How a profile is built
- Records arrive in Profile-enabled datasets as fragments keyed by their primary identity.
- Identity Service links the identities across fragments.
- A merge policy combines the fragments at read time into a single profile.
Merge policies
Merge policies define how conflicting attribute values are resolved, for example by timestamp (most recent value wins) or by dataset precedence (a trusted source such as CRM wins). Each audience and destination uses a merge policy, so choose and document a default policy deliberately.
Customer 360 use cases
- Unified view for service agents and personalisation.
- Real-time audiences for Journey Optimizer triggers.
- Suppression of recent purchasers from paid media through destinations.
Best practices
- Profile-enable only data needed for real-time use cases.
- Monitor profile counts and fragment distribution for unexpected growth.
- Apply experience event expiration where appropriate to control volume.
- Validate sample profiles end to end before launching audiences.
Who this guide is for
This guide is written for beginners, students and career switchers who want a clear mental model, and for developers, data engineers, implementation specialists, consultants, architects, marketers, agencies and enterprise teams who need practical, step-by-step detail they can apply on real projects.
Frequently asked questions
What is a profile fragment?
A fragment is the portion of a person's data stored under one primary identity in one dataset. The profile is the merged view of all linked fragments.
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