Here is the shape of activating an audience to a channel in Data Cloud, from creating the activation target to choosing the contact points that pick the channel. Exact labels shift by release, so confirm against current Help before you ship.
- Create the activation target
In Data Cloud, open Activation Targets and create one for the destination you want, such as Marketing Cloud Engagement, a file-storage target like Amazon S3 or SFTP, or a Google or Meta advertising connector. Each target type asks for its own connection details and credentials.
- Build or pick the segment
Choose the segment that holds the population you want to reach. The segment is the who; the activation target plus contact points are the where. Keep the two separate so you can reuse the segment across channels.
- Create the activation and choose contact points
Create an activation that links the segment to the target. Select and filter contact points so each person is reached on a channel they permitted, which is how you target the right channel with the right consent and avoid duplicate messages.
- Map attributes and set the refresh type
Add the attributes the channel needs, then choose a refresh type. A full refresh publishes every record in the segment; an incremental refresh publishes only the records added, updated, or deleted since the last successful run.
- Activate and verify reach
Run the activation and check the published count against your expectation. Compare it to the segment size to see the channel match rate, then confirm the audience landed in the destination platform.
The configured destination a segment publishes to, such as Marketing Cloud Engagement, file storage, or an advertising platform.
The records that carry a person's channel-specific identifier and consent, filtered so each person reaches an allowed channel.
Full publishes all records each run; incremental publishes only changes since the last successful refresh.
The fields sent alongside the audience to personalize the message or satisfy the channel's match requirements.
- Sending a channel an identifier it does not understand, like a Marketing Cloud contact key to Meta, produces a zero match.
- Activating a channel without confirming opt-in for that specific surface risks a regulatory violation, since consent is held per channel.
- Treating a forty to seventy percent advertising match rate as a connector defect; that range is expected attrition, so size the source audience accordingly.
- Some advertising integrations require you to delete audiences and deauthorize ad accounts when you stop using the connection.