How to Get a Marketo Certification: Exams, Costs & Prep
This article is for everyone wondering how to earn a Marketo certification and whether you need one. We’ll go through the current Adobe Marketo Engage exams, what each of them costs and covers, how to prepare, and how to keep your certificate active.
What Is Marketo Certification?
Marketo certification is proof of your marketing automation expertise. By passing a certification exam, you check your knowledge and find the gaps worth filling. Apart from that, a certificate shows employers and clients that you know Marketo Engage and might help you build a better career.
Since Adobe acquired Marketo, Marketo certifications are part of the Adobe Customer Experience Certification Program. The exams below are built specifically for Adobe Marketo Engage.
3 Types of Marketo Certifications: Which One Do You Need?
As of October 2026, Adobe offers three Marketo Engage certifications, one for each level of experience. Adobe updates its exams from time to time and gives each new version a new exam ID, so check the exam page before you schedule.
| Business Practitioner Professional | Business Practitioner Expert | Architect Master | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exam ID | AD0-E561 | AD0-E562 | AD0-E563 |
| Experience | 0–12 months | 1–3 years | 3–5 years |
| Cost | $125 ($95 in India) | $225 ($150 in India) | $225 ($150 in India) |
| Passing score | 31 of 50 | 31 of 50 | 35 of 50 |
| Time limit | 1 hour 40 minutes | 1 hour 40 minutes | 4 hours |
| Prerequisite | None | None | Active Business Practitioner Expert certification |
All three exams are in English and taken online with a proctor, so you’ll need a camera.
1. Adobe Marketo Engage Business Practitioner Professional
Business Practitioner Professional (AD0-E561) is the first step of the Marketo certification program. It’s meant for marketers who are new to Marketo Engage: Adobe sets the level at 0–12 months of experience and describes the typical candidate as someone with about 3–6 months of hands-on work. The exam replaces the earlier AD0-E555.
The exam covers four areas:
- platform administration (32%): users and roles, tags and channels, audit trail, tokens, fields;
- database management and review (24%): smart lists, segmentation, list imports and exports, data hygiene;
- campaign execution (36%): programs, assets, trigger and batch campaigns, A/B tests;
- basic reporting (8%): report subscriptions and campaign performance.
Choose this exam if you’re a marketing coordinator, email marketing specialist, campaign operations or demand generation specialist, or a digital marketer who builds programs in Marketo Engage.
Adobe is also retiring a separate entry-level exam, Adobe Marketo Engage Digital Marketer Professional (AD0-E564): it can’t be scheduled after October 25, 2026. Adobe recommends Business Practitioner Professional instead.
2. Adobe Marketo Engage Business Practitioner Expert
Business Practitioner Expert (AD0-E562) is the second level. It checks whether you can build, optimize, and troubleshoot advanced marketing and operational programs in Marketo Engage. Adobe expects at least 12 months of hands-on experience with the platform.
The exam covers:
- platform administration and integrations (28%);
- advanced campaign management (46%);
- lead management (14%);
- advanced features (12%).
AD0-E562 is the updated version of the earlier Expert exam, AD0-E559. If you already have an appointment for AD0-E559, you can take it as planned, but Adobe allows rescheduling only until October 30, 2026. Everyone else should schedule AD0-E562.
Choose this exam if you work as a marketing operations or automation manager, campaign manager, Marketo consultant, or demand generation manager and run complex programs in Marketo Engage.
3. Adobe Marketo Engage Architect Master
Architect Master (AD0-E563) is the highest level. You can take it only if you hold an active Business Practitioner Expert certification. Adobe aims it at specialists with 3–5 years of experience who design Marketo instances, plan CRM integrations, and explain their solutions to technical and business stakeholders.
The exam covers:
- project leadership and change management (10%);
- Marketo data architecture design (18%);
- Marketo campaign architecture design (28%);
- reporting and attribution (20%);
- advanced Marketo governance (24%).
If you pass this exam, you’ll hold the top Marketo certification. We’ll talk about the perks of Marketo certificates later in this article.
4 Steps to Get Prepared for and Pass Marketo Certification Exams
When you’ve picked the right exam, it’s time to get ready. Adobe says that training alone won’t get you through the exam: you need a combination of study and real work in Marketo Engage. Here are the key steps.
1. Study Marketo Tutorials and Docs
Start with the exam objectives on the exam page and mark the topics you don’t feel confident about. Then fill the gaps with Adobe’s free materials:
- Marketo Engage documentation. All the basics about setting up and managing Marketo Engage.
- Marketo Engage tutorials. Step-by-step videos and guides on Experience League.
- Marketo Engage on Experience League. Courses, tutorials, and documentation in one place.
- Marketo Engage community. Ask questions and discuss issues with other Marketo users.
The exam page also has an Exam Prep Guide with study materials. If you’re asked to log in, use your Adobe ID.
2. Take a Practice Test
Adobe doesn’t show the exam questions beforehand, but each exam page offers a practice test. It’s built from the same blueprint as the live exam, so it shows your strong and weak areas. Passing the practice test doesn’t guarantee that you’ll pass the real exam, but it tells you where to focus.
3. Practice on Real Projects in Marketo Engage
Before the exam (especially the second and third levels), practice on real projects. Go through the list of skills for your exam and try each of them in your Marketo campaigns. Building emails is part of that: to save time on design, start from email templates for Marketo.
Don’t hesitate to ask the community or your mentors: it’s better to avoid pitfalls than learn from your mistakes, especially on clients’ projects.
4. Schedule Your Marketo Certification Exam
Once you feel confident, schedule your exam from the exam page. A few things to know before you do:
- You pay when you schedule. If you’re eligible for an Adobe partner, employee, or student discount and log in with that email, the discount is applied automatically.
- You can schedule up to 60 days ahead.
- Exams are delivered online through Excelsoft’s easyProctor. Use Chrome or Edge, have a government-issued photo ID ready, clear your desk, and remove external monitors.
- If you fail on your first attempt, you can retake the exam after 24 hours. After a second or later failed attempt, you have to wait 15 days. Each attempt is paid separately.
3 Reasons to Get Marketo Certification
Before you start preparing, it helps to understand why you need the certificate. Here are the main reasons.
Reason 1: Validate Marketo Skills & Knowledge
A Marketo certification is a good opportunity to find your weak spots and fix them before they turn into mistakes on clients’ projects.
Adobe offers a wide range of free materials about Marketo Engage, including videos and tutorials, so why not use them to validate your knowledge and grow your Marketo experience?
Reason 2: Find a New Job
After you pass, you get a digital badge that you can add to your resume and social media profiles. Anyone who clicks it sees a page confirming that the certification is yours and which skills it covers. Adobe also lists email marketing manager, marketing operations manager, and marketing automation consultant among the roles that benefit from the certification.
Reason 3: Be a Part of the Marketo Community
A certificate is a good reason to get more involved with other Marketo Engage users. The Adobe Experience League community is the place to discuss issues, share ideas, and learn from people who work with the platform every day.
How to Keep Your Marketo Certification Active
Adobe certifications expire after two years. Renewal is free: you pass two short renewal modules, about 15 minutes each, and your certification is extended for another two years. Adobe notifies you 180 days before the expiration date, and you can renew any time within that window. If your certification expires, you’ll have to pass the exam again and pay for it.
Final Thoughts
A Marketo certification is a good way to prove your Marketo Engage skills and grow as a marketer. As of October 2026, there are three Marketo Engage certifications for three levels of experience: Business Practitioner Professional, Business Practitioner Expert, and Architect Master. Use Adobe’s free learning materials, practice on real projects, and check the exam page for the current exam ID before you schedule.
If you want to try out similar certification programs, read our articles about the Salesforce certification program or Mailchimp courses.