In July 2021, the new Kentico Xperience 13 Certified marketer exam and training course was released. Focusing on Marketing Automation, Personalization, and other useful features, it enables marketers and content editors to step up the game with their digital experience platforms (DXPs). Roel Kuik, the Online B2B Marketer at Aviva Solutions, is one of the very first marketers to obtain this valuable certification. Find out how the Kentico Xperience Gold Partner implemented the newly gained insights into their daily practice, how it increases success of their customers, impacts their marketing efforts, and other key takeaways in this unique interview!
What motivated you to take the exam?
I had two reasons to do it. First, at Aviva Solutions I’m responsible for all marketing activities, including lead generation for our sales department. We use Kentico Xperience as the digital experience platform for our corporate website. So, it’s very important for me to keep up with the latest functionality that Kentico Xperience has to offer to ensure that we leverage all the online marketing capabilities.
Secondly, we believe in the power of marketing automation and online marketing to help our customers achieve their goals. And Kentico Xperience offers many of those tools out of the box. As proof of our belief, we were just awarded the best ‘Online Marketing Implementation 2020’. So, as a marketer, being certified for Kentico Xperience 13 is a logical proof of skill.
Was it difficult for you to factor the course and preparation for the exam into your busy schedule?
The actual exam and online course weren't all that time consuming. It took me less than two days. Most of the time spent preparing for the exam went into the actual use of Kentico Xperience and leveraging its features. Creating new marketing automation funnels and campaigns that push the borders of the out-of-the-box functionality that Kentico Xperience offers, for instance.
However, approaching the preparations as time consuming would be the wrong way to look at it. We honestly feel that the amount of time spent on preparations doesn’t compare to the time saved by using all the available features. So, it’s well worth it either way.
To what extent did you seek guidance internally, before taking the exam?
Specifically for the exam, not much. But our level of knowledge of Kentico Xperience and particularly its online marketing capabilities is a real team effort. Working in tandem with developers and product specialists, we constantly push the boundaries of Kentico Xperience to increase both the success of our customers as well as the impact of our own marketing efforts.
Is there any particular way you pass on the gained knowledge within and amongst your teams?
Absolutely! We have a team of Kentico Xperience specialists from various disciplines that come together every two weeks to talk about all the major changes, updates, achievements, and other important Xperience-related news. This allows us to share knowledge easily and quickly. It also enables us to roll out new marketing functionality, tested and approved for our own website, to our customers. By doing so, our customers benefit from this knowledge too.
Which topic included in the course or in the exam did you find the most powerful to draw inspiration from?
I've always been very partial to all things related to marketing automation and personalization. I love the combination of tech and marketing because, if done properly, it really creates the opportunity to exceed the expectations of your customers and/or prospects.
Would you say there's lots of new knowledge to gather from the course?
Generally speaking, that really depends on what your existing knowledge of the digital experience platform is, before taking the course. If you're already a certified marketer for Kentico Xperience 12, the overall difference between Kentico the Xperience 12 and 13 courses isn't so dramatic. But, if you are new to the DXP features, the course is a brilliant way to get lots of hands-on experience with all the great things that Kentico Xperience has to offer.
Which marketing features and processes have you improved or introduced, owing to what you learned in the course?
Working with Kentico Xperience has definitely improved the success rate of our lead generation campaigns, as we are now able to target specific contact groups with a nurturing funnel, built in the platform. This allows us to warm up the MQLs towards SQL by offering them relevant content until they have reached the desired status. Every contact that falls out of their designated funnel is captured and added to an alternative flow to reduce waste to a minimum. Knowing exactly who goes into which funnel, and monitoring the success rates of each individual campaign, email or social post, gives us the insights we need to constantly optimize our results.
Are you going to implement any of the newly gained insights into your daily practice?
Definitely! Specifically, increasing the success of our own lead generation campaigns by incorporating more personalization than we have done up to now. I would love to be able to present true one-to-one marketing by offering a personalized marketing flow based on a chosen variable in a form. Or create dynamic pages that personalize based on the UTM parameters of the link someone used to enter our site, and using that dynamic page variant as the first step in a new hyper-personalized marketing automation flow.
Off the back of the course, which online marketing features are you implementing with your clients?
We try to implement online marketing features for all our clients and the level of difficulty varies in accordance with their digital maturity. Sometimes, setting up a simple flow to gain new newsletter subscribers is a giant step for a client, and sometimes, you get to push the boundaries together, which might even lead to winning a Kentico Xperience award for Best Online Marketing Implementation. Most important to us is that our clients start leveraging the features of Kentico Xperience that fit their current level of digital maturity. And we will be there to help them grow.
Is there anything you'd like to say to someone who's considering getting certified?
Go for it! If you have some familiarity in working with Kentico Xperience for your corporate website or through client projects and you’ve completed the course, you should have no difficulties in successfully completing the exam.
Bring your digital marketing game to a new level with Kentico Xperience!
Stay ahead of the curve and boost your marketing efforts with cutting-edge technology and modern online marketing features. Talk to one of our experts to learn more, get a free hosted trial to explore all the powerful DXP features and get hands-on experience, or get certified as well to demonstrate your excellent Kentico Xperience 13 digital marketing skills!
"At Aviva Solutions, I am responsible for all our marketing activities focused on extending the Aviva Solutions brand. A big part of those activities is working on the strategy and campaigns that our Sales team needs to land new projects. Lead nurturing, marketing automation, and our online marketing is largely done through Kentico Xperience, which actually creates a unique hands-on environment to leverage the DXP capabilities that we offer to our clients. Using that knowledge to create better experiences for the customers of our clients is a beatiful thing and I am proud to be a part of that process."
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