I am about to take the MB2-719 certification, this certification covers the Dynamics 365 for Marketing Application. I plan to create a series of blog posts that collectively should help anyone else preparing for this exam.

The Dynamics 365 for Marketing Application is relatively new but is already establishing itself as an important tool to help marketing teams create automated campaigns.

Whenever I embark on a Microsoft exam I normally print off the skills measured statement and highlight all the areas I need to revise. Dynamics 365 for Marketing is new, therefore I am going to need to revise pretty much everything. You may be on the same boat. Extra fun for us!!

Let’s get started by reviewing some key terms / concepts … Dynamics Marketing is a powerful campaign management tool. It is just one of the applications that makes up Dynamics 365. It is important to understand that sales and marketing will share many of the same entities. Meaning they are tightly integrated. In fact the Common Data Service (CDS) means that all of the applications within Dynamics 365 can share a common customer base.

Being brand new means Marketing has a modern interface making use of Microsoft’s latest Unified Client Interface.

Dynamics 365 for Marketing works using a few basic principles. (All of which we’ll need to revise in detail!) To get us started, I have listed a few of the concepts you’ll need to understand below;

Segments – these are effectively groups of contacts that meet certain criteria. You can then include (or exclude) these groups of contacts from your customer journeys. (Recently Microsoft released an update to marketing that allows us to target accounts in addition to contacts. But the MB2-719 exam was published before that update. I assume the exam won’t have (yet) changed to reflect this latest update.
Subscription Centers – can be used to manage customer contact preferences. These (plus other features) ensures Dynamics 365 for Marketing can be fully GDPR compliant.
Customer Journeys – defining journeys allowing your marketing team to design flows that dictate what marketing messages are sent, when they are sent and to whom.
Lead Scoring – as contacts engage with journeys and events …. leads can be created to reflect potential sales opportunities. Leads can be scored and at a given threshold be automatically marked as being sales ready. (And therefore ready to be passed from marketing to sales.)
Marketing Emails – personalised email “templates” can be created which are then available in customer journeys. Emails include a legal designation. Meaning suppression and other compliance rules are enforced differently for transactional or commercial (marketing) emails.
Marketing Pages / Forms – landing pages can be created that might contain marketing forms. These will allow you to capture key data and also monitor who has been interacting with what pages.
Events – a powerful events module allows us to define events and webinars. Potential attendees can register via a portal and customer journeys can help automate the process of event invites, registration and attendance.

 

Surveys – voice of the customer can be leveraged to implement surveys and can be linked into your customer journeys.

The diagram below gives you an overview of the core capabilities found in Dynamics 365 for Marketing;

2018-12-04_07-32-57

As already mentioned Dynamics 365 for Marketing is just one component of the Dynamics 365 group of apps. But beyond this it is important to also understand that we have an entire platform available to us. Including PowerApps, Office 365, PowerBI and many other tools.

DynamicsData_01_03.jpg

I’ll obviously expand on these topics and much more as my posts on Dynamics 365 for Marketing continue. Now is probably the time when you might benefit from a detailed review of the skills measured statements. So, to help get you started I have listed them below;

Set up and configure Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Marketing
Set up Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Marketing Perform initial set up steps; configure organizational, business management, and customization settings; define default matching strategies; view quota limits


Configure other settings

Configure event settings; configure Customer Insights synchronization; upload images to file storage; view and manage keywords for an organization; create templates, including activity templates


Manage data quality and privacy

Identify GDPR rules for individuals and organizations; identify how Microsoft Dynamics 365 supports GDPR; configure permission-based marketing; track online behaviour; manage email unsubscribe requests; manage data imports and deduplication


Integrate Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Marketing with other services

Integrate with the Customer Insights service; use Power BI to view Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Marketing data; identify how custom channels work with Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Marketing
Manage segments and lists
Create and manage segments Identify segment types; create market segments including dynamic, static, and suppression segments; implement segment naming rules; view segment entities and relationships by using the Explore hyperlink; configure dynamic segments by using the Designer; combine segments using union, exclude, or intersect logic


Create and manage subscription centers and lists

Identify usage scenarios for subscription lists; create a subscription list; add a subscription list to a form; create a segment based on a subscription list
Create and manage marketing forms and pages


Create marketing forms

Identify types of marketing forms; identify form requirements and limitations; create a marketing form by using a template; create landing forms, subscription centers, and Forward to a Friend pages


Create and manage marketing pages

Create marketing pages; add form blocks to marketing pages; add forms to form blocks; apply a style to marketing pages; integrate marketing pages with marketing emails; create and use dynamic tests links; implement dedicated marketing page blocks; preview and validate marketing pages; publish a marketing page
Manage leads


Create and manage leads

Identify and describe stages in the lead life cycle; create leads manually or automatically; synchronize leads from LinkedIn by using the LinkedIn connector; create segments by using Microsoft Dynamics Customer Insights integration


Assess sales readiness

Create fixed rule and behavior rule scoring conditions; create compound conditions; set up single and multiple condition models; configure advanced lead scoring; configure sales readiness thresholds; review lead conversion metrics
Create and manage marketing emails


Create email messages

Create an email message by using a template; use basic HTML markup to create email messages; identify mandatory dynamic fields; add dynamic content to email messages


Publish and manage email messages

Identify message requirements; preview messages by using the Basic and Inbox options; validate messages; publish messages
Manage customer journeys


Create journeys

Identify and describe journey template types; identify content types; set up a customer journey; implement Activity and Launch Workflow options; implement targets; identify flow control components; implement flow control for journeys


Publish and manage journeys

Configure required options for publishing journeys; check campaigns for errors; publish a campaign; display customer journey insights
Manage events


Create events and webinars

Create an event team; set up sessions, including internal and external tracks; set up speakers; create event passes; set up venues; manage sponsors; manage vendors, logistics, and accommodations; identify webinar types; configure webinar options


Manage webinars

Configure the event portal; create event invitations, banners, and social media posts; register and check in attendees; gather event feedback; review events
Create and distribute surveys


Create surveys

Create a theme and upload images; add pages to a survey and personalize data; identify survey question types; add survey questions; identify respondent types; configure responsive routing


Preview, test, and publish surveys

Add surveys to emails; add surveys to customer journeys; clone, import, and translate surveys.


Manage survey responses

Interpret survey results; identify report types; run reports; view data in the survey dashboard; create leads from surveys

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