Salesforce certification exams can be a beast.

I passed the Data Cloud certification exam on the first attempt, and here’s my 1-2-3 recommendation for studying.

1. Data Cloud Trailmix by Salesforce Trailhead

Study Unlock Your Data with Data Cloud. Unlike some Trailheads that provide superficial information on Salesforce topics, the Data Cloud Trailmix is solid. (It’s the best I’ve seen!) It’s so helpful that I would use this as the foundation for learning.  

I studied the Data Cloud Trailmix meticulously, watching each video multiple times, practicing hands-on learning numerous times, and testing my progress with the Knowledge Checks. While I watched the videos, I pulled up my playground org and made side-by-side screens. Own this!

 

2. Data Cloud Bootcamp

You gotta love the Salesforce community.  The Data Cloud Consultant Certification Bootcamp on YouTube provides great context on Data Cloud topics.  The first two sessions are overviews and introductions, so I recommend jumping in on the core topics (Day 4 to Day 11). 

I primarily listened to this collection of videos on an extremely long car ride and rewatched the videos multiple times. It helped me get used to the new lingo and terms. (After the first listen, I tuned into subsequent sessions on speed setting x 1.5).

 

3. Data Cloud Quizlet

I put together a Quizlet series with important information. You can access free versions of these quizzes at Quizlet.com.  But don’t just memorize the answers; understand the concepts.  I developed the Quizlets to create repetition and help you remember key points.  

After going through the Quizlets, rewatch the videos and practice the hands-on learning again. (You’ll pick up different insights you missed when you began studying.)

Data Cloud – Basics

Data Cloud – Admin and Setup

Data Cloud – Ingestion and Modeling

Data Cloud – Identity Resolution

Data Cloud – Insights and Segmentation

Data Cloud – Activation & Actions

 

Other resources for Data Cloud Certification

Focus is the key, and thoroughly studying the items above was all I needed to pass the Data Cloud certification exam.

Want more?

Here are other resources:

 

Data Cloud Concepts I found helpful to know:

  • Native connectors (what’s available & review hard limits)
  • How to ingest data from Cloud Storage and B2C Commerce Cloud
  • Ingestion timings and differences between a full refresh and an upsert
  • What the term “payload” means
  • The types of data categories and which one to use
  • Data Spaces
  • When to use formulas or batch/streaming transformations
  • When to use streaming insights versus calculated insights

What others are saying about the Data Cloud Certification

Whenever I saw someone on social media post that they passed the Data Cloud Certification, I messaged them and asked, “What was the best resource for studying?”  Here’s what they said:

“I mainly focused on Trailhead, youtube and quizlet.”

“The main thing for me was the ‘Unlock Your Data with Data Cloud’ trailmix and then playing around with the data cloud org when I was working through the other trails.”

“I focused on the Data Cloud Bootcamp on YouTube, but I wish I spent more time on the Trailmix.  Study to learn the Data Cloud system, not just pass the exam.”

“Honestly, I used the trailheads (the Data Cloud trailmix was VERY useful) and did a lot of hands on. I was really surprised at the detail of some of the questions – like settings specific to systems. I would definitely do as much hands on as possible to be really “sure” where things are. Good Luck!”

“I did two DC boot camps and mostly used the content from that. Plus listening to youtube videos while I did other stuff like crocheting :-D. It’s been 6 months in the making.”