As I set out to take my Expert Certification renewal late last year (Nov 2023), I was pleasantly surprised to see that Adobe has a set of guides to direct users to various resources for study purposes (much better than when I first took my exams and I had to use Community information entirely as nothing was provided!). However, for the Expert version, it still didn't hit the mark for me because links were general ones - sending me either to Product Documentation or the Community writ large. 

So, I've put together a complete list of the specific resources I used to study for each topic, laid out in the same format as the Adobe study guide, and thought I'd share with the Community that has helped me out so much from my first days with Marketo. Please feel free to share the link with anyone that may benefit, and keep me posted on any links that might expire (I'll keep things updated as the exams/resources evolve).

*Note: Any topics that don't have links are those best understood through use of Marketo and working experience of the tool.

Section 1: Administration and maintenance (12%)

• Determine the mapping process between Marketo and CRM
  • Video: Learn about syncing Marketo to your CRM
  • Resource: View Field Mappings Between Marketo and Salesforce (same process for Microsoft Dynamics 365)
  • Resource: Microsoft Dynamics Sync - Field Sync
• Identify what happened to an asset using the Audit Trail
  • Resource: Audit Trail Overview
  • Resource: Asset Audit Trail
• Recognize differences between users and roles
  • Resource: Managing User Roles and Permissions
• Given a scenario, identify the best fit for using workspace and partitions
  • Resource: Understanding workspaces and partitions
• Identify CRM platforms with native Marketo synchronization
  • Article: Marketo Supported CRM Integrations
• Given a scenario, locate where information is referenced

Section 2: Marketing activities/Campaign management (48%)

• Demonstrate an understanding of Smart Campaigns, logic, constraints, and flow steps
  • Resource: Understanding Smart Campaigns
  • Resource: Understanding Batch & Trigger Campaigns
  • Resource: Using Standard Smart List Rule Logic / Using Advanced Smart List Rule Logic
  • Resource: Add a Constraint to a Smart List Filter
  • Resource: Add a Flow Step to a Smart Campaign
• Given a scenario, define the next step
• Identify the root cause of a problem
• Interpret the relationship between programs, channels, tags, and period cost
  • Resource: Understanding Programs
  • Resource: Create a Program Channel
  • Resource: Understanding Tags
  • Resource: Understanding Period Costs
• Demonstrate/apply the correct configuration to Engagement Programs
  • Video: Engagement Programs
• Give examples of usage for different types of tokens
• Summarize the utility of Webhooks in Marketo and how they are used
  • Resource: Create a Webhook
  • Resource: Call a Webhook
  • Resource: Use a Webhook in a Smart Campaign
• Identify and apply the appropriate use of the PCMF
  • Resource: Program Member Custom Fields
  • Video: Champ Chat - Program Member Custom Fields
• Explain the benefits of Global Assets and how to use them
  • Post: Local vs Global assets in Marketo
• Demonstrate the capabilities of forms
  • Resource: Create a Form
• Perform and analyze an A/B test strategy
• Identify where a program or asset has been referenced with ‘Used By’
• Troubleshoot communication limits
• Use Webinar provider information in an event program

Section 3: Lead management (10%)

• Outline the key decision points in defining the lifecycle model
  • Video: Learn About Building a Person Lifecycle Program
  • Video: How To Build a Person Lifecycle Program
• Apply best practices around lead scoring
  • Video: Learn About Building a Lead/Person Scoring Program
  • Video: How to Build a Lead/Person Scoring Program
• Implement the appropriate interesting moments
  • Resource: Interesting Moments Overview
  • Resource: Using Interesting Moments
• Interpret the lead activity log
• Given a scenario, identify the creation source

Section 4: Data management (10%)

• Demonstrate how to set up a data management program
  • Video: Marketo-Fu – Episode 28: Basic Data Management
  • Resource: Program Template – OP-Data Management
• Analyze an instance’s data quality
  • Resource: Data Quality in Marketo Engage
  • Resource: Marketo Activities Data Retention Policy
• Identify a few key pieces of Marketo’s data retention policy as it relates to smart lists
  • Resource: Marketo Activities Data Retention Policy
• Summarize how segmentation works
  • Resource: How To Create a Segmentation

Section 5: Reporting (5%)

• Given an outcome of a campaign, determine how to set up a program to provide the best reporting
• Given a scenario, be able to investigate and assign the appropriate acquisition program
  • Resource: Understanding Program Membership (bottom of article)
  • Resource: Understanding Attribution

Section 6: Best practices (15%)

• Demonstrate the relevance of lead scoring in marketing and sales collaboration
  • Post: Marketo Success Series: Lead Scoring
• Illustrate the benefits of the folder structure and naming conventions
  • Post: Program Naming Best Practices
• Apply best practices around A/B testing
  • Video: Learn about using A/B testing to improve email performance
  • Video: Create an A/B test
• Explain the process to perform a quality check on any Marketo program
  • Article: Testing Principles and Techniques in Marketo
• Explain the process to perform a quality check on an email
  • Article: Testing Principles and Techniques in Marketo

Last updated: Tuesday, January 16, 2024