Playing with the AI-Powered Stensul Email Subject Line Tool

I saw an email pop in my inbox last week from our pals at Stensul. The subject line read “Simple and quick subject lines? The Stensul way it is.” Inside the email was a link to try out an AI-powered email subject line generator.

I had to check it out.

I spend lots of time in my role at Sercante writing and editing copy for marketing assets like emails, blog posts, landing pages, and social media posts. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten in an editing hole testing different variations of words for email subject lines until I find the perfect one.

That’s what got me so excited about the tool.

Email Subject Lines that Inspire Action and Curiosity

Each email you send through your marketing automation tool has such a small chance to get people to do the things you’re asking them to do. So, it’s especially important to write an impactful email subject line to get people curious about what your email has to offer. You also have to provide value by offering your reader clear expectations about what’s inside the email. 

I’m thinking the Stensul email subject line generator will be helpful for achieving those goals. I’m also thinking we can use it to create subject line variations for A/B testing.

Trying the Stensul Subject Line Generator on Sercante Emails

I guess the best way to see how this thing works is to dive in. First, I went to the subject line generator landing page and traded my info for access to the tool. A few seconds later, I got an email with my magic link to use it.

Here’s what it looks like:

You’re prompted to enter the text of your email along with details like your company type, industry, and tone of voice along with word limit for the subject line. 

The tone of voice options range from average to entertaining. Here are the options:

Tone of voice options
  • Enthusiastic
  • Funny
  • Informational
  • Casual
  • Professional
  • Pirate-Like
  • Yoda
  • Shakespearean

I tested it out using a few older Sercante emails to see what subject lines it produces.

Here are examples from my exploration:

Sercante 2022 Year in Review Email Example

Here’s what I got when copy-pasted the content from our 2022 year in review email and asked for 10-word subject lines.

Original subject line: ➡ Join Us In Celebrating Our Milestones ❇

The email:

Results with Enthusiastic Tone:

  1. 🎉 Celebrating a Year of Growth & Opportunity with Sercante! 🚀
  2. 2022 Highlights: Sercante’s Unforgettable Journey 🔥
  3. 🌟 Sercante’s 2022 Milestones: Thanks for the Support!
  4. ✨ Sercante’s Incredible Growth: Join our 2023 Adventure!
  5. 🚀 Cheers to Sercante’s Success: Let’s Make 2023 Even Better!

Results with Funny Tone:

  1. Hold Our 🍾: Sercante’s Wild & Wonderful 2022 Recap!🎉
  2. 🚀Blast Off! Sercante’s Stellar 2022 Highlights Inside😄
  3. Unleashing the Fury: Sercante’s 🐉-Filled 2022 Adventures
  4. 🎂Sercante Turns 5: Our Side-Splitting, Record-Breaking Year!😂
  5. Brace Yourself: Sercante’s 2022 Rollercoaster Ride Awaits!🎢

Note: I love that it’s intuitive enough to throw a dragon emoji in there.

Results with Yoda Tone:

  1. Growth & Opportunity, 2022 We Celebrate, Yoda Says
  2. Memorable Year, Sercante’s Journey, Learn You Will
  3. Gratitude and Success, 2022 Recap, Stronger Together
  4. Salesforce Support, Sercante Achievements, Future Yoda Sees
  5. Embark 2023, Marketers’ Galactic Adventures Await Us

The Spot & Jenna Molby Partnership Email Example

Here’s more email subject line generator exploration using an email we sent to announce Jenna Molby’s partnership with The Spot.

Original subject line: A shining Salesforce star is joining The Spot 🤩

The email: 

Results with Informational Tone:

  1. Discover Jenna Molby’s Salesforce Insights on The Spot
  2. Elevate Your Marketing with Jenna Molby & The Spot
  3. Master Pardot: Jenna Molby’s Tools & Tips Now Live
  4. Unleash Your Salesforce Potential: Jenna Molby & The Spot
  5. Jenna Molby’s Salesforce Expertise Joins The Spot Library

Results with Informational Tone:

  1. Jenna Molby Joins The Spot: Upgrade Your Salesforce Game
  2. The Spot + Jenna Molby: A Match Made in Salesforce Heaven
  3. Jenna Molby’s Salesforce Secrets Now on The Spot!
  4. Boost Your Salesforce Skills with Jenna Molby & The Spot
  5. Unleash Your Marketing Superpowers with Jenna Molby & The Spot

Results with Pirate-Like Tone:

  1. Ahoy Mateys! The Spot & Jenna Molby’s Treasure Trove Unveiled
  2. Sail into Salesforce Success with Jenna Molby’s Insights
  3. Chart Yer Course with Jenna Molby’s Ultimate Salesforce Guides
  4. Discover the Hidden Gems of Salesforce with Jenna Molby
  5. Jenna Molby’s Swashbuckling Salesforce Secrets Unleashed

Results with Shakespearean Tone:

  1. Behold! Thee Spot & Jenna Molby: A Veritable Pairing
  2. Pray, Joineth The Spot for Molby’s Salesforce Wisdom
  3. Salesforce Mastery: Jenna & The Spot Unite in Harmony
  4. Rejoice! Jenna Molby’s Tools Now Grace The Spot
  5. Hark! Jenna Molby’s Top Guides, Now on The Spot

My thoughts overall on the email subject line generator

This tool is super handy for coming up with subject line variations for emails. I especially see it being helpful when my brain is done and I simply can’t write another word — let alone something that grabs people’s attention.

And that’s the thing about email subject lines. Writing them is often the last thing we do in the email copywriting process. But we should be paying closer attention so we have greater chances of getting clicks from our email recipients.

The more copy the better

I did learn one caveat while using the subject line generator tool. It works better on emails that have a higher volume of copy. My first example was a true newsletter with 667 words of copy, while the second example had about 415 words of copy. 

The generator results were spot on in my opinion for the first email while I was underwhelmed by the results for the second email. That may be because the second example had significantly less copy and sections. It makes sense because the tool needs enough information to pull from so it can summarize into a short subject line. I’m also loving the emoji suggestions, but I didn’t get those with all of my results.

Where AI Tools Fit in Content Marketing

You’ve probably heard lots of talk lately about OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool and other AI-powered chatbots that we’re seeing in the content marketing world. The Stensul Email Subject Line generator belongs to the wave of tools that are powered by GPT4, which is the latest iteration of OpenAI’s chatbot. 

I’ve seen blog and social posts from people who aren’t seeing the potential in these tools. But I think these tools are giving more power to individual content creators.

I was recently discussing how AI tools affect content marketers with my fellow dragon, Marcos Duran. He brought up a great point that he heard in conversations with people at a martech networking event.

Someone said something to the effect of “ChatGPT turns a content creator into an editor.” And I couldn’t agree more.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather fix a mediocre sentence than start from scratch. And that’s what these AI tools are all about. They create a starting point, and you still need highly skilled individuals to add the human touch. 

What are your thoughts on the impact of AI chatbot tools on content marketing? Be sure to let us know your thoughts on the AI debate in the comments section. Or reach out to team Sercante if you’re looking to add a human touch to your marketing campaigns.

Original article: Playing with the AI-Powered Stensul Email Subject Line Tool

©2023 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Playing with the AI-Powered Stensul Email Subject Line Tool appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-03-24T15:47:49+00:00March 24th, 2023|Categories: Emails & Templates, Getting Started, Real Talk, revive|
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The Right Way to Use Statistics in Your Marketing Content

You are 72% more likely to keep reading a blog post when the author uses a data point in the first sentence. That’s because sharing numbers makes it sound like you looked at studies related to your topic. And using those statistics in marketing content makes the information you share seem reliable so people find value in it.

But more often than not, marketing writers do a quick web search to find a statistic. Their quick web search takes them to a blog post where the author uses a statistic but doesn’t say where the stat came from. It seems legit enough, so they grab the stat to use in their blog post.

Our dear marketers have the best of intentions. But these wearers of many hats are usually short on time.

Who knows, they may just pull a number out of thin air and hope nobody looks into it. 

(seriously, don’t cite the 72% stat I just gave you)

Always Check the Numbers

As someone who’s been proofreading and editing marketing things other people write for almost 15 years, I can tell you that I always double check the statistics authors use. 

That’s because the statistics aren’t adding any real value to the piece unless the numbers are reliable and include context around them. Don’t get me started on ChatGPT content pieces.

How to Use Statistics in Marketing Content

I’m not knocking using statistics in marketing content at all. I think it’s super important to research what you’re writing about so you can focus on collective knowledge rather than just your own thoughts. And using numbers does catch the attention of your audience and give you an authoritative voice.

But, there’s a right way to do it. And the wrong way.

Statistics in marketing

The Right Way to Use Statistics in Marketing Content

Let’s get you on the right track so you can use statistics in your marketing content and sound like a boss. 

The best way to use statistics is to provide context around the numbers. Then, the reader can understand what the numbers mean to them and truly find value in your content.

Here’s an example of a GOOD use of a stat

“According to a 2022 survey conducted by Content Marketing Institute, 47% of content marketers said they will hire or contract with content producers (writers, designers, photographers, videographers) in 2023.”

Original source that tells you how they came up with the stat

The source we cited here is linked to the original. And the original source includes all the information we need to know to accurately interpret the statistics within the full study. We know it was a 2022 survey from CMI, and the author even provided the survey’s definition of content producers.

After clicking on the link, we find out that On24 sponsored the survey as part of the B2B Content Marketing Report. And the source includes demographic and methodological information on the last slide of the PDF.

Add Context for your Statistics

There aren’t any hard-and-fast rules for providing context about stats to your readers unless your company or organization has defined those rules. 

Your company may have well-defined writing style guidelines you can refer to, and I encourage you to follow them. But if your company doesn’t have that worked out already, then you can follow these simple guidelines and share with your teammates. (consistency is awesome!)

Elements that add context to statistics

  • A link to the original source, and check that the link is working
    • Tip: Use a website plugin to check for broken links if you have a lot of content with linked statistics and resources.
  • A date to indicate the age of the statistic
  • The name of the source

Who is Your Audience?

You know your audience better than we do. That should guide what information to include with your statistics. Give your audience the information they need to understand why that statistic is important to them. 

Things to consider when determining if a source is reliable

On the surface, a statistic may seem reliable when it actually isn’t. The main questions to ask yourself about the statistic are:

  • What organization collected the information? Look for studies that were conducted by impartial organizations like universities, industry associations like the CMO Council, and research consulting companies like McKinsey and Forrester. 
  • When did they collect it? The study may be old. This is an especially important factor to consider when using statistics related to technology and economics.
  • How did they collect it? Look for what methodology was used to collect the data. If it was a survey, look for the sample size or geographic area from which the data was collected. These factors can have a big impact on the reliability of the data points and how the data relates to your message.
  • And why did they collect it? The source may be a study funded by a special interest group that structured the study or presented the results in a misleading way.
Tip for our Salesforce ecosystem readers

There’s a searchable Salesforce Stat Library to make it easier to find statistics from Salesforce annual reports. It includes specific stats about industry trends for people working in sales, marketing, service, IT, manufacturing, human resources, financial services, and public and nonprofit sectors.

The Wrong Way to Use Stats in Marketing

For illustrative purposes, we’ll review the WRONG way to use data points in marketing content. 

Here’s a bad example:

“You are 35% more likely to close a deal if you follow up on a lead within 48 hours.”

So what’s wrong with that statement? 

The author did not cite their source for the 35% statistic. And because of that, the reader has no idea what that statistic is based on. The study may have been completed in an industry that isn’t relevant to the reader. Or maybe the study is 15 years old, and we all know that sales processes have changed in that time.

Here’s another example:

“When text in a call to action button is changed from second-person viewpoint to first-person viewpoint, clicks improve by 90%. (Campaign Monitor)”

The example includes a link to the source, but it’s not the original source. The linked source tells you the name of the original source without a link to it.

A Google search of the stat and the original source, Unbounce, takes us to a 2013 blog post. The blog post author wrote the post in reference to an A/B testing case study from a consulting client, but it doesn’t provide demographic info or sample details. 

The statistic becomes less powerful and when you add context to it:

“According to a 2013 Unbounce client case study, changing text in a call to action button from second-person viewpoint to first-person viewpoint improves clicks by 90%.”

The original example sounds like a generalizable statement. But in reality, the number came from a single test that happened a decade ago. That’s why using the statistic in this case isn’t adding value for the reader.

(Hi Unbounce and Campaign Monitor – we mean no disrespect and hope our links boost your SEO😊)

What Do You Do When You Can’t Find Reliable or Original Sources

Nobody is forcing you to use that stat. And if they are, then send them a link to this blog post so you can educate them.

The best way to approach the use of stats in your marketing is to lean into information you CAN rely on. And if you don’t have that information, figure out what processes you can put in place to gather reliable information you can use down the road. 

You could build a process to survey your clients before and after engaging with your company, and optimize your reporting dashboards to track the results of your efforts over time. Or, maybe your company could benefit from using a subscription service like Statista to get access to original sources.

Do you have cool stats about your audience that you can share? 

Maybe it’s time to start collecting data about your audience and community. Lucky for you, there’s lots of tools you can use for collecting data about your audience. 

Here’s are blog posts about a few of our favorites:

Stats Are Better When You Add Context

Hopefully this post shines a light on using statistics in marketing content. Despite the best efforts of  marketers everywhere, it’s one of those things that I see people get wrong more often than not. 

But, you can get it right every time when you provide context to your statistics. Give the reader details like where the information is coming from, how and why it was collected, and what the date was when it was originally gathered or published. 

What are your thoughts on using statistics in marketing content? Any fun horror stories to share? Tell us about it in the comments section.

Original article: The Right Way to Use Statistics in Your Marketing Content

©2023 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post The Right Way to Use Statistics in Your Marketing Content appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-02-24T20:36:43+00:00February 24th, 2023|Categories: Getting Started, Real Talk, revive, Strategy|
Read More

The Right Way to Use Statistics in Your Marketing Content

You are 72% more likely to keep reading a blog post when the author uses a data point in the first sentence. That’s because sharing numbers makes it sound like you looked at studies related to your topic. And using those statistics in marketing content makes the information you share seem reliable so people find value in it.

But more often than not, marketing writers do a quick web search to find a statistic. Their quick web search takes them to a blog post where the author uses a statistic but doesn’t say where the stat came from. It seems legit enough, so they grab the stat to use in their blog post.

Our dear marketers have the best of intentions. But these wearers of many hats are usually short on time.

Who knows, they may just pull a number out of thin air and hope nobody looks into it. 

(seriously, don’t cite the 72% stat I just gave you)

Always Check the Numbers

As someone who’s been proofreading and editing marketing things other people write for almost 15 years, I can tell you that I always double check the statistics authors use. 

That’s because the statistics aren’t adding any real value to the piece unless the numbers are reliable and include context around them. Don’t get me started on ChatGPT content pieces.

How to Use Statistics in Marketing Content

I’m not knocking using statistics in marketing content at all. I think it’s super important to research what you’re writing about so you can focus on collective knowledge rather than just your own thoughts. And using numbers does catch the attention of your audience and give you an authoritative voice.

But, there’s a right way to do it. And the wrong way.

Statistics in marketing

The Right Way to Use Statistics in Marketing Content

Let’s get you on the right track so you can use statistics in your marketing content and sound like a boss. 

The best way to use statistics is to provide context around the numbers. Then, the reader can understand what the numbers mean to them and truly find value in your content.

Here’s an example of a GOOD use of a stat

“According to a 2022 survey conducted by Content Marketing Institute, 47% of content marketers said they will hire or contract with content producers (writers, designers, photographers, videographers) in 2023.”

Original source that tells you how they came up with the stat

The source we cited here is linked to the original. And the original source includes all the information we need to know to accurately interpret the statistics within the full study. We know it was a 2022 survey from CMI, and the author even provided the survey’s definition of content producers.

After clicking on the link, we find out that On24 sponsored the survey as part of the B2B Content Marketing Report. And the source includes demographic and methodological information on the last slide of the PDF.

Add Context for your Statistics

There aren’t any hard-and-fast rules for providing context about stats to your readers unless your company or organization has defined those rules. 

Your company may have well-defined writing style guidelines you can refer to, and I encourage you to follow them. But if your company doesn’t have that worked out already, then you can follow these simple guidelines and share with your teammates. (consistency is awesome!)

Elements that add context to statistics

  • A link to the original source, and check that the link is working
    • Tip: Use a website plugin to check for broken links if you have a lot of content with linked statistics and resources.
  • A date to indicate the age of the statistic
  • The name of the source

Who is Your Audience?

You know your audience better than we do. That should guide what information to include with your statistics. Give your audience the information they need to understand why that statistic is important to them. 

Things to consider when determining if a source is reliable

On the surface, a statistic may seem reliable when it actually isn’t. The main questions to ask yourself about the statistic are:

  • What organization collected the information? Look for studies that were conducted by impartial organizations like universities, industry associations like the CMO Council, and research consulting companies like McKinsey and Forrester. 
  • When did they collect it? The study may be old. This is an especially important factor to consider when using statistics related to technology and economics.
  • How did they collect it? Look for what methodology was used to collect the data. If it was a survey, look for the sample size or geographic area from which the data was collected. These factors can have a big impact on the reliability of the data points and how the data relates to your message.
  • And why did they collect it? The source may be a study funded by a special interest group that structured the study or presented the results in a misleading way.
Tip for our Salesforce ecosystem readers

There’s a searchable Salesforce Stat Library to make it easier to find statistics from Salesforce annual reports. It includes specific stats about industry trends for people working in sales, marketing, service, IT, manufacturing, human resources, financial services, and public and nonprofit sectors.

The Wrong Way to Use Stats in Marketing

For illustrative purposes, we’ll review the WRONG way to use data points in marketing content. 

Here’s a bad example:

“You are 35% more likely to close a deal if you follow up on a lead within 48 hours.”

So what’s wrong with that statement? 

The author did not cite their source for the 35% statistic. And because of that, the reader has no idea what that statistic is based on. The study may have been completed in an industry that isn’t relevant to the reader. Or maybe the study is 15 years old, and we all know that sales processes have changed in that time.

Here’s another example:

“When text in a call to action button is changed from second-person viewpoint to first-person viewpoint, clicks improve by 90%. (Campaign Monitor)”

The example includes a link to the source, but it’s not the original source. The linked source tells you the name of the original source without a link to it.

A Google search of the stat and the original source, Unbounce, takes us to a 2013 blog post. The blog post author wrote the post in reference to an A/B testing case study from a consulting client, but it doesn’t provide demographic info or sample details. 

The statistic becomes less powerful and when you add context to it:

“According to a 2013 Unbounce client case study, changing text in a call to action button from second-person viewpoint to first-person viewpoint improves clicks by 90%.”

The original example sounds like a generalizable statement. But in reality, the number came from a single test that happened a decade ago. That’s why using the statistic in this case isn’t adding value for the reader.

(Hi Unbounce and Campaign Monitor – we mean no disrespect and hope our links boost your SEO😊)

What Do You Do When You Can’t Find Reliable or Original Sources

Nobody is forcing you to use that stat. And if they are, then send them a link to this blog post so you can educate them.

The best way to approach the use of stats in your marketing is to lean into information you CAN rely on. And if you don’t have that information, figure out what processes you can put in place to gather reliable information you can use down the road. 

You could build a process to survey your clients before and after engaging with your company, and optimize your reporting dashboards to track the results of your efforts over time. Or, maybe your company could benefit from using a subscription service like Statista to get access to original sources.

Do you have cool stats about your audience that you can share? 

Maybe it’s time to start collecting data about your audience and community. Lucky for you, there’s lots of tools you can use for collecting data about your audience. 

Here’s are blog posts about a few of our favorites:

Stats Are Better When You Add Context

Hopefully this post shines a light on using statistics in marketing content. Despite the best efforts of  marketers everywhere, it’s one of those things that I see people get wrong more often than not. 

But, you can get it right every time when you provide context to your statistics. Give the reader details like where the information is coming from, how and why it was collected, and what the date was when it was originally gathered or published. 

What are your thoughts on using statistics in marketing content? Any fun horror stories to share? Tell us about it in the comments section.

Original article: The Right Way to Use Statistics in Your Marketing Content

©2023 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post The Right Way to Use Statistics in Your Marketing Content appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-02-24T20:36:43+00:00February 24th, 2023|Categories: Getting Started, Real Talk, revive, Strategy|
Read More

Why You Should Delete Marketing Contacts Regularly

Like the title says — if you’re a Salesforce user, then you should be deleting your marketing contacts on a regular basis.

Okay, hear me out.

Of course I don’t mean all your contacts. And I don’t even necessarily mean delete delete (in some cases). Let me explain.

As marketers, we hoard and protect our contacts like dragons guarding our treasure. Our instinct is to grow — and keep — our contacts database as large as possible. After all, more contacts mean more people for the ever-demanding funnel.

But I’m here to tell you: stop it.

Why? Because as with many things in life, quality over quantity is what should matter here, even within the gaping maw that is the top of the funnel. 

And for more reasons than you think. Here are the three main ones.

Reason #1: Salesforce Puts a Cap on Contacts

Let’s start with the purely technical and perhaps thoroughly obvious: Salesforce gives you a finite number of contacts to keep. The number you can have varies depending on the plan you’re on and the optional number contact block add-ons you purchase.

No matter how adequate that number may seem at the time, it will start being not enough very shortly if you don’t have any safeguards in place.

Furthermore, the criteria for what counts towards this limit differs between Marketing Cloud Engagement (or MCE, formerly Marketing Cloud) and Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE, formerly Pardot… I know one day we’ll get used to the rebrand).

In Marketing Cloud Engagement:

MCE Edition Pro Corporate Enterprise
Base Contact Count 15k 45k 500k

Any Contact record (aka, any record on a sendable data extension with a unique ContactKey) on the All Contacts list counts towards MCE’s Contact Count limit. This includes:

  • Mobile contacts
  • Email subscribers
  • Any contacts from synchronized data sources (e.g., Salesforce objects). 

This is also why it is best practice to use a single ContactKey across Mobile, Email, and Synced Data Sources to prevent duplicates from unnecessarily eating up your Contact Count. 

You can monitor your Contact Count using the All Contacts list in Contact Builder.

Fun gotcha moment: If you’re syncing Salesforce Leads and Contacts and a Lead converts into a Contact, MCE will still count that synced Lead record and the new synced Contact record as two Contacts because they will still have two separate ContactKeys.
Fun gotcha moment #2: Even if you reduce the number of records on your synced sendable data extension, your All Contacts list count may not change. 

You will need to do some additional manual work here to enable contacts deletion from MCE if you haven’t done so already. Go to Contact Builder > Contacts Configuration and then choose the contacts you want to delete. 

If you want to mass delete a large number of contacts, you will either need to:
a) import a list of contacts back into MCE (counter-intuitive, I know) and then configure MCE to delete your contacts based off of that list 
– or –
b) create a REST API call to mass delete your contacts.

In Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot):

MCAE Edition Growth Plus Advanced Premium
Contact Blocks 10k (additional 10k blocks are $100/month 10k (additional 10k blocks are $150/month) 10k (additional 10k blocks are $300/month) 75k (additional 10k blocks are $400/month)

Fortunately, this is more straightforward. Any prospect record with a mailable status counts towards your mailable database limit. 

That’s it. You can keep an eye on your mailable database limit from the Pardot Settings tab.

Reason #2: Privacy Features Aren’t Going Away

In September 2021 as part of the iOS 15 updates, Apple rolled out Mail Privacy functionality that allowed its users to easily create throwaway email addresses for form fills (a common practice that many were already doing, Apple just automated it). 

Eight years prior to that, Google had broken up its Gmail inbox into tabbed categories in a better effort to keep “less important” emails — like marketing emails — from clogging up your immediate inbox. This year, Google will officially sunset its use of third-party cookies for tracking.

Suffice to say: more privacy features are coming into play and more consumers are concerned with how their data is being collected, stored, and used.

This is all great for consumer privacy, but less so for our marketing efforts.

Without intervention, we could face the possibility of having a database where a sizable portion of our contacts are, at best, completely unengaged, or, at worst, aren’t actually legitimate contacts in the first place.

Reason #3: You’re Skewing Your Metrics

Now take the nightmare scenario in Reason #2 and think about what this does to our precious email metrics. If we consistently send to a database of unengaged or non-legitimate contacts, leading to artificially low open rates and potentially high bounce rates, we’re skewing our own engagement rates from the start.

And if we’re relying on our engagement rates to determine campaign KPIs and attribution, we’ll have already introduced flawed data into our analysis.

How to Keep Your Marketing Contact Database as Clean as Possible

Okay, you’ve made some good points, I hopefully assume you’re thinking. So what can I do?

Well I’m glad you asked, because I have some tips for both Marketing Cloud Engagement and Marketing Cloud Account Engagement users.

Implement a Cold Leads Strategy

This is where I’m asking you to look deep inside yourself and fight against the marketer’s urge to hold onto all your contacts (or leads or prospects or whatever terminology you want to use here) for as long as possible under the hope that they’ll re-engage if you happen to send the right message at the right time.

Sure, you can always purchase additional space for more contacts, but why keep throwing more money after bad? Showing a little less mercy now will improve your marketing efforts later. As an additional consideration for MCE users, you also have to contend with a cap on how many communications you can send per subscription term. So why waste them?

Use Automations to Keep Your Database Clean

To start with, you can automate this process through features like: Automation Rules and Engagement Studio Programs (for MCAE) or Automation Studio and Journey Builder journeys (for MCE). 

But the rough idea is to do the following:

Step 1: Put a quantifiable limit on how long you’ll consider someone who hasn’t engaged with any of your communications as “active.” This can be an actual time limit or after a certain number of consecutively unopened emails.

Step 2: Move these cold contacts somewhere else. Take them out of your regular communications, whether it’s through tags, a separate list segment, or a separate data extension. It’s time to put these contacts on a separate slower, low-frequency campaign.

Step 3: Send them an email again in a few weeks, maybe even months. Maybe send them another one later if you’re still full of hope. Give them a few more last chances to show engagement. The goal here is to check for a pulse, not necessarily to market anything at this point. This may also be the place where you can A/B test a few subject lines with pretty low stakes.

Step 4: If they re-engage: great! You can return them to the fold (or better still, use this opportunity to find out what their content preferences are by pointing them to an email preference center and letting them self-select their interests). If they don’t engage, get rid of them. 

  • Put them in the recycle bin if you’re a Marketing Cloud Account Engagement user (bonus: if you keep these prospects in the recycle bin, MCAE will automatically restore the prospect if they show signs of activity later on). 
  • Or, delete their record and unsync them in Marketing Cloud Engagement (we’ll talk about how to do this in a moment). 
  • You may even want to consider deleting the corresponding Salesforce record, because Salesforce has a data storage limit too.

If the idea of permanent deletion is too daunting, you can always export them to a spreadsheet and archive them elsewhere. You’ll still have the contact information, but it won’t be taking up space within your database.

Clean Out Your Hard Bounces

Make it routine to regularly clean out (or update) your contacts who have a hard bounce status. 

  • In addition to viewing your engagement metrics for each email send, MCAE also offers a helpful overall Email Bounce report on your prospects (you can find this under Pardot Reports > Marketing Assets > Emails > Email Bounces). 
  • With MCE, you can automate a query of the Bounce Data view and Subscriber statuses in Automation Studio.

Yes, both MCE and MCAE will (eventually) stop emailing any address with a hard bounce status. Yes, MCAE will automatically render a prospect with a hard bounce status as unmailable, meaning that the prospect won’t count towards your contact limit.

But in MCE, even if you can’t send emails to a Contact with a Bounced status, the contact will still count towards your Contact Count. And whether you’re using MCE or MCAE, if the contact has a corresponding Salesforce record, that record will also contribute to Salesforce’s overall data storage limit.

Furthermore, discrepancies between your segmentation lists or data extension numbers and what your email deliverability numbers actually are could cause some initial confusion among any users who aren’t aware of the automated mechanisms MCAE and MCE use to keep you from sending to unmailable addresses.

Be Selective about Salesforce Syncing

Being selective about who in your Salesforce database gets synced to MCE or MCAE will not only ensure that you aren’t sending marketing emails to contacts who shouldn’t be getting them (e.g. contacts who have not explicitly opted in, partners, vendors, and other operational contacts), but will also help you manage your contacts cap. 

In both cases, you will need to have automations in place that will determine the criteria for your sync trigger.

Now with MCE, let’s talk about the vexing problem of Leads and Contacts and the potential for duplicates. As mentioned earlier, even if your synced Salesforce Lead converts into a now synced Contact, your now defunct Lead record will still count towards your Contact Count. 

How to manage this? Build criteria into the automation that updates your MCE boolean syncing field to unsync the Lead when it converts. 

The Leads object has a number of different Lead Conversion-related fields you can use for your criteria — I like using the IsConverted boolean field, for example.

Use a Double Opt-in Signup Process

Using a double opt-in signup process for when a new contact is created is good practice to comply with various global data privacy laws and confirm a contact’s genuine interest in receiving your marketing emails. It also has the helpful benefit of verifying whether or not the email address on record is real. 

While this isn’t a 100% foolproof guarantee that a contact still isn’t using a throwaway email address, it will cut down on the number of outright junk emails entering your database.

Pay Attention to Auto-Replies

The deluge of autoresponders and out-of-office replies that result when you send an email to a large list can be a painful constant in a marketer’s life depending on a) whether you’re using MCE or MCAE (MCE has pretty robust Reply Mail Management functionality) and b) what processes you or your organization have set up to manage auto-replies. 

But there’s a silver lining to all this: what is being said in these auto-replies can be telling, especially in cases where the auto-reply lets you know that the contact is no longer going to be using the email address you have on record for them (usually in cases where the contact used an educational or organizational email address).

Creating a filter for key phrases often found in auto-replies where a contact is moving on from their organization (“moving on,” “leaving,” “no longer affiliated,” etc.) can give you a heads-up on removing that contact from your own database instead of waiting for the pending hard bounce when that email account is deactivated (which can range from very soon to months to never, depending on the organization’s offboarding process, or lack thereof). 

Save yourself from another auto-reply in your inbox, the contact taking up space in your database, and sending who-knows-how-many emails to an abandoned address.

Keeping Your Database Clean is an Ongoing Thing

Contact caps in your marketing database can feel like imaginary numbers to contacts-hungry marketers until their Salesforce Account Executive sends that dreaded over-limits notification. While it’s tempting to simply pay more to keep expanding your database cap, the cost does add up and it doesn’t address the root issues that could be impacting your database.

Without a little routine maintenance and ruthlessness to weed out your unengaged contacts and outright bad email addresses, your database can very easily become a hot mess, and any cleanup efforts thereafter will only become more challenging the longer it is allowed to go on. 

But a smart strategy (with help from a little automation) to filter and clean up your marketing database will not only be more cost-effective, but will maintain the integrity of your data.

Have any hot tips to share for keeping your contact list clean? Tell us in the comments.

Original article: Why You Should Delete Marketing Contacts Regularly

©2023 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Why You Should Delete Marketing Contacts Regularly appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-02-08T15:54:25+00:00February 8th, 2023|Categories: Getting Started, Real Talk, revive, Setup & Admin, Strategy|
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Explore the Journey to Salesforce Certified

It’s been a few weeks since Andrea Tarrell and I spoke at Salesforce World Tour NYC about the journey to getting Salesforce certified. As someone with five years of experience in the ecosystem, I have been able to earn many Salesforce certifications along the way and have always wanted to help others achieve their certification goals as they have helped me. 

That’s why I am still so happy I was able to join Andrea as a co-presenter. Our team was excited to share our certification journeys and knowledge with the community, and we hope this post that recaps our World Tour presentation is helpful as you work toward earning Salesforce certified designations.

Jordyn Jaffer and Andrea Tarrell presenting at Salesforce World Tour New York in December 2022.

Salesforce Certified 101

If you’ve been in the ecosystem for a little bit, then you’re probably familiar with the process of becoming Salesforce certified and what certifications are available. But, you should still pay attention. 

The Salesforce certification program is constantly evolving. What used to be a collection of a handful of certifications has expanded to over 40 certifications across Salesforce roles over the years. The certifications are typically connected to a specific role customer and partner role persona that Salesforce has defined.

Salesforce Certified Persona Roles

 Salesforce certified personas are spread across six roles:

  • Admin
  • Developer
  • Marketer
  • Designer
  • Consultant
  • Architect

These certifications are globally recognized achievements that Trailblazers can earn to highlight their expertise and skills in a specific topic or product. Varying in skill level from the initial Salesforce Administrator exam up to the Technical Architect board review, there are plenty of certifications for you to consider in your journey. 

Check out the amazing visual on this page, which our friends at SalesforceBen put together to highlight the different certification pathways available to you.

Certification Exam Details

Each exam typically consists of 60-65 multiple choice questions. You’ll notice that each exam provides a specific percentage of questions you need to answer correctly to successfully pass the exam. 

These passing percentages are important to pay attention to as you prepare for your exam date. For example, you may be able to pass the Data Architect exam with only 58% of the questions correct, but the newer Business Analyst certification needs 72% correct for you to pass. 

For those who have attempted exams but might not have passed, some exams are moving toward just 3 multiple choice answers for each question and could make the experience easier for those who have a hard time picking the best answer for each question.

Why Should You Get Salesforce Certified?

So now you have some knowledge of what Salesforce certifications are, but you might be wondering “why should I bother getting certified?” 

Boost Your Career

As mentioned earlier, Salesforce certifications are widely recognized and can even potentially help when transitioning into other careers. That’s because they showcase transferable industry skills. They are also considered a resume-worthy accomplishment that will definitely help you stand out in the job market. 

According to a survey from the 2022-23 Mason Frank Careers and Hiring Guide, 86% of respondents said Salesforce certifications help professionals stand out in a competitive job market, and 90% of Salesforce certified respondents said their certifications make them more marketable. 

Source: Mason Frank

Prove it to Yourself

For myself and many others, certifications have become a source of personal gratification. If you are doubting yourself when it comes to a specific topic, it’s amazing when you’re able to prove to yourself and to others that you have the knowledge of that Salesforce topic. 

It is worth noting that going after a Salesforce certification with minimal experience is not usually advised as a certification can never stand in the way of actual experience of a Salesforce product/feature. Finally, certifications showcase your commitment to your personal and professional development and can ultimately provide you an opportunity to boost your earning potential.

Story Time! How We Got Our Salesforce Certifications

Andrea and I have had very different experiences when it came to our Salesforce journeys, as with everyone else. But I love that our journeys have slightly connected as we both strive to provide the best experience to our clients at Sercante. 

I knew who Andrea was, especially since we were both based in Atlanta for two years. But I never imagined working for her company or speaking next to her at a Salesforce event. 

This is why I love when trailblazers share their journeys; people realize that they can have similar experiences as long as they show a willingness to learn and lean on the community. Who knows, maybe you’ll join us at Sercante in the future as well… (we’re hiring!)

Andrea’s Certification Journey

Andrea Tarrell, CEO and founder of Sercante and The Spot, began her Salesforce career as most of us have: as an accidental admin. 

Working as the one-woman marketing department for an insurance brokerage, Andrea was tasked with learning Salesforce at HNI Risk as the company didn’t have a Salesforce administrator at the time.

Andrea wasn’t interested in getting a certification during this time because she didn’t see the value in them. But, she started to appreciate the Salesforce ecosystem when she caught the Salesforce bug at Dreamforce in 2011. “Without exaggeration, attending Dreamforce was truly a pivotal moment in my career trajectory,” Andrea said. This was also her first introduction to Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot), and the experience led her to implementing Pardot at HNI shortly after.

Joining the Salesforce Partner Community

During the Summer of 2016, Andrea decided to leave the Wisconsin area to head down to Atlanta, Georgia without any jobs or friends in place. She later joined the Salesforce partner, Configuro, as the Pardot practice lead and director of marketing and suddenly had a reason to get certified. 

Salesforce consultancies usually request their employees get certain certifications to determine their tier ranking in the Salesforce AppExchange. So, Andrea knew she had to make up for lost time. 

Over the course of a year at Configuro, she achieved six Salesforce certifications, including the retired Marketing Cloud Social Specialist certification. During this time, she also leaned on the Trailblazer Community heavily to network as much as she could.

Founding a Salesforce Consulting Firm

After starting The Spot for Pardot (now officially The Spot) in September 2017, Andrea started to consider opening up her own consultancy as well. Sercante was born and has grown into a nearly 70-employee consultancy with expertise in Salesforce, Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot), Marketing Cloud Engagement (OG Marketing Cloud/Exact Target), and various other services such as analytics and digital services. 

Andrea noticed a new fire to continue learning things relevant to her clients early on and achieved an additional six certifications over the course of a few months. She has also been named a Salesforce MVP as well as a Salesforce Marketing Champion and serves on a few Partner Advisory Boards as she continues to strive to make marketers successful on the Salesforce platform.

Still not sure about getting Salesforce certified? Read Andrea’s hot take on the value of certifications in this blog post.

My Certification Journey

Similar to Andrea, my Salesforce career began right out of college when I moved down to Atlanta, Georgia to join the Atlanta Braves as a CRM and Analytics Trainee. 

The Braves were using Microsoft Dynamics at the time, and they were beginning their migration to Salesforce. While completing data analysis tasks, I started to learn Salesforce on my own when I saw a need within the organization. 

Getting Promoted to an Accidental Admin Role

By the time we went live with the implementation in July 2018, I was promoted to CRM specialist and served as the Salesforce and Pardot admin while working closely with the newly hired Salesforce developer. I went for my first certification in December of that year. Then I tackled three more in an effort to prove to myself and my coworkers that I was worthy of the Salesforce and Pardot admin role. 

When I decided to move on from my role at the Atlanta Braves, I took three certifications in the same weekend (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and Advanced Admin) to bolster my resume for future roles right before I left Atlanta.

Focusing on Community

In December 2019, I moved back up to Boston, Massachusetts with no job prospects in place. Thankfully, I was able to find a job with my alma mater, Northeastern University. 

During this time, I took a step back from my focus on learning to focusing on getting more involved in the Salesforce community. I was happy to serve as a co-leader of the Boston Women in Tech community group. 

The community group leadership role inspired me to apply for a spot in the inaugural Salesforce Marketing Champion class, to which I was accepted. It was definitely a shock to me at the time since I was no longer in a marketing-related role when I worked at Northeastern. That’s why I worked to earn my Pardot Consultant certification.  I wanted to prove that I was worthy of being a Marketing Champion. 

After achieving the Pardot Consultant certification, I earned one more certification during two years at Northeastern: Education Cloud Consultant. I ended my time with Northeastern just one certification shy of my ultimate 10 certification goal.

Becoming a Salesforce Consultant

Now onto my third and current Salesforce job. I started my consulting career with Sercante in September 2021. I came in with certification goals in mind, but working at Sercante has provided me with a new perspective on certifications. 

My focus should not only be on my personal growth, but also on the company’s growth as we look to take on new clients with different needs. I went for three certifications in the first few months to reach my goal of 10 and display some of the more recent experience I had, such as Experience Cloud from Northeastern, and Nonprofit Cloud from my first major Salesforce implementation at Sercante.

Now as I have moved into a more technical role at Sercante and have failed exams that I was nowhere ready to take (looking at you CPQ Specialist), my career and certification goals have become more defined. I am now looking to move toward the Application Architect and B2B Solution Architect certifications over the next year while continuing to learn new features and products to serve my clients’ needs. 

If you want to learn more about my overall Salesforce journey and my answer to the commonly asked question: “Can someone have too many certifications?” stay tuned for more articles from me. You can also get my take on how to keep imposter syndrome at bay in this blog post.

Tips for Success

Now that you’ve learned about Andrea’s and my certification journey, you may be wondering what certification you should work toward. While I believe everyone’s journey is different and do not need to follow the same path, we wanted to highlight which certifications are best to start with depending on which role path makes the most sense for you.

Which Salesforce Certification to Earn First

Here’s where you should start on your Salesforce certification path depending on the type of role you currently hold or are looking to fill.

Which Salesforce Certification to Earn First

Everyone —> Salesforce Associate
Awesome Admin —> Salesforce Administrator
Daring Developers —> Platform Developer 1
Dream Designer —> User Experience Designer
Moment Marketer —> Marketing Cloud Administrator / Pardot Specialist
Confident Consultant —> Business Analyst
All-Star Architect —> Platform App Builder

Regardless of which role path you take, we also recommend that you start with the new Salesforce Associate certification as a great introduction to the Salesforce platform as a whole. Read a guide to earning that certification in this blog post.

How to Study for Salesforce Certification Exams

When if comes to studying for your exams, there are multiple places you can go to get the expertise and knowledge you need to take the exam:

  • Trailhead: This should be your first stop on any certification journey as you’ll be able to find the following for nearly every certification. View all Salesforce credential guides here.
    • Certification Exam Guides
    • Certification Trailmixes
    • Superbadges
  • Community User Groups: There are user groups all over the world that are run by members of the community, similar to myself. The discussion topic of the meetings vary by time of year and by group, but some might be specific to certain certifications. I helped develop an annual (virtual) certification camp amongst the Boston groups that have met two years now and already have plans to come back in Fall 2023 to tackle another certification. Find all Trailblazer Community Group listings here.
  • Training Courses: You will find many training courses out there, but I highly recommend you look at reviews and make sure the content in the course is accurate. If you are in the marketing space, I highly recommend you check out one of Sercante’s training courses in the new year. I’m taking the Salesforce Marketing Cloud Bootcamp Course starting in January and would love to see some of you there as well!
  • Salesforce Certification Days: These are half day webinars that Salesforce periodically runs for multiple certifications such as Admin, Sales Cloud Consultant, Platform Developer 1, and more.
  • Amplify Study Groups: Amplify is a nonprofit organization that amplifies historically excluded voices in technology, and those who support them, to become fearless leaders. They offer study groups to their members, typically on a seasonal basis, for certain certifications. You can also sign up to be a facilitator for these study groups as well if you’re looking to share your knowledge. Become a member here.
  • Blog Posts: This one might seem obvious as you’re already on our blog site, but many Salesforce blogs share articles on specific certifications to help provide tips and tricks on how to pass them. Here’s the blogs that Sercante has produced so far:

Next Steps Toward Getting Salesforce Certified

We hope the resources and perspectives in this post are helpful to you as you work toward your own Salesforce certifications.

Hot Tip: Check out this page to read more about the certification journeys of my colleagues. 

We would also love to hear from you on your certification journeys! Please leave a comment below or mention us online using the #certificationjourney hashtag.

Original article: The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post <strong>Explore the Journey to Salesforce Certified</strong> appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-01-03T17:15:13+00:00January 3rd, 2023|Categories: Career Development, Community, Real Talk, revive|
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Salesforce World Tour NYC Recap: December 2022

About a mile and a half west of their Midtown Manhattan office tower, Salesforce hosted their World Tour New York for Winter 2022 at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC.

The usual characters were walking around, like Einstein, the Genie rabbit (Marc Benioff’s admitted favorite) and the Trailblazing bear. But amongst the crowds and the usual pomp there was a clear theme that permeated through the entire event.

Salesforce World Tour NYC Theme: Are you a customer company?

From the keynote session, through to many of the product updates and case studies, Salesforce asked the question; are you a customer company? And to that rhetorical question, they had the answer. 

Using many of the tools you may already be familiar with, such as Slack or B2BMA, Salesforce Customer 360 helps you build an organization that is focused on the customer and their needs. But really what we’re talking about here is harnessing the incredible tools in the Salesforce ecosystem to create efficiencies and easier access to data.

The 7 Habits of a Customer Company (keynote address)

During the Salesforce World Tour keynote address, Salesforce CEO, Marc Benioff highlighted what he calls the 7 Habits of a Customer Company. 

  1. Salesforce Customer 360: is not so much a single product offering, but the concept of utilizing Salesforce tools to create a complete view of your customer, shared by various departments like sales, marketing, service, etc. The Customer 360 puts your customer in the center.
  2. Create a single source of truth. Most organizations have data throughout different systems. There wasn’t an easy way for customers to connect all of their data and integrate it into one platform. Mulesoft helps companies connect data from different sources to create one single source of truth.
  3. See and understand your customer. Because of the many different data storage needs companies have, they have created their own data lakes to house information. This causes “data silos” and during his keynote address, Benioff admitted this was their [Salesforce’s] mistake. Introducing, Salesforce Genie Customer Data Cloud, which is a new data warehouse product, powered by Tableau, that is deeply integrated with Salesforce and offers real-time, automated access to your data. 
  4. Maximize time to value. Using Industry Clouds, organizations can save on customizations because these various industry clouds already contain the language and processes different organizations use, such as nonprofit, education and financial clouds. Think of it as a template for your Sales Cloud org that contains the industry-specific customizations you need.
  5. Do impossible things as a team. Slack is a terrific collaboration tool and since being acquired by Salesforce in July 2021, the integration has continued to improve. I watched a terrific demo in the Campground (exhibitor area) of Slack’s integration and it really was impressive. Teams can collaborate on Accounts and Opportunities, pull in various stakeholders and work together to close business. Doing “impossible things” may be a bit of hyperbole, but the value for teams (geographically separated more now than ever before) is obvious.
  6. Save time, save money and grow revenue. Salesforce president and CMO, Sarah Franklin gave  kudos to the “Success Ecosystem” that includes partners, app developers and support teams. Furthermore, the innovation from these players in the ecosystem results in more automated processes, faster service response times and lower support costs resulting in efficiencies and profits.  
  7. Finally, Trailblazers! The folks that make the magic happen for organizations every day. Growth in the Trailblazer community has created what Franklin called a “Trailblazer economy,” referring to millions of new jobs, business revenue and community members/groups. I love my black Trailblazer zip-up sweatshirt and wear it with pride.

Introducing Net Zero Cloud

Sustainability is a core value for Salesforce as an organization. Their goal is to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Recognizing that this is important to many companies, Salesforce has introduced Net Zero Cloud. 

This new cloud product offers a management platform for a company’s carbon footprint. It helps you track and manage your environmental impact. You can run emissions forecasting and simulations, optimize different areas for efficiency and even work with your suppliers on their environmental goals. Additionally, the carbon accounting features let you convert your energy consumption into carbon emission data. 

The Net Zero Marketplace also provides a place for companies to purchase carbon credits to offset their environmental impact.

Wandering into the Salesforce World Tour Campground

The Campground, Salesforce-speak for exhibitor hall, was abuzz with tons of activity. There were several mini theaters with tree-stump seats providing short presentations on everything from Customer 360, Slack integrations, demos and case studies. 

Trailblazer Forest was always a busy spot for seasoned Trailblazers and admins just beginning their education journey to meet up and learn more about the latest offerings, pick up some cool swag (I left empty handed), and show off their skills. 

I grabbed a seat, err, tree stump at the Customer Success Theater to watch a presentation on the 6 Guiding Principles for CRM Adoption, but missed out when the required headsets were all taken. But don’t feel too bad for me, I spent that time catching up with a great client in the partner’s hangout nearby. 

Though it may seem trivial, I loved the way Salesforce designed the Campground. Those of us that have been to other industry trade shows know that you typically find yourself in large concrete rooms, walking between narrow pathways, desperately seeking coffee or a restroom. However, the Campground was nicely decorated with lots of signs, decorations and plenty of space between exhibits (except during peak hours), with multiple opportunities to grab a snack, coffee or a drink.

The Slack demo I watched was terrific. It was sort of a “day in the life” approach to a demo and you got to see how an organization was able to collaborate with an account and eventually an opportunity. No meetings, no endless email chains, just collaboration. It was impressive.

My Favorite Session: Delivering Success as a Salesforce Admin, the Skill Every Admin Needs…

I was expecting this session to be a general overview of tips for Salesforce admins, but the focus was on one single thing. Arguably, one of the most important skills every admin needs to master. Flows. For a brief introduction, check out this terrific overview of Flows.

What was once done using complex Apex code can often be done with Flows in a simple drag/drop interface, using the same “journey paths” look and feel of Pardot’s Engagement Studio. And what is probably being done right now in your org by Workflows Rules and Process Builder will eventually need to be a Flow. 

Note: Workflow Rules and Process Rules are being retired in Winter 2023.

Overall, the session inspired me to sharpen my own Flow skills so that I can take advantage of all of the new functionality that will (pardon the pun) flow through Salesforce Flows. It’s essential that every Salesforce admin is able to automate both simple and complex business processes and Flows is the future.

Salesforce World Tour is Worth the Effort to Attend

Salesforce hosts these events all over the world and if you’re fortunate enough to be a reasonable distance from one of the host cities, it’s worth it for anyone that interacts with Salesforce as part of their role. 

The learning opportunities are practically limitless, in fact, there is no way to take in all the sessions you want simply because many sessions are scheduled concurrently, which forces you to make some tough decisions. 

The event is sponsored by the few dozen or so exhibitors that are usually represented by some of the big players in the AppExchange. But the event is well organized and designed to get you excited about everything available in the massive Salesforce ecosystem. It’s certainly not simply a trade show where endless rows of booths vie for your attention. Not at all. It’s an education event. You’ll leave inspired to try something new, explore a new product, or seek to sharpen your skills in one area of your work. 

A few tips for your next World Tour:

  1. Arrive before the exhibit hall opens. I arrived about 30 minutes before the event opened and that gave me the opportunity to grab my credentials and get the lay of the land without rushing. It’s just too massive and the lines get too long to wait until you’re trying to get to your first session.
  2. Figure out specifically what vendors and sessions you want to visit. Make sure you know what you want to learn more about and plan around it. If you rely on wandering around looking for something interesting you’ll likely miss sessions that you would otherwise be interested in. There’s too much to see and do.
  3. Similar to the first tip, arrive as quickly as possible to each session. I missed several sessions simply because I was too late to get a seat or the privacy headphones. Thankfully, the venue had coffee and refreshments on every level so I didn’t need to go out of my way for a cup of coffee, which I am always willing to do.

And make sure you check out this blog post from Andrea Tarrell to make sure you get the most out of Salesforce community events in the future.

Original article: Salesforce World Tour NYC Recap: December 2022

©2022 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Salesforce World Tour NYC Recap: December 2022 appeared first on The Spot.

By |2022-12-20T21:28:04+00:00December 20th, 2022|Categories: Community, Events, Real Talk|
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Podcast Preview: NextThingNow with Guest Andrea Tarrell

We all know constant changes are inevitable in the realm of marketing technology. So, having a pulse on what’s coming and what we know to be true is essential. 

ICYMI – Sercante Founder and CEO Andrea Tarrell recently joined the UpperRight team on the NextThingNow podcast to share her thoughts on the future of MarTech and the next big things coming to the Salesforce marketing community.

Here’s a quick preview of the podcast episode and links to listen so you can be in the know.

What is the NextThingNow podcast?

The MarTech landscape is complicated. NextThingNow podcast aims to demystify the craziness by talking to experts from across the ecosystem. 

Hosts and co-founders of UpperRight Adam Levelle and Alan Schulman ask questions that go beyond stock answers to real solutions to benefit listeners who work in the marketing technology space. 

Adam Lavelle
Alan Schulman

Words of Wisdom from Special Guest Andrea Tarrell

We all know constant changes are inevitable in the realm of marketing technology. So, having a pulse on what’s coming and what we know to be true is essential. 

In this episode of the NextThingNow podcast, you’ll learn what the future looks like for marketers on the Salesforce platform from Andrea’s perspective.

With the pandemic in the rearview mirror and big Salesforce Marketing Cloud platform changes on the horizon, Andrea covers the major themes she’s following to stay ahead of the curve. She also talks about her career progression, how Sercante came to be, and what’s in store for Sercante clients and friends in the coming months.

And of course, Andrea’s inherent real-talk cheekiness makes an appearance.

Listen to Andrea on the NextThingNow podcast

You have so many options to listen to the NextThingNow podcast. So, get on that!

Here’s how to listen.

Go give it a listen while you churn out your marketing magic. And then tell us about your greatest takeaway from the podcast episode in the comments section below.

Enjoy!

Original article: Podcast Preview: NextThingNow with Guest Andrea Tarrell

©2022 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Podcast Preview: NextThingNow with Guest Andrea Tarrell appeared first on The Spot.

By |2022-11-03T22:29:00+00:00November 3rd, 2022|Categories: Community, Real Talk, Strategy|
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Breaking into the Salesforce Ecosystem: A Military Veteran’s Story

Merivis recently named Sercante as their “Partner of the Year” for 2022, and I couldn’t be more proud to be a #Merivet AND a #SercanteDragon. In the spirit of this award, I want to share the story of my journey into a new career in the Salesforce ecosystem as a transitioning military veteran.

Summer is in full swing, and folks are having BBQs, going to baseball games, and heading out for vacation. This is also the time of year when many active-duty servicemembers and their families are getting ready to move from one duty station to another, or transition from the service back to civilian life. 

Every year, over 200,000 active-duty sailors, soldiers, airmen, marines, guardians, and coast guardsmen separate or retire from active duty. This is a large group of highly motivated, smart, and loyal potential employees that have no idea that they can break into tech and the Salesforce ecosystem. 

First, I’m going to tell you a bit about my journey and then I’ll lay out resources for you and your team to tap into this talent goldmine. 

My Limited Duty Officer Class in front of the USS Constitution in Newport RI, circa 2011

My journey from sailor to Salesforce solution engineer

Why am I talking about this? 

Well,  a little over two years ago, I was in that same group of transitioning service members. I was coming up on 20 years of active duty service and was preparing for life after the Navy (Yes, I’m a retired sailor). I knew I didn’t want to be one of the guys who leaves the service only to come back as a Government employee — it just isn’t for me. 

I spent a lot of time mulling over my options, and I knew I wanted to break into tech. But that’s a nebulous destination at best with so many options (too many to count!). 

By now, you’re probably thinking…

“Jason, get to the point, I mean isn’t this blog supposed to be about marketing?”

Well, not in the traditional sense but be patient young grasshopper. 

Here I am reenlisting one of the best sailors I ever worked with. Reenlisting a sailor was a sacred honor I cherish to this day.

Introduction to big tech through military-sponsored program

In 2019 as I was planning my escape, er I mean, retirement, I applied to and was accepted into a program called Fourblock. It’s a program specifically designed to help veterans and transitioning Active Duty break into tech. 

We got to do some cool stuff like visiting the T-Mobile HQ, Microsoft Campus, Amazon (they are truly everywhere in Seattle), and meeting with and networking with Veteran Group Leaders at these Fortune 100 companies. 

We did resume reviews, interview prep, and networking! Pretty awesome stuff, right? I mean I had never seen a place that had craft beer ON TAP in the lunchroom, wild!

It was during this time in my Fourblock cohort when I was lamenting about breaking into tech without any tech skills (queue up imposter syndrome), and someone recommended Salesforce.

I jumped on Trailhead, created my profile, and got to work. ANNNND then the pandemic hit — my job got super crazy and I totally neglected Trailhead, Astro, and all the cool things I was starting to get hyped about with Salesforce. 

Learning Salesforce through the Merivis cohort program

Fast forward to Spring 2021 and I’m starting to panic about my post-Navy career. Then, after one fateful Veterati Mentorship phone call, I was directed to the Merivis website. 

I applied to and was accepted into Admin Cohort 20, and I achieved my Salesforce Administrator certification in June of 2021. 

It was through a Merivis contact, the amazing (and former Sercante Dragon) Hayley Tuller, that I was introduced to the leadership team at Sercante. And the rest is history. 

Team Sercante with Merivis Executive Director Kate Perez

Since joining Sercante in September 2021, I’ve added 2 more certifications and I truly love my job! 

I get to work with thought leaders in the Salesforce and Pardot (MCAE) space every day. And the best part is that it’s fully remote. My commute is the 15 seconds of walking downstairs to my office after taking my dogs out. 

What is Merivis?  

The name Merivis comes from the Latin roots of Merit and Force, Merivis is a non-profit Veteran’s Service Organization (VSO) that specializes in “Transforming military years into tech careers.”

 It was founded by Hector Perez, Kate Perez, and Joe Castro and focuses exclusively on helping veterans, military spouses (current and former), and transitioning service members break into the Salesforce Ecosystem. From Hector’s experience as a hiring manager at various tech companies, he recognized a growing talent gap that veterans could be trained and hired to fill, which inspired him, Kate, and Joe to found Merivis. 

Merivis provides no-cost training by Salesforce Certified Instructors to members on a wide range of certifications: 

  • Salesforce Administrator
  • Platform App Builder
  • CRM Analytics
  • MCAE (Pardot)
  • and more

Members of each cohort are paired up with a coach to help them with the technical side of understanding Salesforce and a mentor for accountability and guidance on job seeking and networking. 

Seriously, that one phone call with  Jeri Lim and her advice to check out Merivis changed my life. 

Why Veterans? (or Transitioning Military, or Mil Spouses?)

We all know and appreciate military veterans for the jobs they do while wearing a uniform. But what if I told you that even the most junior enlisted sailor has better project management skills than the kid who just graduated from college? 

Real-Talk: Any member of the military who has served for at least 2 years has been a project manager. And the same applies to military spouses. Military spouses are project managers, logistics experts, and financial gurus. No joke.  

The point I’m trying to make is that most, if not all, vets, transitioning service members, and military spouses have those “soft skills” you see on job posts. 

Hard skills versus soft skills 

Hard skills are the things that can be taught or learned — like coding, building automation, writing flows, building marketing campaigns, developing reports, etc. 

Soft skills are more abstract and tend to be hard to codify — like being a team player, adaptability (whoa boy is that a military requirement), authenticity, passion, and leadership. 

You can study a book on coding and retain the information and make use of the skills immediately, but it takes time and effort to put soft skills into practice. And it takes a lot more time to effectively use and master them. 

Ok, you’ve convinced me. So what’s next? 

I’ve only scratched the surface of what the veteran and mil-spouse community can bring to the table. And I could write a series of blogs about each group, vertical, or specialization that veterans and mil-spouses can excel in. 

However, to keep this more of a blog and less of a Doctoral Thesis, I’m going to sum things up for you. 

  1. Veterans, mil-spouses, and transitioning service members are often overlooked as a resource in the martech space and Salesforce ecosystem when searching for talent. 
  2. Training in technology is easy. Training in soft skills is hard. Vets and mil-spouses probably have the soft skills you’re looking for. 
  3. Merivis and other amazing VSOs provide no-cost technical training to vets, mil-spouses, and transitioning service members. 
  4. Finally, if you connect the dots, Merivis and other VSOs fill the skill gaps for vets, mil-spouses, and transitioning service members so they can come to the Salesforce ecosystem and find fulfilling careers. At the same time, they’re filling skill gaps that make it hard to hire people for technical specialty roles.

Technology career resources for military veterans

There are a number of great resources out there for companies looking to hire veterans and veterans looking to break into the tech industry. 

Here are some links:

My sincere goal was to introduce you to these wonderful organizations, bring awareness to this untapped talent resource, and share a little bit about my story.  

If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up on LinkedIn or drop a comment below.

Cheers!

Original article: Breaking into the Salesforce Ecosystem: A Military Veteran’s Story

©2022 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

By |2022-07-07T20:51:00+00:00July 7th, 2022|Categories: Career Development, Community, Community Spotlight, Real Talk, revive|
Read More

The Great Resignation: Filling Gaps on the Marketing Team

The Great Resignation has impacted businesses throughout the US for the last two years and more specifically, it has created a talent gap for many departments. Marketing teams in particular seem to be taking a big hit, mainly when it comes to specialty roles like digital marketing and marketing operations/technology. 

One theory behind the Great Resignation is that it can be traced to the earlier part of the Covid-19 pandemic; workers reevaluated their current employment and determined if their role at said company was still in alignment with their needs and wants. Whether that was tied to company policies around PTO, working from home or their level of pay, workers started to seek out new opportunities and leave their sometimes long-held positions.

Whatever the impetus behind the Great Resignation, it has caused many business leaders to take pause and evaluate both how they retain and hire top talent. 

Retaining and hiring marketers in the Great Resignation

Retention often means understanding what your current marketers want and need in their job to stay satisfied. It’s time to break down some of the old traditions of once a year, one-sided evaluations as an indicator of worker satisfaction. Do those evaluations fully articulate satisfaction anyway? Probably not. Internal surveys, informal check-ins and reverse evaluations can offer both qualitative and quantitative  insight. 

When hiring is the next feasible option, your company’s reputation, training and benefits are what will be of most import to the job seeker. If resourcing becomes more critical in terms of immediate need, there are additional options to consider and supplement until top talent can be brought in or even in lieu of onboarding new employees. 

Use your company website as a talent pipeline

A company career page isn’t solely a place to post job descriptions, it also provides insight into the culture and values that a particular company holds. This can be articulated through mission statements and core values, but also pictures of team building trips and activities. First impressions hold true in many circumstances, but especially for potential candidates searching your site for a glimpse into your company’s culture and overall vibe. 

Since review sites like Glassdoor.com exist and often display as a top search result, establishing your company’s image first can make a significant difference when it comes to reputation management and drawing in the top candidates you seek. 

On this career page, within job descriptions themselves, you have another opportunity to snag the attention of top marketing candidates. Give the job description a broader appeal and provide a vision of what the position’s “day in the life” can be like. 

Crafting a story within the job description can help job seekers envision themselves in that role with greater ease and get a better understanding of expectations and cross departmental functionalities. Here’s an example from the Sercante website.

Another way to capture the attention of the ideal marketing technology candidate is to include a pay range within the position description. This can make your company stand out and create good faith moving forward, especially for previously underpaid demographics.  Pay transparency is the new unlimited PTO. 

Train marketing talent from within 

Instead of looking outside the company for the ideal marketing ops candidate, empower existing team members to learn something new by offering training opportunities. 

Many “traditional” marketers can feel pigeonholed and often want to learn a new skill to expand their expertise. For example, a PR professional might be tired of writing press releases and want to delve into the social media world, or content writers might wonder how their email copy is being used within a particular marketing automation platform. 

Giving your internal team members the time to learn on the clock can be a major confidence booster. Assign a task in Asana (or other project management tool) with 3-5 hours per week to team members open to learning new technology. 

Allowing company time for learning and growth opportunities may help build toward a positive impression with your current employees. Salesforce Trailhead is one of the best platforms to turn marketing-minded individuals into marketing technology powerhouses. Likewise, HubSpot offers free marketing certifications. Take it one step further by paying for certification tests and/or tying certification completions to additional bonuses. 

To supplement self-guided training, setting up a company catered Lunch & Learns results in a pro-learning environment and is a beneficial team building tool. When the training models are checked off and certificates produced, the next step is aligning team members on openings and evaluating opportunities for advancement in title and pay. 

Offer solid benefits + competitive pay to stand out 

Competitive pay will often be the number one indicator of a company’s ability to obtain top talent. In addition to pay though, a generous and even unique benefits package can help your company stand out among competitors. 

The standard (or expected) benefits such as a tech stipend, retirement investment account, healthcare and PTO are now considered the bare minimum. Here are additional benefits that businesses have recently started offering:

  • Fitness reimbursement 
  • eBook subscriptions
  • At home office stipend
  • Meditation app subscriptions
  • Nap pods 
  • Food delivery/meal prep service discounts 
  • Unlimited or extra PTO

As family structures change, more forward-thinking companies are aligning to different parental leave benefits or PTO for recent adoptions or foster care placement. Perhaps some of the more sought after benefits aren’t just tangible, they are about breaking down the very structure of how folks are seeking to work such as 100% remote workplaces or even 4-day work weeks. 

Leverage external resource for team expansion 

So you’ve tackled your reputation, finessed the job descriptions and looked internally for resources but have a gap and have an immediate resource need. After all those emails won’t trigger themselves and that landing page won’t magically layout on its own. For some companies, the immediate need for marketing technology individuals can hold up business processes and slow down the marketing to sales pipeline if not fulfilled. 

So who can you turn to when looking to supplement your internal team? This is where hiring managers can tap into freelance marketing professionals or consultant agencies. Agencies, like Sercante can act as an extension of the team, function on a project basis lending expertise or fill in for someone on health leave. Sometimes you can even have a fully trained team but too many projects that are all priorities. This is where the external support can assist with minimal ramp-up time.  

The Sercante motto is we make marketers wildly successful with the Salesforce platform. This means we share our expertise for all things automation and Sales Cloud and training teams to use the tools themselves. 

Looking toward the Great Resignation bright side 

One of the benefits of the Great Resignation is opportunity for realignment both inside companies and for the new job seeker. 

The last two years have shown us that workers want to feel valued and seen for their contributions and companies are starting to see the importance of finding the right talent or resources to assist with marketing technology projects. 

Are you looking to become or obtain top marketing talent within the Salesforce ecosystem? Feel free to check out the Pardot & Marketing Cloud Job Hub.

Original article: The Great Resignation: Filling Gaps on the Marketing Team

©2022 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post The Great Resignation: Filling Gaps on the Marketing Team appeared first on The Spot.

By |2022-06-17T15:07:00+00:00June 17th, 2022|Categories: Career Development, Community, Real Talk, revive|
Read More

The Great Resignation: Filling Gaps on the Marketing Team

The Great Resignation has impacted businesses throughout the US for the last two years and more specifically, it has created a talent gap for many departments. Marketing teams in particular seem to be taking a big hit, mainly when it comes to specialty roles like digital marketing and marketing operations/technology. 

One theory behind the Great Resignation is that it can be traced to the earlier part of the Covid-19 pandemic; workers reevaluated their current employment and determined if their role at said company was still in alignment with their needs and wants. Whether that was tied to company policies around PTO, working from home or their level of pay, workers started to seek out new opportunities and leave their sometimes long-held positions.

Whatever the impetus behind the Great Resignation, it has caused many business leaders to take pause and evaluate both how they retain and hire top talent. 

Retaining and hiring marketers in the Great Resignation

Retention often means understanding what your current marketers want and need in their job to stay satisfied. It’s time to break down some of the old traditions of once a year, one-sided evaluations as an indicator of worker satisfaction. Do those evaluations fully articulate satisfaction anyway? Probably not. Internal surveys, informal check-ins and reverse evaluations can offer both qualitative and quantitative  insight. 

When hiring is the next feasible option, your company’s reputation, training and benefits are what will be of most import to the job seeker. If resourcing becomes more critical in terms of immediate need, there are additional options to consider and supplement until top talent can be brought in or even in lieu of onboarding new employees. 

Use your company website as a talent pipeline

A company career page isn’t solely a place to post job descriptions, it also provides insight into the culture and values that a particular company holds. This can be articulated through mission statements and core values, but also pictures of team building trips and activities. First impressions hold true in many circumstances, but especially for potential candidates searching your site for a glimpse into your company’s culture and overall vibe. 

Since review sites like Glassdoor.com exist and often display as a top search result, establishing your company’s image first can make a significant difference when it comes to reputation management and drawing in the top candidates you seek. 

On this career page, within job descriptions themselves, you have another opportunity to snag the attention of top marketing candidates. Give the job description a broader appeal and provide a vision of what the position’s “day in the life” can be like. 

Crafting a story within the job description can help job seekers envision themselves in that role with greater ease and get a better understanding of expectations and cross departmental functionalities. Here’s an example from the Sercante website.

Another way to capture the attention of the ideal marketing technology candidate is to include a pay range within the position description. This can make your company stand out and create good faith moving forward, especially for previously underpaid demographics.  Pay transparency is the new unlimited PTO. 

Train marketing talent from within 

Instead of looking outside the company for the ideal marketing ops candidate, empower existing team members to learn something new by offering training opportunities. 

Many “traditional” marketers can feel pigeonholed and often want to learn a new skill to expand their expertise. For example, a PR professional might be tired of writing press releases and want to delve into the social media world, or content writers might wonder how their email copy is being used within a particular marketing automation platform. 

Giving your internal team members the time to learn on the clock can be a major confidence booster. Assign a task in Asana (or other project management tool) with 3-5 hours per week to team members open to learning new technology. 

Allowing company time for learning and growth opportunities may help build toward a positive impression with your current employees. Salesforce Trailhead is one of the best platforms to turn marketing-minded individuals into marketing technology powerhouses. Likewise, HubSpot offers free marketing certifications. Take it one step further by paying for certification tests and/or tying certification completions to additional bonuses. 

To supplement self-guided training, setting up a company catered Lunch & Learns results in a pro-learning environment and is a beneficial team building tool. When the training models are checked off and certificates produced, the next step is aligning team members on openings and evaluating opportunities for advancement in title and pay. 

Offer solid benefits + competitive pay to stand out 

Competitive pay will often be the number one indicator of a company’s ability to obtain top talent. In addition to pay though, a generous and even unique benefits package can help your company stand out among competitors. 

The standard (or expected) benefits such as a tech stipend, retirement investment account, healthcare and PTO are now considered the bare minimum. Here are additional benefits that businesses have recently started offering:

  • Fitness reimbursement 
  • eBook subscriptions
  • At home office stipend
  • Meditation app subscriptions
  • Nap pods 
  • Food delivery/meal prep service discounts 
  • Unlimited or extra PTO

As family structures change, more forward-thinking companies are aligning to different parental leave benefits or PTO for recent adoptions or foster care placement. Perhaps some of the more sought after benefits aren’t just tangible, they are about breaking down the very structure of how folks are seeking to work such as 100% remote workplaces or even 4-day work weeks. 

Leverage external resource for team expansion 

So you’ve tackled your reputation, finessed the job descriptions and looked internally for resources but have a gap and have an immediate resource need. After all those emails won’t trigger themselves and that landing page won’t magically layout on its own. For some companies, the immediate need for marketing technology individuals can hold up business processes and slow down the marketing to sales pipeline if not fulfilled. 

So who can you turn to when looking to supplement your internal team? This is where hiring managers can tap into freelance marketing professionals or consultant agencies. Agencies, like Sercante can act as an extension of the team, function on a project basis lending expertise or fill in for someone on health leave. Sometimes you can even have a fully trained team but too many projects that are all priorities. This is where the external support can assist with minimal ramp-up time.  

The Sercante motto is we make marketers wildly successful with the Salesforce platform. This means we share our expertise for all things automation and Sales Cloud and training teams to use the tools themselves. 

Looking toward the Great Resignation bright side 

One of the benefits of the Great Resignation is opportunity for realignment both inside companies and for the new job seeker. 

The last two years have shown us that workers want to feel valued and seen for their contributions and companies are starting to see the importance of finding the right talent or resources to assist with marketing technology projects. 

Are you looking to become or obtain top marketing talent within the Salesforce ecosystem? Feel free to check out the Pardot & Marketing Cloud Job Hub.

Original article: The Great Resignation: Filling Gaps on the Marketing Team

©2022 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post The Great Resignation: Filling Gaps on the Marketing Team appeared first on The Spot.

By |2022-06-17T15:07:00+00:00June 17th, 2022|Categories: Career Development, Community, Real Talk, revive|
Read More