Integration20% of the exam
Contact data links for personalized journeys and content
How Data Designer links, cardinality and data types decide which row a journey evaluates, when to use journey data or contact data, and what the sending data extension must hold for dynamic content, personalization strings and web versions.
Articulate how data model will support personalized and relevant messaging and content.
~8 min read · 16 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- Predict which linked row a journey filter, decision split, goal or wait by attribute evaluates, and fix the design when it picks the wrong one.
- Choose the cardinality, population and attribute group design that one-row-per-contact personalization needs, and judge the impact of changing it.
- Choose between journey data and contact data for a decision made later in a journey.
- State what the sending data extension must contain for dynamic content, personalization strings and View as a Webpage to work.
- Key terms: cardinality (how two linked data extensions relate: one-to-one, population, one-to-many, many-to-many); population (a primary group of contacts, one row per contact); attribute group (several linked data extensions organized as one entity); journey data (the entry snapshot); contact data (point-in-time data from Data Designer).
Key facts
Rows per contact in journeys
- Detail
- 1,000 or fewer; later rows aren't evaluated
Attribute-to-attribute comparison
- Detail
- Decision splits and event entry sources
Goals and wait by attribute
- Detail
- Use the first matching value
Many-to-many in journeys
- Detail
- Not recommended; use an intermediate data extension
Populations
- Detail
- One row per contact, on ContactKey; three or fewer per account
Numeric IDs
- Detail
- Can't link directly to Contact Key; use a string type
Journey data
- Detail
- Entry snapshot that never changes
Contact data with no contact key found
- Detail
- Field updated with an empty string
Dynamic content rules
- Detail
- First matching rule wins; no match shows the default
Empty personalization attribute
- Detail
- Appears blank; define a default
View as a Webpage on a DE send
- Detail
- Reads the row live when it renders
Sources for this section (7)
- Linked Data Extensionshelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Data Designerhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Contact Builder Best Practiceshelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Journey Data or Contact Datahelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Dynamic Contenthelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Personalization Stringshelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- List vs. Data Extensionhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Why can a Date attribute link to a Text attribute but not to a Number attribute?
- When several Data Designer paths lead to the same data extension, which one does contact data in an Update Contact activity use?
- How does a dynamic content rule evaluate a subscriber whose attribute is empty?
- Why can a Data Designer link from a Number field to Contact Key fail?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
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