compared to SSJS.
• AMPscript should be preferred for simple inline personalization, which includes content like name, salutation, and simple IF ELSE loops.
• The web developer who has prior knowledge of JS can find SSJS quite easy to learn and implement.
• Server-side JavaScript is mainly used for cloud pages.
• Server-side JavaScript should mainly be used when there are no functions to support in AMPscript.
• Server-side JavaScript makes the execution of emails slow and hence should not be preferred over AMPscript until there are some specific use cases.

Q6. What are the Measures in SFMC?

Ans. A measure is a piece of data that represents a specific metric or number related to your marketing performance. Measures are used to track and quantify things like how many people opened your email, how many people clicked on a link in your email, or how much revenue a particular campaign generated.

Q7. How do you perform testing in SFMC and what are the tools available for testing?

Ans. 4 tools available in the email application

• Content Detective → mirrors the logic used by spam filtering software(only for English language)
• Validation → Email won’t be sent until these (system/syntax) validation rules are validated, when we preview the email it will run the validation automatically.
• Subscriber Preview
• Test Send

Q8. What should be considered while creating responsive email templates using css?

Ans.  Media Queries: Use media queries to apply different CSS styles based on the screen size or device. Media queries allow you to define specific rules for different breakpoints, enabling you to create responsive designs that adapt to different screen sizes.

Q9. Mention different ways to segment the data.

Ans. Data Filters – Used to filter out the records from a Data Extension

          SQL – Use the WHERE statement to specify the criteria and segment the data

Q10. What are the types of joins in SQL?

Ans. There are 4 types of joins which are:-

• Inner Join → returns only the matching records from both tables on a specified condition.
• Left join → A left join returns all records from the left table and the matched records from the right
• Right join → A right join returns all records from the right table and the matched records from the left
• Full join → A full join returns all records when there’s a match in either the left or right

Q11. Write AMPscript to display: First Name in Email if the first name is blank then display as “Valued customer”.

%%[
set @firstName = AttributeValue("FirstName")
if empty(@firstName) then
  set @greeting = "Valued Customer"
else
  set @greeting = @firstName
endif
]%%

<p>Dear %%=v(@greeting)=%%,</p>

Q12. What are the various ways in which one can write AMPscript?

Ans. AMPscript can be written in 3 forms:-

• Inline AMPscript

%%=LOWERCASE(Name)=%%

• AMPscript Block

%%[

LOWERCASE(Name)

]%%

• AMPscript Tag

<script runat=server language="ampscript">

            LOWERCASE(Name)

</script>

Q13. Name the entry sources in Journey Builder.

Ans. Journey Builder Entry Sources include:

Data Extension: contacts in a sendable data extension (the most commonly used).

Salesforce Data: contacts are added to the entry source, driven by something happening in Salesforce (eg. a record is created or updated).

Audience: if you’re using Audience Builder to create and publish audiences.

Event: for date-based events (eg. birthdays, anniversaries, reminders, renewals)

API Event: admit new data into journeys coming from a website or another system that may not be integrated with Marketing Cloud.

In-App Message Event:

Inbound Chat:

Mobile App Event:

Push Message Event:

Q14. How is data shared between different SFMC Business Units (BU)?

Ans- To share data between different Business Units (BUs) in Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC), you can use the “Shared” folder feature. Here’s how it works:

1. In the Parent BU: Place the Data Extension (DE) you want to share into a folder labeled “Shared.” This makes the DE available to other BUs.

2. In the Child BU: When you switch to the child BU, you’ll find the shared DE in the “Shared” folder there as well. You can then use this DE within the child BU for your campaigns or other purposes.

Q15. When to use transactional emails and commercial emails?

Ans- Commercial Emails: Use these for marketing and promotions. They include things like special offers, sales announcements, and advertisements aimed at encouraging purchases or engagement with your brand.

Transactional Emails: Use these for important, user-specific information. They are sent in response to a specific action or request, like password resets, order confirmations, or receipts. These emails are meant to keep the user informed about their transactions and activities.

Q16. Dynamic Content vs AMPscript

Ans. Dynamic Content allows you to display different variations of content within an email based on predefined rules or conditions,

What it is: Lets you show different content to different recipients based on predefined rules.

Example: If you have a promotional email, you can use Dynamic Content to show one offer to customers in the U.S. and a different offer to customers in Europe, based on their location data.

AMPscript enables you to personalize and customize email content dynamically by retrieving and manipulating data, performing calculations, and controlling logic.

What it is: A scripting language that lets you create highly personalized content by pulling in data and applying complex logic.

Example: If you want to include a personalized greeting in an email and suggest products based on a customer’s past purchases, you would use AMPscript. For instance, you can write a script to pull the customer’s first name from your database and display a tailored product recommendation based on their previous shopping history.