29. What is the difference between InsertDE and InsertData?

InsertData - Insert a row in a Data Extension and returns the number of rows inserted by the operation.
This function only works in a landing page, microsite page or CloudPage, or in an SMS message in
MobileConnect.

InsertDE - Insert the row in a Data Extension but no output is returned. This function only works in an
email.
28. How to Create/update/retrieve records to/from the Service cloud?
Use AMPscript functions - CreateSalesforceObject, UpdateSingleSalesforceObject &
RetrieveSalesforceObject
3. How to include personalization in an email without using AMPscript?
Use the option 'Dynamic Content' under the Content Builder - where the content is displayed based on
rules defind
4. How will you set a Journey to send out the communications only between 9-5?
'Delivery window' option can be used to specify the time.
4. Explain the difference between Lookup Vs LookupRows Vs LookupOrderedRows?
Lookup - Retrieve a single record from a Data Extension

LookupRows - Retrieve set of records from a Data Extension. The maximum is 2000.

LookupOrderedRows - Retrieve more than 2000 records and sort them based on one or more fields. This
might cause some performance issues with large volume.
7. What is the difference between Goal criteria and Exit criteria?
Goal - Define the goals as per business needs to understand how your customers interact with the brand.
It can also act as exit criteria, once the goal is reached.

Exit - If you want the contacts to exit the journey based on specific criteria.
. What are the different types of data extensions?
Standard - Used to create a new data extension and add custom fields as needed

Filtered - Select an existing data extension and filter out the records by defining a criteria

Random - Select a percentage or number of subscribers from a source data extension

The Path Optimizer activity enables you to test up to 10 variations of a journey path to determine
which path performs best.

 Single Email Send: Enable you to send an email in three steps. First, select the email you want
to send, choose the Data Extension that contains the target audience (add more filters if
required), and schedule the send.
 User-Initiated Send: Emails are sent to multiple recipients (at the same time) to Data
Extensions. To perform the actual send, you do it manually – you can either send immediately or
schedule it on a specific date and time.
 Triggered Email Send: Sent to individual recipients, one by one, in real-time. This is following an
action or transaction, for example, to receive a confirmation email after registering for an event.
 20. How can Salesforce Sales Cloud or Service Cloud connect to Marketing Cloud?
 Salesforce provides a connector called Marketing Cloud Connect to sync data from Sales/Service
cloud into Marketing Cloud.
 The data flows into Marketing Cloud Data Extensions classified as Synchronized Data
Extensions.

21. How is data shared between different Marketing Cloud Business Units (BU)?

To share a data extension from a parent BU to a child BU, place the data extension in the “Shared” folder
in the parent BU. When switching to the child BU, you will find the data extension in the ”Shared” folder.
You can use the data in this data extension in the child BU.
23. Can links in an email be changed after the email is sent?

Yes! Use the “Update Job Links” Email Studio feature to edit links in an email after an email send
completes.

19. Which data import options are available in Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

To import (or export) data from Marketing Cloud, you have four options: FTP, API, CloudPages, and
Manual Import.

 FTP: Every Marketing Cloud org comes with an SFTP account. Marketing Cloud creates Import,
Export, and Reports folders in your SFTP folder. Use these SFTP folders to import data into lists
and data extensions or to put an updated subscriber list in the folder in the FTP server.
 API: Marketing Cloud supports both REST and SOAP APIs to import or export data from
Marketing Cloud. The REST API exposes more extensive access to Marketing Cloud capabilities,
while the SOAP API provides comprehensive access to most email functionality.
 CloudPages: A CloudPage landing page is a web page that you can view from a browser or link
to other websites and emails. You can build these pages in Marketing Cloud to display data from
your data extensions or lists. You can also use AMPscript to write data into lists or data
extensions from the cloudpage.
 Manual Import: There’s always a manual import option to directly import CSV files into Marketing
Cloud lists or data extensions.

How is the winning version selected in A/B testing?

When setting up an A/B test, you set the criteria which will determine the winning email automatically. You
have two options to choose the winner by:

1. The version with the highest unique open rate.

2. The version with the highest unique click-through rate (CTR).

7. Can a subscriber be placed in a specific A/B test distribution? You have two options for the test
distribution:

1. “Number of subscribers” ie. 35 will receive version A, 65 will receive version B.

2. “Percentage of subscribers” ie. 40% will receive version A, 60% will receive version B.
17. What are the different levels of unsubscribes?
List level - unsubscribe from a specific publication list
Master level - unsubscribe at the account level
Global level - unsubscribe from all the accounts
19. What is IP Warming?
It is a process to build up (for at least 30 days) the reputation of your Marketing Cloud account, by sending the
emails from your new IP starting with a small volume, and then increasing the volume gradually. This will help
to improve the deliverability rates, build a good reputation with the ISPs, Improve the chances of Inbox
placement, etc.,
20. What are Publication Lists?
It is a list of subscribers who have opted-in to receive the communications.

For example, Consider 3 lists - Brand A, B, and C.

If the subscriber opts-out of the Brand A, they can still receive the communication from B and C.
How will you capture the data in SFMC from a 3rd party form?
There are various options to achieve this :
- Some form handlers come with Salesforce connectors which requires you to enter the credentials, select the
DE and map the fields. Other form handlers make a POST request to Marketing Cloud using POST URL, Client
ID & Data extension external key.
 - Embed a Cloudpage in an external website using iFrame
- Connect the form to Sales/Service Cloud and pull the data into SFMC using Marketing Cloud Connector
- Leverage APIs
Reply Mail Management: what is it?
When we talk about Reply Mail Management (or RMM) we mean the ways we handle responses to
emails sent through the Marketing Cloud. These responses are produced automatically once Reply Mail
Management is configured and include auto-responses and unsubscribe requests that we receive in
response to emails already sent. In addition, Marketing Cloud allows us the ability to automatically
forward emails when they need to be reviewed by a third party.

The Sender Authentication Package (SAP) helps your subscribers to identify your brand and increases
awareness about your brand.

SAP provides a collection of features designed to help ensure that your email messages reach the
inboxes of the intended recipients.

1. Private Domain : This feature assigns a domain used to send email. The domain acts as a “From
address” for all your email sends to solidify your reputation and further your brand at the same time.
Marketing Cloud authenticates all email sends using the Sender Policy Framework (SPF), Sender ID, and
DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) to prevent spoofing and phising.
1. SPF : Allows email senders to define IP addresses allowed to send email, and only email messages
originating from those addresses are trusted.
2. Sender ID : It works on the same principles as SPF, the difference is that they look at the domain in
different parts of the email and appear differently in the Domain Name System (DNS).
1. SPF looks at the domain listed in the MailFrom (MFrom) address. This address is not directly visible by
the recipient, but you can find it in the SMTP header (smtp.mailfrom).
2. SenderID looks at the domain listed in the “From” address.
3. An SPF record would start as v=spf1, while a Sender ID record would start out as spf2.0.
3. DKIM : Adds a digital signature to ensure that the message comes from a verified sender and contains
only the intended content. Nothing in the email gets altered or manipulated along the way.
Dynamic Sender profile
A Sender profile is required to send an email from the Salesforce Marketing Cloud. This contains "From"
and "Reply To" addresses.
We can personalize the "From" and "Reply to" address using Ampscript called Dynamic Sender Profile.

There are many ways to personalize the "from" and "reply to" address. We have described few scenarios
below. "From Name" and "From Address" should be specified in any of the below

 Sendable Data Extension.

 Ampscript variable assigned in the Email.
 In the Content Block.

Sendable Data Exension

Data extension contains respective details and utilize those variables in the sender profile in place of
"From Name" and "From Address".
Ampscript Function: Assume "fromName" and "fromAddress" fields are available in the sendable Data
Extension.

%%fromName%%
%%fromAddress%%

Use verified fallback address to make sure even without having the From Address details in sendableDE
will not affect the email send.

Ampscript variable assigned in the Email

Using lookup function pull the necessary details from the respective Data Extension and assign it to
Ampscript variable OR assign the "From Name" and "From Address" to the Ampscript variable. Use that
variable in place of "From Name" and "From Address" in Sender profile.
Ampscript Function: Assume we are assigning the From Name and From Address based on the locale
field present in the sendable Data Extension.

%%[
Set @locale = AttributeValue("Locale")
If not empty(@locale) then
Set @fromName = lookup("MasterDataExtension", "fromName", "Locale", @locale)
Set @fromAddress = lookup("MasterDataExtension", "fromAddress", "Locale", @locale)
Else
Set @fromName = "Brand Specific Name"
Set @fromAddress = "Brand Specific Address"
]%%

Use verified fallback address to make sure even without having the From Address details in sendableDE
will not affect the email send.
In the Content Block:

This is same as above, but here we will create two separate content blocks one for "From Name" and
another for "From Address".
Ampscript Function: Assume we are assigning the From Name and From Address based on the locale
field present in the sendable Data Extension.

From Name Content Block:

%%[
Set @locale = AttributeValue("Locale")
If not empty(@locale) then
Set @fromName = lookup("MasterDataExtension", "fromName", "Locale", @locale)
Else
Set @fromName = "Brand Specific Name"
]%%
%%=v(@fromName)=%%

From Address Content Block:

%%[
Set @locale = AttributeValue("Locale")
If not empty(@locale) then
Set @fromAddress = lookup("MasterDataExtension", "fromAddress", "Locale", @locale)
Else
Set @fromAddress = "Brand Specific Address"
]%%
%%=v(@fromAddress)=%%

In Sender profile use the below Ampscript code:

%%=treatascontent(ContentArea(contentAreaID))=%%
%%=treatascontent(ContentArea(contentAreaID))=%%

Use verified fallback address to make sure even without having the From Address details in sendable DE
will not affect the email send.

Note: Before using any email address, we have to verify the email domain or the email address else it
will pick up the fallback address.
Above examples show how to personalize From Name and From Address. You can apply the same logic
for Reply Name and Reply Address.

A JOIN clause is used to combine rows from two or more tables, based on a related column between them.

The INNER JOIN keyword selects records that have matching values in both tables.

The LEFT JOIN keyword returns all records from the left table (table1), and the matching records from the right table
(table2). The result is 0 records from the right side, if there is no match.

The RIGHT JOIN keyword returns all records from the right table (table2), and the matching records from the left table
(table1). The result is 0 records from the left side, if there is no match.

The FULL OUTER JOIN keyword returns all records when there is a match in left (table1) or right (table2) table records.

A self join is a regular join, but the table is joined with itself.