Here is some background on the importance of why we use Convergence Cloud to populate your data extensions. Already understand the importance of Convergence Cloud? Then go to the instructions for how to upload your data via the standard or custom upload options.
What Convergence Cloud is
Every person the university has a relationship with will, or should, have a record in CRM. Our goal is to then have that record in the CRM map directly to who that person is in Marketing Cloud. To do this, we need a unique key that identifies the person in both systems. That key is called their Salesforce ID. In Marketing Cloud, we use that Salesforce ID as the Subscriber Key inside of data extensions.
You will need the Salesforce ID for each person you want to email, and that’s where Convergence Cloud comes in. When we pass a record through Convergence Cloud, if there’s an existing record in CRM that matches the personal information in your upload file, (name, email address, for example), it matches the current record with it and returns the Salesforce ID associated with it to your data in your data extension. In cases where there is no record found, a new record is created in CRM and a new Salesforce ID is created. It is important to keep in mind that every Salesforce ID in CRM is a unique key and is necessary for all the records in data extensions.
What data extensions are
A data extension is basically a list that not only contains the First Name, Last Name, Email Address, and Subscriber Key, but it can also include additional attributes. Think of a data extension as a spreadsheet in Marketing Cloud—you can add whatever fields you need. Having all these attributes means that this data can be used to create personalized sends and to segment/filter the data.
Ready to add data to a data extension? Learn how using either the standard or custom upload option.