Consumers today want personalized experiences from beginning to end. This is why Sercante is thrilled to announce that The Home for Marketers has undergone a transformative name change. We’re marking a new era of comprehensive strategies focused on growth services.
This is more than a rebrand! It’s a reflection of Sercante’s expanded vision and commitment to driving radical business impact across all teams inspired by our recent acquisition by Trilliad. Our new home at dreamforce will be a place for anyone in sales, customer success, and marketing to gather. Without further ado, we are excited to introduce the Growth Lounge at Dreamforce 2024.
Introducing The Growth Lounge
The atmosphere and unique space that the Home for Marketers has offered in the past will still be returning to San Francisco, but we now extend an invitation to friends in sales and service as well. Renamed The Growth Lounge, this space will serve as the central hub for professionals across marketing, sales, and service to gather, spark inspiration, and exchange ideas on elevating customer experiences and through the latest technologies.
The Growth Lounge at Dreamforce is designed to foster deeper connections among these crucial teams. We’re promoting collaboration and alignment that are essential for delivering seamless interactions for consumers across any industry. This transformation reflects the growing recognition that customer experience is a shared responsibility across all departments.
Opening Doors to Sales and Customer Success
The Growth Lounge is dedicated to opening doors for sales and customer success teams. We want to be sure these teams have the tools and support needed to thrive. We believe growth is a collective effort, and by integrating the expertise of these teams, we can drive significant business outcomes.
Sales teams can tap our insights and strategies to identify new opportunities, while customer success teams can enhance their engagement efforts for long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty. This cross-functional approach not only boosts individual team performance but also contributes to the overall growth of the organization.
Why the Growth Lounge Matters
When a consumer enjoys a seamless interaction with your brand, they shouldn’t be able to distinguish whether they are dealing with marketing, sales, or service. They are simply having their own personal experience, and here at Sercante, we strongly believe that it is that consistency that fosters loyalty and satisfaction. The Growth Lounge aims to facilitate the integration and cooperation by creating a safe space to foster new connections, discover tech to level up your game, and receive live support from experts.
Join us at Dreamforce
If you’re heading to Dreamforce this year, make sure to RSVP for your FREE 3-day pass to The Growth Lounge.
This year, we are hosting the lounge September 17-19, 2024 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day at Yerba Buena Bar. And that’s not all! There’s so much more to join in on while at Dreamforce 2024.
Marketer’s Meet Up
We have set aside time to mix and mingle with our fellow marketers and we hope you do not miss out! Along with your free pass to The Growth Lounge, Sercante will be hosting a mix and mingle for sales, marketing, and customer experience professionals before Dreamforce even kicks off.
There’s nothing quite like ending a day at Dreamforce than with a Sercante hosted party “In the Clouds.” We will be celebrating cross-cloud collaboration and business growth with all of you, along with a live band and DJ to keep the party going following day one of Dreamforce’s festivities.
RSVP today so you don’t miss out on the celebration.
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
7:00 PM – 12:00 AM
715 Harrison
Our Fellow Sponsors
Not only do you have the opportunity to connect with several Sercante Dragons who will be in attendance, but we would be remiss without calling out our fellow Growth Lounge sponsors. When you stop by The Growth Lounge, you will also have the opportunity to meet up with other like-minded industry experts to discover new tools, tips, and tricks to take your business growth to the next level.
Our sponsors will be hosting live demos, providing free support, and, of course, there will be tons of swag!
Don’t miss out on your chance to be part of a community committed to redefining customer experience through collaboration and innovation. We look forward to seeing you at Dreamforce and working together to take the standards of customer interactions further than ever before.
Do you have an organized brain, enjoy project managing across multiple stakeholders and departments, love visualizing a process, and want to prove it with a new Salesforce certification? Well, then the Salesforce Business Analyst Certification is the right one for you!
Here is our guide to passing the Salesforce Business Analyst Certification exam. Good luck!
Step 1. Review the Salesforce Business Analyst Exam Guide & Schedule Your Test
Quick reminder that there are no longer any prerequisites for the Business Analyst exam! It is helpful to know or have experience with Salesforce and understand platform functionality and terminology though.
According to the Salesforce Business Analyst exam guide, this certification is “designed for Business Analysts with Salesforce experience. The successful candidate understands business needs, captures requirements, and collaborates with stakeholders to support the development of Salesforce solutions which drive business improvements.”
If you are interested in refreshing your Salesforce skills or earning one of the related certifications first, here are two helpful resources:
The exam guide goes into each objective in more detail and also describes the person who is more likely to succeed with this certification (a.k.a. you!).
Schedule Your Exam
Once you have confirmed that this is the certification for you, schedule your test so we have a deadline to study for. Here is the link to make this the easiest step.
Step 2. Organize Your Study Resources
We already established we have well-organized, to-do list, and process-visualization brains so I’ve gone ahead and done the pre-work (Googling) for you to track down our favorite resources, practice tests, and study guides. Plus we’ve included some key topics to revisit based on our experience earning the Business Analyst certification.
This is an essential step for the Salesforce Business Analyst certification! You need to get in the head of the Salesforce test writers to best understand the use cases and user stories they are presenting because at first glance, most of the answers are going to appear correct. However, we want to choose the best process, steps, model, team structure, etc. that matches the specifics of the situation outlined.
Cert Prep: Salesforce Business Analyst – free, there are good practice questions within the Trailhead modules (not the questions at the end for checking understanding, but these are helpful too)
Salesforce certifications are difficult. Lucky for us, there are a ton of welcoming communities that we can reach out to for support.
One of our favorites is co-led by one of our own Sercante team members, the Boston Area Community Group with Jordyn Jaffer. This group hosts annual, virtual certification camps that are run completely by attendees. The attendees work together to present different topics each week to help each other prepare for taking the certification. Jordyn says, “ We are in our fourth year of facilitating these and are tackling the Salesforce Advanced Administrator Certification (for the second time!).” Check out their upcoming camps on their Trailblazer Community page here – Boston Women in Tech.
Topics Worthy of a Second Glance
Know the process chart names and when to best use them based on the use case described. There are specific matches Salesforce will be looking for and there are going to be a lot of lengthy use case and user story questions.
Understand the order of the four phases of the implementation lifecycle.
Step 3. Ready? Pass the Salesforce Business Analyst Certification!
You might never feel ready to take the Business Analyst test – there are endless ways to think about processes and user stories and everything in between. But just like the solutions we are managing and building, there has to be an activation date.
Test-Taking Tips from the Sercante Dragons
Find Keywords
These phrases in the questions can indicate the answer or what you can eliminate as an answer.
Mark Questions for Review & Read Them Carefully
Always refer back to the full question during or at the end of the exam when you are starting to second guess yourself, there might be something key you missed when you first read it.
The correct answers for this exam are going to be very order-dependent so make sure you read them slowly.
Pay Attention to How Questions Answer Each Other
The use cases being described usually highlight a specific title or department so consider that when choosing the correct answer.
Think about how they phrased other questions as that might help you focus on the correct answer for a question you were unsure of.
Don’t Overthink Questions that Seem Easy
There are going to be a lot of questions that sound the same in this exam – don’t get stuck in a second-guessing loop when the answer seems too simple.
Using Synonyms of Words Can Help Answer a Question
For example, “what is the best diagram for this?” One of the correct answers is “the big picture.”
Have a General Understanding of the Main Salesforce Products
There will be questions and answers that list actual Salesforce platforms or functionality by name. For example, “your team/client/customer has this problem, which feature/product would help solve this?”
Good luck, you’ve got this!
Share any resources or problem topics in the comments section to help prepare the next group of Salesforce Business Analyst test takers.
It’s that time of the year again — when marketing, sales, and service professionals from around the globe gear up to reunite in Chicago, IL for the highly anticipated Salesforce Connections 2024 conference!
What is Salesforce Connections and why you should attend?
If you’re new to the ecosystem or never heard of this conference, here’s the lowdown.
This year Salesforce Connections 2024 is happening on May 22 – 23, at the McCormick Center in Chicago, Illinois. This annual two-day conference, hosted by Salesforce, is a must-attend event for anyone who delivers exceptional customer experiences, specifically digital marketers and commerce professionals who use the Salesforce platform. The 270+ sessions at this conference cover topics trending in the general marketing and Salesforce ecosystem like AI, CRM, and data strategies.
Who should attend?
If you’re a Salesforce user or a marketers who use Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Commerce Cloud, then this event is made just for you. The real magic lies not just in the sessions, but also in the immersive networking opportunities you will find throughout the week that can transform your career.
This is a filtered view of our team’s top picks for the upcoming conference, be sure to add them to your agenda.
Marketing Keynote
Marketing Keynote: Reimagine Personalization with Einstein 1
Description: The AI revolution is here to stay. Keep up by learning how Einstein 1 unlocks new ways for marketers to use trusted data and AI to fuel better personalization, business outcomes, and relationships. Add to your agenda >
AI & Data Cloud
Prep Your Small Business for Using AI in Marketing Description: In this roundtable, we will discuss three ways small businesses can prepare to successfully use AI in their marketing. Be sure to say hi to our VP of Technology, Kirsten Schlau, after the session. Add to your agenda >
How to Elevate Your B2B Marketing with Data and AI (Account Engagement)
Description: Hear how Einstein functionality in account engagement helps marketers save time and scale customer engagement. Plus, learn how to prepare your data and marketing team to realize the full value of AI. Add to your agenda >
Marketing Cloud
Create Connected Journeys for Your Small Business Customers (Growth)
Description: Learn how small businesses can leverage Salesforce flows and data from marketing, sales, and service touchpoints to create connected customer journeys. Add to your agenda >
Unlock B2B Marketing Innovation with Data and AI (Account Engagement) Description: Learn how Account Engagement and Data Cloud can help B2B marketers unlock data outside of the CRM for more personalized journeys. Plus, learn how data and AI are accelerating B2B marketing innovation. Add to your agenda >
Align Sales and Marketing with Account Engagement in Slack (Account Engagement)
Description: Learn how to accelerate lead conversion, enable sales efficiently, and deepen customer relationships with stronger sales and marketing teamwork through Slack and Marketing Cloud Account Engagement. Add to your agenda >
Unlock Data to Power Personalization and Ignite Engagement (Engagement)
Description: Join us to see how we’re helping financial services marketers to make data their competitive advantage in powering relevant engagement journeys at each stage of the customer lifecycle. Add to your agenda >
How to Connect Customer Journeys from Doorsteps to Digital (Engagement)
Description: Learn how top communications service providers are increasing both physical and digital conversion rates with a unified data strategy that enhances their targeting and journey personalization. Add to your agenda >
Marketing Operation Fundamentals
Learn How to Improve Your Email Sender Reputation
Description: Deliverability can seem like a puzzle, but together we’ll break it down so you can set your email program up for success. You’ll develop a strategy to manage, monitor, and understand deliverability. Add to your agenda >
The Three P’s of Migration — Platform, People, and Process
Description: Join Women in Tech Leadership to discuss the importance of a healthy relationship between marketing and IT, associate training, an MVP mentality, building a platform foundation, and value stories. Add to your agenda >
Beyond the sessions: What else should I expect?
Life is more than just work, after all, no Salesforce conference is complete without a little celebration. Last year, we brought you a Wildly Epic Night (check out the gallery), and we are back at it again this year. Come celebrate your achievement and forge new connections with us!
A happy hour to match digital experiences that delight
Join us this year for the Roof Rhythms & Refreshments Happy Hour hosted by Sercante, Stensul, and SalesWings at ROOF. We’re teaming up with Stensul and SalesWings to create an evening as meaningful as the digital experiences we deliver to our clients.
Form real connections with people who get it and dance to a live band playing your favorite hits so you can feel radical impact on the first night of Connections. It’s at the iconic ROOF on theWIT and space is limited, so be sure to RSVP to secure your spot!
Wednesday, May 22, 2024 Time: 7:00 – 10:00 PM Roof Gallery at ROOF on theWIT Register now >
Stay tuned to more celebrations popping up closer to the event.
How to connect with Sercante at Connections
Still undecided? Be sure to follow Salesforce’s social media accounts and website for updates (you may even score a discount). Below are a few opportunities to connect with our team during the conference to explore new opportunities and industry insights.
Join our session “Prep Your Small Business for Using AI in Marketing” with Kirsten Schlau (Sercante) and Charlotte King (Salesforce) Add to agenda >
Let’s chat about career growth – check out new roles at Sercante Browse roles >
See you at Salesforce Connections 2024
Regardless of whether you attend in person or virtually (through Salesforce+), tag us on LinkedIn with your best moments. We’d love to be part of your conference experience.
These are my highlights and key takeaways from Salesforce World Tour D.C. 2024, where the Salesforce community converged to explore the latest in AI, data management, and nonprofit marketing.
From actionable tips on implementing Data Cloud to insights into trusted AI with Einstein Copilot, this recap unveils the strategies and innovations driving success in today’s dynamic business landscape.
Join us as we delve into the transformative power of unified data, organizational alignment, and customer-centricity, shaping the future of Salesforce in Washington, D.C., and beyond.
Nick Kanthadai at World Tour D.C. 2024
Salesforce World Tour D.C. 2024 Highlights
Salesforce checked in for their annual World Tour D.C. on April 10, 2024, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
I had the pleasure of attending and being a part of the growing Salesforce community in the DMV area.
The focus of World Tour D.C. this year just like every other Salesforce event for 2024 was AI, AI, and more AI.
Pro Tip: If you missed the event this time around, you can catch all the main sessions & keynote videos here.
That said, here are my top takeaways from World Tour D.C.
Highlight 1: Top Tips for Getting Started with Data Cloud
World Tour D.C. showcased the top 5 must-have tips if your organization is thinking about implementing Data Cloud and harnessing the power of all your siloed data infrastructure under one unified SF Data Cloud platform.
Organizational Alignment: Establish a clear owner and get all departments/stakeholders on the same page.
Pick a Use Case: Focus on one or two initial use cases that drive team optimization and deliver tangible results within a reasonable timeframe.
Identify Success Metrics: Define KPIs, establish baseline metrics, monitor data quality, track user adoption, and always iterate to improve.
Leverage the Customer 360 Data Model: You have to walk before you can run. Use the out-of-the-box data models when you’re getting started.
Think Big, Start Small: The platform has growth capabilities so you can scale, but you have to take small bites in the beginning.
My takeaways
The two tips around Organizational Alignment and Think Big, Start Small resonated with me the most as these two tips will surely put your organization on the right track for success.
Getting buy-in from every major stakeholder around defined goals is paramount to achieving the success needed. Shoot for the stars in what you want to achieve with Data Cloud, but start small with a basic use case that can showcase the power of unifying your data and implementing a customer journey that can show value to your organization.
Favorite quote from the presentation
“Customer experiences are only as good as your insight into your customer data”
During the main keynote, Salesforce leaders took to the stage to show how everyone can become an Einstein with CRM + AI + Data + Trust.
Emphasizing Data Trust
Parth Shah
Parth Shah, Senior Manager for Product Marketing at Salesforce, was on hand to discuss how trusted AI requires trusted data to achieve your organization’s success.
Key Insight from Parth Shah: 81% of IT leaders say data silos hinder digital transformation
Einstein Copilot
Alice Steinglass, EVP & GM Platform at Salesforce, spoke to all the exciting features of Einstein Copilot. She explained that Einstein Copilot uses trusted AI grounded with your own company’s data, so you can tap into Copilot across every app and reduce repetitive work.
A study from Asana in 2023 found that 62% of work time is lost to repetitive tasks. Why not use the great features of Einstein Copilot to reduce the need for repetitive work by your team? That way, you can focus on what is most important — your customers!!
Alice Steinglass
Highlight 3: How to use Data Cloud for Nonprofit Marketing
If you are a Salesforce Marketing Cloud user in the nonprofit arena, How to Use Data Cloud for Nonprofit Marketing was a must-see presentation. Nikki Aguilar, Salesforce Solution Engineer, spoke about the reasons unified data matters.
My 3 takeaways for using Data Cloud for Nonprofit Marketing
Increase awareness & collaboration. Collaboration and awareness are the keys to being successful when using Data Cloud for nonprofit marketing. It solidifies trust and facilitates connections across the organization.
Deliver unified, accessible, and actionable data. To support awareness and collaboration at nonprofits, delivering unified, accessible, and actionable data helps with getting resources on board who can elevate the fundraising and marketing experiences.
Create a culture of data as a strategic asset. Your data is a strategic asset for the organization as a whole. Creating a culture where data is a strategic asset helps advance operational and program excellence and establish trust among all stakeholders.
World Tour D.C.: Innovations in AI, data management, and nonprofit marketing
World Tour D.C. April 2024 brought together the vibrant Salesforce community in Washington, D.C., for a dynamic event showcasing the latest trends and innovations in AI, data management, and nonprofit marketing. From insights into leveraging Data Cloud to the unveiling of Einstein Copilot’s capabilities, we left with inspirational tips to take home and share with our teams.
As we reflect on the event, it’s clear that the path to success lies in aligning organizational goals, harnessing the power of trusted AI, and embracing a culture where data drives strategic decisions.
I hope you enjoyed my top 3 takeaways from World Tour D.C. 2024! As always, you can send us a message to chat about your Salesforce org and ways to get more ROI from your technology.
Product Note:Marketing Cloud Growth and Advanced are editions of Marketing Cloud Next and have also been referred to as Agentforce Marketing.
Since the announcement of Marketing Cloud Growth Edition on February 20th, we’ve been digging into the features of this new product as well as listening closely to the community’s questions about Marketing Cloud (Growth and Advanced Edition). We’ve compiled the most common questions from Salesforce webinars, Slack communities, our internal team, and our clients to get all your Marketing Cloud questions answered in one place.
NOTE: This blog post was updated in May 2025 to reflect new release features and product updates.
Answers to all of your Marketing Cloud questions
Here’s a list of the most common questions we’ve seen.
Wait, what is the “official” name
So, this product was originally launched as “Marketing Cloud Growth Edition”. A few months later Advanced Edition was released and the product evolved to “Marketing Cloud Growth or Advanced Edition”. However, this was later shortened to just “Marketing Cloud”. Now I know “Marketing Cloud” means “Marketing Cloud Engagement” to a large portion of the community so I also refer to this tool as “Marketing Cloud on Core” so no one assumes I mean “Engagement”.
What is Marketing Cloud (on Core)?
Marketing Cloud is a new marketing automation platform from Salesforce. Marketing Cloud is built on the Salesforce Platform (aka “on Core”) and allows you to build multi-channel campaigns with Data Cloud, personalize marketing assets with Experience Cloud, and automate journeys with Flow. Marketing Cloud also includes Einstein and Agentforce capabilities throughout the platform as well as out-of-the-box content approval processes.
Is Marketing Cloud Account Engagement and/or Engagement being retired?
This is the most common question we’ve heard so far and the resounding answer is No, Engagement and Account Engagement are not being retired. Marketing Cloud is another option for organizations that want to bring their marketing operations into Salesforce. Engagement and Account Engagement will continue to have their own robust product roadmaps.
Which Salesforce Editions does Marketing Cloud work with?
Currently, Marketing Cloud works with Salesforce Enterprise Edition (EE) and Unlimited Edition (UE).
Is this the direction the Marketing Cloud Platform is going? All bundled within Core?
Yes, building Marketing Cloud’s foundation on core allows Marketers to get full access to customer data across the CRM and other clouds connected to the Salesforce platform. Breaking down data silos and uniting your data on one platform also allows Marketers to better leverage Einstein’s AI functionality as well as personalize every step of the customer journey.
Can Marketing Cloud be purchased without Data Cloud?
What is included out of the box with Marketing Cloud?
This is subject to change as the platform changes and grows but, as of May 2025 Growth Edition includes:
See our previous blog post for more information on the credit consumption model of Marketing Cloud.
Does Marketing Cloud consume super messages for email and SMS?
Marketing Cloud has different entitlements, emails and SMS do not consume super messages.
Do users need Salesforce licenses to access Marketing Cloud?
Currently users do need Salesforce licenses to access Marketing Cloud, but support for Identity Licenses is expected in the Summer ‘25 release (June).
Can clients with their own Data Warehouses use Marketing Cloud?
Yes, Marketing Cloud is built on top of Data Cloud, which means they can connect to your data wherever it lives.
What is the setup of Marketing Cloud like?
Setup for Marketing Cloud is being streamlined with each new release. Users with the Marketing Cloud Admin permission set can access the setup assistant for easier implementation of Marketing Cloud. Use the setup assistant to install or update all the required data marketing kits.
Is the intention to have customers self implement Marketing Cloud and do everything themselves?
The intention is to reduce the amount of energy spent on behalf of the customer to get to where they need consultants. Simply put, Marketing Cloud has very good defaults and a streamlined setup process, but there is still value to be added by consultants. If you’d like support setting up or optimizing Marketing Cloud, send us a message.
Can you configure marketing asset branding/brand standards within Marketing Cloud?
Yes! Users can create Brand Guidelines within Marketing Cloud that allow you to specify brand colors, typography, button styling, margins, and borders that can be applied to your marketing assets. If your brand standards are later updated, any marketing assets using that brand will also be updated. You can have multiple brand guidelines and also set a default Brand for your CMS Workspace so any new assets that are created for Marketing Cloud will be automatically branded.
Does Marketing Cloud use a different Flow than the Salesforce Admin Flow?
Marketing Cloud uses the same Flow that users would have access to when building a backend, or admin, Flow. However, the elements and processes that the Marketing Cloud Flow has access to are limited by permission sets. Out of the box, the Marketing Cloud Flow is tailored elements and actions that focus on automating Marketing Campaigns and Marketing processes. Additional Permissions can be added or removed to custom tailor what users can do within the Marketing Cloud Flow. In short, Salesforce Admins are not giving Marketers full Flow functionality by granting them access to the Marketing Cloud Flow Builder.
What scoring features are included with Marketing Cloud?
Marketing Cloud has both People and Account Scoring.
People Scoring
Engagement Score: Adds or removes points based on how engaged a person is with your Marketing initiatives.
Fit Score: Similar to Account Engagement Grading, Fit Scoring tells Marketing and Sales how closely the prospect and their company aligns with the ideal client persona.
Engagement Score: Aggregates how engaged Contacts associated with the Account are with your Marketing initiatives.
Fit Scoring: How closely the Account matches your ideal customer.
Intent Score: Optional AI driven scoring that measure how likely an Account is to make a purchase.
What Einstein features are included with Marketing Cloud?
This is another area that is growing and changing with each release, but at of May 2025, Marketing Cloud includes:
Agentforce: Assists in building campaign briefs and campaign assets as well as generates copy for subject lines, preheaders, and body copy.
Einstein Metrics Guard: Uses predictive AI to filter bot activity from your org’s engagement metrics
Einstein Send Time Optimization: Send messages to your customers when they’re most likely to engage.
Einstein Segment Creation: Assists in building Data Cloud segments from natural language prompts.
Three additional Einstein features are available in Advanced Edition:
Campaign Designer (currently Beta): Assists in crafting campaign flows based on campaign objectives.
Einstein Engagement Frequency: Uses Predictive AI to determine how frequently to contact customers and improve the likelihood of engagement.
Einstein Engagement Scoring: Uses predictive AI to assign individual contact-level scores and determine the most efficient way to message recipients to increase customer engagement.
Does Marketing Cloud include Campaign Influence models?
Marketing Cloud has Opportunity Influence rather than Campaign Influence. Opportunity Influence assists marketers in identifying which campaigns were impactful for opportunities but relies on engagement rather than Campaign membership.
Can Marketing Cloud personalize messages based upon the individual record?
Yes, any fields connected to the Unified Individual can be used for personalization, this allows Marketers to even pull in data from other objects for cross object personalization. Dynamic Content is also available for use in email subject lines, email preheaders, and email components.
Does Data Cloud segment creation mean that SQL Queries will become a thing of the past?
Eventually, Salesforce is moving in the direction of clicks-not-code. Marketing Cloud includes prompts to help marketers build the appropriate filters in the segmentation builder, but you can also start from scratch within the builder.
Will SMS have the same process around provisioning and approvals as MC Engagement?
There are two SMS code options available in Marketing Cloud, Short Code and Long Code. The short code option follows the same provisioning process that exists today for Marketing Cloud Engagement today. Check out our blog post for more information on the Short vs Long code and the provisioning processes.
Does Marketing Cloud include A/B Testing capabilities?
How does Marketing Cloud handle pre-lead, unassigned records?
Salesforce introduced a new CRM Object for Prospects as part of the Spring ‘26 release. This new object can be used to store pre-lead records in CRM, similar to how Account Engagement keeps Prospects within its system and only sends Prospects to Salesforce when they are Sales/Lead ready.
How can Account Engagement and Engagement Customers start using Marketing Cloud?
Marketing Cloud Engagement customers will get a similar provisioning path soon (Safe Harbor!)
How has Sercante been involved in the launch of Marketing Cloud?
Members of the Sercante team have been involved with Marketing Cloud since the pilot in 2023. We were also members of the Pioneer Program at launch in 2024 and have over 30 customers using Marketing Cloud today. We were also the first partner to be provisioned a Marketing Cloud Growth Edition Partner Org so we could provide feedback, documentation help, and FAQs to the development team.
Learn more about Marketing Cloud Growth Edition
Want to learn more about Marketing Cloud Growth Edition? Check out some of our previous blog posts and subscribe to The Spot so you stay in the loop as we dive deeper into this new product.
Well, we’ve got another TrailblazerDX completed and in the history books, and boy was it a good one. While it seemed like a smaller crowd this year compared to 2023, the vibe and excitement of what’s on the horizon for Salesforce was off the charts!
I’ve never been more excited to be a part of this community. Keep on reading for my top takeaways from this year’s event and what this means for technologists.
#TDX24: Get your sunglasses, cuz the future is looking bright!
We headed to San Francisco along with several thousand of our Salesforce friends for the annual Salesforce developer-focused conference. The conference took place March 6-7, 2024, and it included more than 300 technical sessions and hands-on workshops. The focus for the conference was the Einstein 1 Platform and the era of AI.
This year, Heather Rinke and I had the pleasure of presenting a session at TrailblazerDX along with our friend Arvind Raman, who is a director of partner product success, at Salesforce. The session is called 5 Tips for Getting Started with Data Cloud, and you can check out the recording on Salesforce+ here.
My top 2024 TrailblazerDX takeaways
These are the biggest takeaways I have from the 2024 TrailblazerDX conference.
Smart AI for smarter decisions
TrailblazerDX 2024 showcased Salesforce’s cool AI updates all made possible through the Einstein 1 Platform, making data work harder for businesses. Think better insights, smarter analytics — it’s like having a crystal ball for making savvy decisions. And bonus points for now supporting unstructured data! That’s going to truly be a game-changer.
Keeping it simple, keeping customers happy
Salesforce — the Customer Company — is about making life easier for businesses. They’re focused and committed to simplifying the complexity of connecting the dots between customer data via Data Cloud — across the entire tech stack and more recently multi-org, so you can give your customers that “wow” experience every time. No more guessing games — just happy customers.
Coding made easy
Forget the days of complex code. At TrailblazerDX 2024, Salesforce rolled out tools like Einstein 1 Studio that make coding a breeze. It’s like giving developers and administrators superpowers to create awesome stuff without breaking a sweat. And to be clear this goes beyond the clicks, not code theme in past years. We’ve gone from a click-based GUI to a conversational experience.
Locking down security
Cybersecurity’s a big deal, and Salesforce knows it. They’ve beefed up security features to keep your data safe from prying eyes both externally and internally (check out data spaces). It’s like having a digital security guard on duty 24/7.
Learning and growing together
TrailblazerDX 2024 wasn’t just about tech — it was about community — a community that broke the Guinness Book World Record for Einsteins. It’s a place where people come together to share ideas, learn new things, occasionally color, and grow together. Because when we collaborate, amazing things happen.
Why we techies should get excited
Innovation at Your Fingertips: With Salesforce’s AI goodies, we tech nerds can get creative and drive innovation like never before. It’s like having a toolbox full of cool gadgets to play with.
No more spreadsheets: Unified customer data means less hassle. No more manual list pulls, digging through endless spreadsheets, or joining multiple tables together using SQL — we can now spend our efforts actually using the data versus trying to get the data. One of my favorite sayings: Work smarter not harder!!
Coding, Simplified: Low-code tools mean less time coding and more time creating awesome stuff. It’s like having a shortcut to building cool features without all the headaches.
What this means at Sercante
As a trusted Salesforce partner, we’ve been keeping a pulse on the latest platform innovations and future planned roadmap developments and as a result, have refocused too. ICYMI you might have noticed we had a bit of a glow-up!
“Our rebranded mission, the statement that guides us through our day-to-day, is to use Salesforce to create seamless digital experiences with radical impact. Looking toward our long-term goals, our vision is a tech-driven future where real connections thrive.”
Based upon the key takeaways mentioned earlier related to AI, keeping it simple, and less code — we see a future where it will be less about the how and more about the why. The why is strategy.
Of course, you’ll still find Salesforce consultants performing hands-on keyboard work on our team, but we’re so much more than that and will continue to lean into it. We’re focused on the human side of technology with strategies that get to the heart of impactful growth. As I stated at the beginning, there has never been more of an exciting time to be part of the Salesforce ecosystem and Sercante.
So, in closing, I hope you enjoyed my top takeaways from TrailblazerDX 2024, served up with a side of Sercante expertise. Send us a message and let’s make some magic happen together!
