There’s no greater feeling of excitement than getting a new gadget. For a brief moment, you feel like a little kid again, anxiously unwrapping it. But the excitement quickly fades when you realize that some assembly is required, or worse, it’s missing batteries.
Software vendors are often guilty of selling the dream of a shiny new piece of marketing automation under the Christmas tree without delivering on the promise of training and support post-sale. It’s like someone forgot the batteries and when push comes to shove it costs an arm and a leg to get them.
If you’ve ever grappled with buyer’s remorse on a software purchase—you’re not alone. It’s fairly common. Even if you feel like you got what you paid for purchasing Pardot, you might be wondering how do you get started.
After being acquired by ExactTarget and then again by Salesforce, it’s not exactly obvious how to find the best Pardot training resources. Even some of the most high-quality training materials are out of date as things have moved around. This article will help you find high-quality videos, on-demand webinars, and guided up-to-date training materials led by certified Salesforce experts.
We’ll focus primarily on free resources because there’s a lot of them, however, it’s worth noting that nothing beats the premium training materials offered by Salesforce in the Trailhead Academy. What follows are the best resources that will get you started learning the basics of that shiny new software purchase.
1. Trailhead | The fun way to learn (according to) Pardot.
What is Trailhead?
According to Salesforce, Trailhead is, “A guided learning path with fun interactive tutorials.” Trailhead is the easiest way to get started with Pardot. Choose from dozens of expert-led, interactive training on all aspects of Pardot.
You do have to create a Trailblazer.me account in order to sign up for the courses, but it’s a totally free sign up experience. You can also collect points and badges for each module you complete. Salesforce combines a variety of modules into what they call Trailmixes. For example, you can sign up for and complete the Salesforce Marketer Trailmix in order to become certified within the community. Trailmixes are like curated playlists for a specific skillset. Pardot Trailmixes are a great way to go get your feet wet. Here are a few of the most recommended Pardot Trailmixes:
- Pardot Basics
- Pardot Email Marketing
- Pardot Engagement Studio
- Pardot Lead Nurturing
- Pardot Lead Generation
- Pardot Lead Scoring and Grading
- Pardot Process Automation
- B2B Marketing Analytics Basics
- Datasets and Dashboards in B2B Marketing Analytics
- Salesforce Engage Basics
- Salesforce & Pardot Integration
As you complete each trailmix, you gain points in the Salesforce ecosystem and badges that show your competency in forums and on Trailblazer.me.
It’s worth noting that Trailhead is different from the Trailblazer Community, which is more of a forum to find answers to common questions, connect with industry experts, and find inspiration for your own marketing automation projects.
2. Salesforce Docs
Trailhead is an incredible resource for anyone wanting to learn Pardot, but it’s likely you won’t be able to find an answer to every question in perfectly curated learning modules. If you crave more detailed responses, the official documentation covers everything from lead scoring methods to associating prospects with marketing campaigns.
Even if you don’t prefer navigating through endless help docs, it’s worth a quick look to see the breadth and depth of all the Pardot topics covered in exhaustive detail. If you feel yourself getting stuck on a particular learning module in Trailhead, you can quickly search the help docs for answers you didn’t know you needed.
3. Trailblazer Community
Last but not least, the Trailblazer community is the ultimate resource to get real help from actual Salesforce Pardot experts. While pre-recorded tutorials are a great way to get started, nothing beats actual answers from battle-tested marketing operations experts with years of experience.
It’s pretty easy to find answers to questions trolling through documentation or even just searching Google. But any marketing ops professional will tell you that figuring out how to do it isn’t the same as figuring out the right way to do it. The Trailblazer Community is filled to the brim with credentialed experts who know from hands-on experience the right way to build with Salesforce and Pardot.
In addition to Q and As, Trailblazer also features groups made up of specialists who match your experience and interests. So you don’t have to scour LinkedIn to find useful conversations on Marketing Cloud’s Mobile Studio, for example. Whatever your interest, you’re sure to find a discussion happening in the Trailblazer Community
Are you ready to learn Salesforce Pardot?
Whether you need help learning the basics of B2B marketing or you’re an expert in enterprise ABM best practices, Pardot is for you. Learning Salesforce Marketing Cloud with Pardot you’ll be well on your way to mastering two of the most used enterprise marketing tools out there. Not only will this help you conquer complex marketing campaigns, but it’ll also unlock endless career opportunities within the Salesforce ecosystem. You don’t have to know everything to get started, you just have to start. With these resources in hand, you’ll be a Certified Pardot Specialist in no time.