Dojo belts

As in martial arts, a belt shows the path you have walked, not talent. Every tutorial, snippet and answer on SF Dojo has a belt, and it tells you what you need to know before reading.

White

First contact. For anyone new to Marketing Cloud or to a new tool.

You are here if…

  • You have never opened Marketing Cloud, or you opened it and got lost in the menus.
  • You still mix up Data Extensions, lists and Contact Builder.
  • No coding required.

In this belt you learn

  • What each studio does: Email Studio, Journey Builder, Automation Studio and Contact Builder.
  • Subscriber Key, Contact Key and why they matter.
  • Data Extensions: fields, primary keys and retention.
  • The difference between Marketing Cloud Engagement, Marketing Cloud Next and Data Cloud.

Examples

Examples: White
Title Type Platform Reading
AttributeValue and empty fields: AMPscript personalization that never breaks a send Tutorial Marketing Cloud Engagement 3 min

See the item for this belt →

Yellow

First implementations. You already use the tool and are about to write your first code.

You are here if…

  • You can create a Data Extension and set up a simple send.
  • You have read some AMPscript, even without understanding all of it.
  • You know what a SELECT does.

In this belt you learn

  • Personalization with AMPscript: Lookup, LookupRows and conditionals.
  • Basic Query Activities and the send and open Data Views.
  • Your first journey with a Data Extension entry source.
  • How to test an email with real data before sending.

Examples

Examples: Yellow
Title Type Platform Reading
How to use LookupRows in AMPscript (and when to switch to Lookup or LookupOrderedRows) Tutorial Marketing Cloud Engagement 3 min

See the item for this belt →

Green

Day-to-day autonomy. You implement on your own and need to debug without help.

You are here if…

  • You write AMPscript and SQL without copying everything from elsewhere.
  • You have built automations with more than one step.
  • You can read a send error message.

In this belt you learn

  • SSJS in CloudPages: forms, try/catch and Platform.Function.
  • Deduplication and time windows in SQL, with ROW_NUMBER() and DATEADD.
  • Robust automations: checks, error alerts and reprocessing.
  • Preference centers and unsubscribe pages in CloudPages.

Examples

Examples: Green
Title Type Platform Reading
Deduplicate records with ROW_NUMBER() in a Query Activity Snippet Marketing Cloud Engagement 2 min
Data Views in SQL: who opened or clicked in the last 30 days Tutorial Marketing Cloud Engagement 3 min

See all 2 items for this belt →

Brown

Integrations. You connect Marketing Cloud to other systems.

You are here if…

  • You use AMPscript, SSJS and SQL every day.
  • You have called the REST or SOAP API, even if only from Postman.
  • You understand OAuth and installed packages.

In this belt you learn

  • REST and SOAP APIs: authentication, Triggered Sends and Data Extension upserts.
  • Marketing Cloud Connect and syncing with Sales and Service Cloud.
  • Apex and Flows calling Marketing Cloud with Named Credentials.
  • Data Cloud: Data Streams, identity resolution and activations.

Examples

Examples: Brown
Title Type Platform Reading
Transactional Messaging API: real-time transactional email in Marketing Cloud Tutorial Marketing Cloud Engagement 3 min
Marketing Cloud REST API: OAuth 2.0 authentication and writing to a Data Extension Tutorial Marketing Cloud Engagement 3 min

See all 2 items for this belt →

Black

Architecture. You decide how the platform is organized.

You are here if…

  • You have shipped integrations to production.
  • You are responsible for more than one brand, Business Unit or country.
  • You need to justify technical decisions to other teams.

In this belt you learn

  • Business Units, permissions and shared data.
  • Performance at volume: keys, indexes and send windows.
  • Governance: naming, environments and documentation.
  • How to plan the migration to Marketing Cloud Next.