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Marketers using Salesforce Marketing Cloud don’t need to be data scientists. However, there’s no denying that you can do more with Marketing Cloud Engagement when you understand the ways and whys of data modelling. One of the first questions we receive when a client is inexperienced with the platform is: what the heck is a ‘Data Extension’?


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Tom Ryan

3 mins


3D eBook cover with text Beginner's Guide to Data ExtensionsFree ResourceDownload now
Table of Contents
Data Extensions explained
Where to begin with creating Data Extensions
Unlike most other marketing automation software, which use traditional subscriber lists to store data and send emails and other marketing activities, Marketing Cloud Engagement uses both subscriber lists (within Email Studio) and Data Extensions (for Journey Builder).

By the end of this blog post, you’ll understand the differences cambodia code number between the two, but go ahead and download our free Beginner’s Guide to Data Extensions for more guidance on using them in your account.

Data Extensions explained
Why care about Data Extensions for Marketing Cloud?
If the concept of Data Extensions has your head throbbing, you may be thinking of taking the easy way out and avoiding them altogether. Sure, you could stick to manual email sends using subscriber lists in Email Studio. Maybe you could use Automation Studio to automate the odd email campaign… but this would be a mistake.

In Marketing Cloud Engagement, it’s not possible to use Journey Builder without first creating Data Extensions. And trust me, you don’t want to skip out on Journey Builder because it’s the best builder for automating customer journeys.

Plus, any business that is;

working with large volumes of data (more than 500,000 subscribers)
operating globally
using APIs to import and manage data