Data Management22% of the exam
Data extracts, tracking extracts and report exports
How to get data out of Marketing Cloud Engagement: Salesforce's comparison of SQL, SOAP, REST, My Tracking, reports and extracts; Data Extension Extract fields and encoding; Tracking Extract ranges, outputs and duplicates; moving the file with File Transfer; and the 730-day tracking retention policy.
Given a scenario, explain the different ways to extract data from Marketing Cloud.
~7 min read · 9 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- Choose the retrieval method (SQL Query activity, SOAP API, REST API, My Tracking, Standard Reports, Intelligence Reports Advanced, Data Extract) from data level, volume, automation and customization needs.
- Configure a Data Extension Extract's key, delimiter, qualifier, encoding and date settings, and know what it does to Decimal values.
- Configure a Tracking Extract's range, accounts, outputs and Include options, and plan for duplicate event rows.
- Deliver an extract file to a file location with a File Transfer activity in a later step.
- Apply the six-month data view limit and the 730-day tracking retention policy to history requirements.
- Key terms: Data Extract activity (creates zipped files for use outside Marketing Cloud Engagement); Data Extension Extract (writes a data extension to a delimited file); Tracking Extract (granular Email Studio tracking data); Safehouse (the secure file transfer location extracts land in); DECustomerKey (the data extension's external key in an extract).
Key facts
Data views
- Detail
- Previous six months only; not configurable
REST API
- Detail
- No tracking data like data views or tracking extracts
Engagement retention
- Detail
- 730 days for reports and SOAP API since June 16, 2025
Intelligence Reports
- Detail
- 2 years; 24 hours behind; starts 90 days before provisioning
DECustomerKey
- Detail
- The data extension's external key
Data extension extract encoding
- Detail
- UTF-16 unless Add_Selected_File_Encoding is on
Tracking extract encoding
- Detail
- ASCII unless Unicode Output (UTF-16)
Specific Range
- Detail
- Up to 30 days
Queue and size
- Detail
- Requests are rejected once a MID's queue holds 250 extracts; keep extracts under 25 GB
Sources for this section (6)
- Retrieving Data Best Practiceshelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Retention Policy Updatehelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Data Extension Extracthelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Extract Outputs Referencehelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Tracking Extract Configurationhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Data Extract Activityhelp.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Why can't a standard Data Extension Extract promise rows in insertion order?
- When Create_Tar_Gz_Output_File is on, what does an extract named MyExtract.csv produce?
- When does Intelligence Reports data reflect today's sends?
- Which Rolling Range values can a Tracking Extract use?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
Keep reading with the Marketing Cloud Engagement Developer pack
- Core concepts
- Exam traps
- Worked scenario
The pack includes:
- All 25 lessons of the Marketing Cloud Engagement Developer guide, with reading progress
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