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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Salesforce Marketing Cloud Consultant

💰 $ - $

MarketingSalesforceMarTechConsulting

🎯 Role Definition

The Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) Consultant partners with marketing, IT, and analytics teams to design, build, and operationalize personalized, cross-channel campaigns and engagement journeys using Salesforce Marketing Cloud. This role owns technical designs, data architecture, campaign automation, and integration patterns (Marketing Cloud Connect, REST/SOAP APIs) while ensuring deliverables meet business goals for acquisition, retention, lifecycle marketing, and revenue attribution. The ideal candidate balances strong MarTech engineering skills (AMPscript, SSJS, SQL, Data Extensions) with strategic campaign consulting and stakeholder management.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Marketing Automation Specialist
  • Email Marketing Manager
  • CRM Administrator

Advancement To:

  • Senior Salesforce Marketing Cloud Consultant / Lead
  • Marketing Automation Architect
  • Head of MarTech / Director of Lifecycle Marketing

Lateral Moves:

  • Salesforce Pardot Consultant
  • CRM / Customer Data Platform (CDP) Architect

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  1. Design and deliver end-to-end SFMC technical solutions — including Email Studio templates, Journey Builder flows, Automation Studio activities, and Contact Builder data models — aligned to marketing objectives and KPIs.
  2. Architect and implement data extension schemas, attribute groups, and contact models in Contact Builder to enable scalable segmentation, personalization, and consent management.
  3. Develop advanced, reusable email templates and dynamic content using AMPscript and Server-Side JavaScript (SSJS) to support personalized cross-channel campaigns.
  4. Write, optimize, and maintain SQL queries and query activities in Automation Studio to transform and prepare large datasets, join Data Extensions, and populate sendable audiences.
  5. Configure, test, and manage Marketing Cloud Connect integrations between Salesforce CRM (Sales Cloud/Service Cloud) and SFMC, ensuring synchronized contact, campaign, and tracking data.
  6. Build and optimize multi-step customer journeys in Journey Builder, using decision splits, wait activities, random splits, and API events to increase engagement and conversion.
  7. Lead API-based integrations using REST and SOAP APIs for trigger sends, event-driven journeys, data synchronization, and real-time personalization.
  8. Translate marketing requirements into technical specifications, solution designs, and implementation plans that are documented and vetted with stakeholders.
  9. Implement deliverability best practices including DKIM/SPF, list management, sender authentication, suppression handling, and bounce management to maintain sender reputation.
  10. Perform rigorous QA — code review, content validation, link and rendering checks, and test sends across email clients — before production deployments to reduce errors and optimize renders.
  11. Create automation frameworks (Automation Studio, Scheduled Scripts, CloudPages) to support batch and real-time processing, recurring sends, data imports, and reporting exports.
  12. Collaborate with product, analytics, and CRM teams to define and instrument tracking (UTM, engagement metrics) and feed data into analytics stacks for attribution modeling.
  13. Lead migrations and platform upgrades from legacy ESPs or other Marketing Cloud accounts, including data mapping, template conversion, deliverability transition, and cutover planning.
  14. Provide hands-on implementation and troubleshooting for Mobile Studio (SMS/MMS), Push Notifications, and MobilePush integration with journeys and data models.
  15. Design and maintain subscriber consent and preference centers using CloudPages and AMPscript, ensuring compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and other data protection regulations.
  16. Implement and maintain Marketing Cloud’s role-based access, business units, shared data extensions, and packages to support multi-brand or multi-region operations.
  17. Develop and deliver training, runbooks, and operational documentation for marketing teams, enabling self-service campaign creation and consistent governance.
  18. Monitor performance of campaigns and journeys using native SFMC reports and Data Views; provide regular analysis and recommendations to optimize open, click, and conversion rates.
  19. Troubleshoot send failures, API errors, data sync issues, and performance bottlenecks; coordinate with Salesforce support and cross-functional teams to resolve incidents quickly.
  20. Advise on and implement personalization strategies using dynamic content, profile attributes, Einstein for predictive insights, and A/B testing to drive measurable lift.
  21. Participate in program governance: enforce naming conventions, environment promotion strategies (sandbox → production), and change control for SFMC assets.
  22. Evaluate and recommend third-party MarTech integrations (data warehouses, CDPs, consent solutions, identity resolution) to enhance SFMC capabilities and customer data flows.
  23. Support analytics and BI teams by exporting tracking and performance data, creating scheduled extracts, and enabling data warehousing for cross-channel measurement.
  24. Drive continuous improvement by reviewing platform usage, technical debt, and automation efficiencies; propose optimizations to reduce manual tasks and minimize risk.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
  • Mentor junior SFMC engineers and provide technical oversight during code reviews and deployments.
  • Assist in vendor selection and contract reviews for MarTech integrations and managed services.
  • Prepare and present technical progress reports and campaign retrospectives to stakeholders and executive sponsors.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Salesforce Marketing Cloud (Email Studio, Journey Builder, Automation Studio, Contact Builder) — deep operational and architectural experience.
  • AMPscript — build dynamic, personalized content and profile-driven message logic.
  • Server-Side JavaScript (SSJS) — create server-side processing for complex content, CloudPages, and API interactions.
  • SQL — write performant queries for segmentation, ETL, and data transformation within SFMC.
  • REST & SOAP APIs — integrate SFMC with CRMs, webhooks, and external systems; implement triggered sends and event handling.
  • Marketing Cloud Connect — configure and troubleshoot synchronization between Salesforce CRM and SFMC.
  • Deliverability & Authentication — DKIM, SPF, DMARC, suppression strategies and mailbox provider relationship management.
  • Data Modeling & ETL — design Data Extensions, attribute groups, and data flows; experience with ETL tools and data warehouses.
  • CloudPages & Landing Pages — design and secure Microsites, preference centers, and subscription management pages.
  • Mobile Studio (SMS, Push) and MobilePush integrations — campaign configuration, compliance, and Opt-In management.
  • Automation Studio & Script Activities — schedule and orchestrate complex automations and file imports.
  • A/B testing and experimentation frameworks — design tests and analyze lifts in engagement and conversions.
  • Reporting & Analytics — derive actionable insights using SFMC reports, Data Views, and BI exports.
  • Salesforce Certifications (preferred) — Marketing Cloud Email Specialist, Marketing Cloud Consultant, Marketing Cloud Developer.

Soft Skills

  • Strategic thinker with marketing-first mindset: translates business goals into MarTech solutions that drive revenue and retention.
  • Excellent stakeholder management and communication — simplifies technical concepts for marketing, product, and leadership teams.
  • Strong project management: organizes cross-functional deliverables, milestones, and go-to-market plans.
  • Problem solver under pressure — methodical troubleshooting and incident response experience.
  • Detail-oriented and quality-driven — rigorous QA and governance mindset.
  • Collaborative team player — mentors others and works well with distributed teams.
  • Continuous learner — keeps current with SFMC product updates, Salesforce releases, and MarTech trends.
  • Results-focused with data-driven decision-making and A/B testing orientation.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Computer Science, Information Systems, Business, or related discipline.

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s degree in Marketing Analytics, Data Science, or an MBA is advantageous.
  • Salesforce certifications: Marketing Cloud Email Specialist, Marketing Cloud Consultant, Marketing Cloud Developer.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Marketing / Digital Marketing
  • Computer Science / Software Engineering
  • Information Systems / Data Analytics
  • Business Administration / Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–8 years implementing and supporting enterprise-level email and cross-channel marketing programs with Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years of hands-on SFMC experience with a proven portfolio of implemented journeys, templates, and integrations.
  • Demonstrated experience with Marketing Cloud Connect, API integrations, deliverability optimization, and data architecture for marketing systems.
  • Prior experience in agency or consulting environments, or within large consumer brands, e-commerce, financial services, or B2B SaaS companies.
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