Marketing Automation26% of the exam
Automation Studio query, verification and wait activities
How to order activities in automation steps, what a SQL Query activity can and can't do, how to keep data view history beyond six months, and when to add a Verification, Wait, Send Email with Einstein Send Time Optimization, or Filter activity.
Given a customer scenario, build the appropriate Automation Studio solution.
~7 min read · 9 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- Order activities across automation steps so an activity that reads data comes in a later step than the query that builds it.
- Build a valid SQL Query activity: separate target, named columns with a JOIN, supported SQL only, and the 30-minute timeout.
- Keep more than six months of data view history with a scheduled query into your own data extension.
- Add a Verification activity to stop or alert on bad data, a Wait activity to hold until a time, and a Filter activity for no-SQL segments.
- Configure a Send Email activity with Einstein Send Time Optimization and know what it switches off.
- Key terms: step (a stage of an automation that holds one or more activities); target data extension (where a query writes its results); data view (a system table of up to six months of subscriber and journey data); Verification activity (checks a data extension and stops or notifies); Wait activity (holds the automation for a duration or until a time).
Key facts
Reading a query's output
- Detail
- Place the reader in a later step
Query target
- Detail
- Can't be a data extension used in the query
JOIN with SELECT *
- Detail
- Not permitted; name each column
NOLOCK
- Detail
- Unnecessary; queries run READ UNCOMMITTED
Query timeout
- Detail
- 30 minutes
Suspended query
- Detail
- System error or 24 consecutive failures
Data views
- Detail
- Up to six months of data
Verification actions
- Detail
- Stop the automation, email a notification, or both
Verification step
- Detail
- Only Verification activities in that step; not reusable
Wait activity
- Detail
- Duration or specific time; combined waits up to one year
STO in Send Email
- Detail
- Turns off throttling; about 20 minutes per million subscribers
Filter activity
- Detail
- Applies a data filter; creates a group or data extension
Sources for this section (8)
- Automation Studio Taskstrailhead.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Build a SQL Query Activityhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- SQL Referencehelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Retrieving and Segmenting Datahelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Verification Activityhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Wait Activityhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Send Email Activityhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Filter Activityhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- When might Einstein Send Time Optimization need up to 72 hours before you can use it in a Send Email activity?
- When is a SQL Query activity suspended?
- Which SQL elements does the SQL Query activity reject?
- What is the longest combined wait time an automation can have?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
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