How to Pass the Pardot Consultant Certification Exam
You’ve conquered the Pardot Specialist exam* (Yipee!) and you’ve caught the Pardot bug. Next on your hit list is the Pardot Consultant exam, but what does it take to...
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Category: Real Talk
A Hot Take on the Pardot Rebrand to Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
It’s official — Pardot is going to be called Marketing Cloud Account Engagement going forward. This is a big, bold change. I have a lot of respect for whoever...
Salesforce Name Changes: Pardot & Marketing Cloud Get A Rebrand
Salesforce announced today that they’re changing the name “Pardot” to… drumroll… Marketing Cloud Account Engagement. Along with this rebrand, they’re changing the names of about a dozen products —...
The Spot: A Community Resource for Marketers on Salesforce
Your Marketing Automation Platform (MAP) doesn’t exist in a vacuum. And neither do we. The Spot for Pardot is following a natural evolution we’re seeing in the marketing technology...
How to Conquer Imposter Syndrome in the Pardot World
I seriously felt imposter syndrome as a professional in the Salesforce and Pardot community — but I overcame those feelings by learning everything I could through Pardot training courses...
Celebrating the Success of Pardot Pros
I think we need to do more to celebrate the work that Pardot and Marketing Operations pros do. I’ll explain why. But first, a random story.
How Marketing Automation Saved My Bacon… Twice
I’ll admit it. As a marketing professional, I was a bit nervous the first time that I heard the term “marketing automation.” My first thought was that somebody was...
Thank the Pargods for the Chip On Your Shoulder…
Right before I started Sercante, I had a little career and emotional bump in the road. At the time, it felt catastrophic. Soul crushing. In retrospect, it was a...
The 8 Best Ways to Support Women-Owned Salesforce Businesses
Inspired by the upcoming WITness Success conference, I recently posted a list of Women-Owned Salesforce Partners & ISVs. Spoiler alert: this list isn’t super long, and I’d love to...
An Open Letter to Salesforce Admins: Why Marketing Automation is the Next Big Thing for Your Career
Dear Salesforce Admins everywhere, I realize you may not have had to work that closely with us marketers before. And that not all of us have taken the time...
The Myth of the Failed Marketing Automation Implementation
I’m noticing a trend. People hate their marketing automation platform implementation partners. On at least a weekly basis, a prospective customer or a Salesforce AE with a red account...
When Fear Stops Pardot Pros in Their Tracks
As a Pardot consultant, I run into a lot of people who are stuck. They’re not getting the value they wanted out of the tool. They’re not sure what...
Why Marketing Automation Platform Implementations “Fail”
Okay, real talk time. Not all companies who implement marketing automation are met with wild success and find themselves on the stage at Dreamforce. For every one of those...
Why Marketing Automation Experts Drink: An Adult Coloring Book
In the category of super random side projects, I made a coloring book. Nope, not the kind for the little humans in your life. It’s called “Why Marketing Automation...
When B2B Marketing Feels Like a Trip to the Mall
I went into a retail store a few weeks ago. I should have known better, but I was leaving for a vacation and desperately needed to buy a swimsuit....
8 Tips for Success When Working With a Pardot Consultant
A recent post focused on pros and cons of insourcing and outsourcing Pardot work. The TL;DR of that one: there are great reasons for and against either approach. But...
Stop Saying “I Can’t Because…” to Boost Your Marketing Automation Career
There are a million reasons to not do something. But many of the ones we say out loud are… how do I put this… not real. Let’s talk about...
Top Secret Pardot Project: Burn After Reading
I’m working on a secret project. It involves crayons. Maybe some colored pencils. Very illicit stuff. Okay fine, I’ll just tell you what it is. It’s a coloring book....
It’s a Blogiversary! A Look at the Top 10 Posts from Year 1
Today is a momentous day for this little blog. One year ago today, I wrote and shipped my first post. Since then, I’ve posted 84 articles about the platform...
Elon, Take Some Advice & a Nap, Bro
Ariana Huffington’s open letter to Elon Musk struck a chord with me. I mean… to be fair, she wrote a book on naps, so it was a little self...
13 Scantily Documented Pardot Surprises
The original working title of this blog was “Why Wasn’t This Documented, Abridged Edition.” “Scantily documented surprises” sounded like a nicer way of saying the saying the same thing....
On Salesforce Events & Time Well Wasted
I’m attending Connections and Texas Dreamin’ this week and couldn’t be more excited. When talking about these events with other consultants and business owners, several have dismissed them saying:...
How Much do Pardot Admins & Consultants Make?
One question I frequently get asked is: “What does a typical Pardot admin (or consultant, feeelancer, et. al) make?” Now THERE’S a loaded question. The myth of the “typical”...
10 Reasons Listicles Represent the Best & Worst of Digital Marketing
Listicles. I hate them. Truly despise them. But then also kind of love them. If you’re not familiar with this buzzword, a listicle is an article that — you...
Salesforce FY End: 7 Ways Pardot Admins Can Get a Screamin’ Deal
One unique quirk about Salesforce is that their fiscal year ends January 31. According to Benioff’s Behind the Cloud, this move was to better align with customer buying patterns...
Let’s Banish Good & Fine
“Hey, how are you?” “Doing good, how are you?” I think I’ve had that conversation approximately a gajillion times. My New Year’s resolution is to STOP already, and I’d...
7 Gifts to Win the Eternal Affection of a Pardot Admin
Wondering what to get that marketing automation guru in your life? Well, unless you can bundle up some inbound leads… here are some gifts that are sure to please:...
Tell Me to “Make it Pretty” One More Time
Seriously, do it… I dare you. Public service announcement: Great marketers don’t make things pretty. They make them strategic. They make them compelling. They make them generate revenue. They...
5 Pardot Influencers I Can’t Get Enough Of
One of the things I love about the broader Salesforce community (our #Ohana) is the generous knowledge sharing that goes on. It’s incredible – in addition to their “day...
On Finding Flow as You Advance in Your Career
Ironic: the farther I get in my career, the less I get to do some of the things I love and get to that elusive “flow state.” (Alright maybe...
I Have an Email Marketing Crush on CB Insights
I’m on so many email newsletters. It’s frankly ridiculous. But somehow, I can never find it in my heart to scroll to the bottom of the message and hit...
I’m Over the “Me Too” Tools
Not going to call out specific products here, but lately I’ve had a few folks in the Salesforce ecosystem call my attention to new market entrants with an eyeroll-inspiring...
Pardot Admins & the Lurking Impostors
Pardot Admins are some of the most humble people I’ve worked with. “Well, we’re just doing the basics.” “We’ve probably set it up all wrong.” “We don’t know...
Is It Worth It To Get Pardot Certified?
This is an awesome (but tricky) topic that was suggested by Ian A. It’s kind of a loaded question. You meet people all the time who are certified in one...
Can We Just Admit the ABM vs. Inbound War is Made-Up?
“The world has changed.” “The old playbook is fundamentally broken.” “The way we do business has radically transformed.” Yeah okay, these are true in some cases. But they are...
A Surprisingly FAQ: How Do You Pronounce Pardot?
Exactly like it’s spelled, dammit. PAR-DOT. Every time I hear a marketing automation “expert” utter the word “Par-dough” I want to bang my head against my desk. It’s not...
Real Talk: 5 Surprises When Implementing Pardot
This is an excerpt