Data Designer in Contact Builder

Contact Builder allows you to view the information stored in your account regarding a person as a single contact record. That record stores information related only to that contact. This information includes attributes such as the first and last names of the contact, a mobile number, or an email address. This information relates solely to a contact and identifies the contact as a single entity within the system.

Contact Builder displays any lists or data extensions available to an account. If your account doesn’t use data extensions, only lists show in the account. Certain apps, such as MobileConnect and MobilePush, require the use of data extensions. The contact record can relate to information within other lists or data extensions based on attributes from the contact record. Data Designer permits linking data extensions to the contact record or to other data extensions.

For example, you can use the email address from a contact record to link to another data extension that contains product and shipping information. The contact record can then draw on any information uploaded to the product and shipping information data extension without changing the information in the contact record. That link allows you to create filters based on whether that email address links to a specific product order.

When you create the relationships between data extensions, you can specify the cardinality for the relationship.

• One-to-One Relationship
• Population
• One-to-Many Relationship
• Many-to-Many Relationship

The cardinality refers to how the data extensions relate to each other based on the attribute links between the two data extensions.

1:1 Relationship

A 1:1 relationship indicates that the data extensions relate to each other on a single piece of information called a primary key. You can use a membership ID number or a mobile phone number as a primary key, among other values. Each data extension contains a single reference to that primary key. 1:1 relationships act as an extension of contact record attributes, such as demographic information from an outside source linked via an email address or mobile number.

Use a population within Data Designer to create a discrete group of contacts with a 1:1 relationship to the linked data extension. This relationship requires a primary key within the data extension to link directly to the contact record. The data extension used as part of the population can contain only one row per individual contact. Each row in a population represents a contact, and you can’t link to multiple rows for a single contact in a population.

Populations

Populations replaced the root relationship functionality within Data Designer. You can only remove root relationships using Data Designer. Your existing root relationships remain in place until you actively remove the relationship. However, you must create root-type relationships using populations in Data Designer.

Populations represent a primary set of contacts in Engagement, which are joined by an overarching theme. For example, a healthcare provider could include three separate populations: patients, doctors, and insurers.

Each group requires different information and content, so populations help you create a primary segment of the audience. You can then ensure that each group receives only the content and uses only those attributes necessary to conduct your marketing activities. Populations link to the contact model using ContactKey to a primary key with a 1:1 relationship.

Avoid creating more than three populations per account to avoid potential performance issues with your data model.

One-to-Many Relationship

A one-to-many relationship takes the value of a primary key attribute on the contact record and relates it to one or more instances of that value on another data extension. For example, you can use the email address as the value related to multiple orders contained in a data extension to connect a contact record to the products ordered from a specific online retailer. You could then use that information as part of a filtered list to send related marketing information to that contact.

Many-to-Many Relationship

A many-to-many relationship can match several different values between two data extensions. For example, you can link one data extension containing multiple instances of customers who completed orders, including repeat values for some customers, with a data extension containing information on those orders.

Changing Cardinality and Data Extension Links

After you create the cardinality of a link between two data extensions, changing that cardinality can radically alter how different entities within your account behave. For example, if you change the relationship between a contact record and a data extension, any filtered lists relying on information from the data extension can no longer access that information.

Therefore, that contact doesn’t show up in the filtered list and doesn’t receive sends using that filtered list.

Understand the effects of changes that involve cardinality or data extension links. Before changing your account, review all filters, filtered lists, and scheduled sends.

Attributes

Attributes represent a single piece of information about a contact. For example, a contact record can include an email address as an attribute.

Ranges

Ranges define a set of values linked by minimum and maximum values or AND and OR operands. For example, you can create a range for an attribute that includes numeric values from 10 through 20. You can also create a range that includes contacts from California or from Oregon. For contacts with a value that falls into the established range, that attribute contains the name of the range as a value.

Restrictions

Restrictions define one or more values not allowed for use in the attribute. For example, you can prevent contacts from entering age values below the number 21.

Data Types

An attribute can link to an attribute with the same data type such as Text, Number, or Boolean. You can link only certain data types that permit conversion. To avoid creating errors in the future, Data Designer doesn’t permit links between data types that don’t permit conversion. You can create the following types of relationships between attributes of different data types:

• Boolean
• • Decimal
  • Number
  • Text
• Date
• • Text
• Decimal
• • Boolean
  • Text
• Email Address
• • Text
• Number
• • Boolean
  • Decimal
  • Text
• Phone
• • Text
• Text
• • Boolean
  • Date
  • Decimal
  • Email Address
  • Number
  • Phone

Attribute Groups

Attribute groups collect several data extensions into a single entity for use in organizing and interacting with contact information. Each attribute group can contain multiple data extensions, and each data extension can include multiple attributes. You can link data extensions to the contact record or different data extensions, including data extensions from other attribute groups.