Data 360: Effects of Empty Values on Segmentation

Ingesting and Mapping Data Streams with Empty Value

When ingesting data into Salesforce Data 360, an empty value in the data source is saved as an empty string on the database tables in Data 360 (e.g. as ""). 

When fields in a data stream containing an empty value are mapped to a data model object, these empty string values are also stored in the records created in the data model objects. However, if a field exists on a data model object but is not mapped to a field in a data stream, records synced from the data stream to the data model object those will hold a NULL value for those unmapped fields not an empty string.

Effects on Segmentation

How empty values are stored in Salesforce Data 360 is significant when it comes to segmentation and particularly the use of the Is Not Equal To operator in segment filters.

When you create a segment filter to check if a field Is Not Equal To a value, records that have an empty string for that field will be included in the segment population. However, records that have a NULL value for the field will not be included in the segment population.

Example Scenario

I create a Salesforce CRM data stream and an Interaction Studio data stream in my Data 360 org. I map both data streams to fields on the Individual data model object. There is a custom field on my Individual data model object called "FieldA". FieldA is mapped to a field on the Salesforce CRM data stream called "SourceFieldA". However, FieldA is not mapped to any fields on the Interaction Studio data stream.

When records with an empty value in SourceFieldA are streamed via the Salesforce CRM data stream, a record is created in the Individual data model object in Data 360 with an empty string value ("") in FieldA. 

For records streamed via the Interaction Studio data stream, all records created in the Individual data model object will have a NULL value for Field A as this field is not mapped to any field on the data stream.

If I create a segment on Individual with a filter to check if FieldA Is Not Equal To "ABC", the population will include individuals from the Salesforce CRM data stream with an empty value (e.g. the empty string value) but will not include individuals from the Interaction Studio data stream who all have a NULL value for FieldA.

A Note on Identity Resolution and Unified Individuals

When you configure Identity Resolution Reconciliation Rules you can select the option Ignore Empty Values. This means the identity resolution process selects the highest-priority non-empty value as the value stored for the Unified Individual. In the above scenario if Ignore Empty Values was checked in the Reconciliation Rules for FieldA, this would result in the empty value streamed via the Salesforce CRM data stream being ignored. As FieldA is not mapped in any other data sources, the FieldA on the Unified Individual would get a NULL value on the database.

In this scenario, when if I create a segment on Unified Individual to filter for records where FieldA Is Not Equal To "ABC", all unified individuals with an empty value will not be included in the segment population as all empty values are stored as NULL on the database in this scenario.