Overview
The Cordial data platform consolidates all of your contact data regardless of source and makes it ready for immediate use in your messaging programs. As contacts interact with your brand, the resulting activity is stored in designated data collections, and associated to individual contact records using unique identifiers. One way to visualize contact identifiers is to think about your existing contact records and point out the best unique information about each one. Mapping out your data architecture and choosing the appropriate contact identifier configuration are key implementation considerations having a direct impact on the efficiency and success of your marketing efforts in the long run.
Defining Identifiers and Related Terms
Cordial classifies identifiers as primary or secondary. All contact records are assigned one primary identifier and one or more secondary identifiers. The number of secondary identifiers is dependent on how many channels you are leveraging or use cases requiring secondary identifier support.
Primary identifier - A uniquely constrained value required for every contact record. Cordial generates a cID (contact iD) as the primary identifier value for all contact records in your account.
Secondary identifier - A unique value that, just like the primary identifier, is used to distinguish contact records from one another. Your Cordial account can use multiple secondary identifiers such as contact provided email addresses, SMS numbers and even custom identifier values you may currently be using across external databases. Secondary identifiers may be an optional value.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| cID (contact ID) | Cordial generated database identifier that is assigned to a contact record upon creation. Used as the primary contact identifier that has a unique constraint by default. |
| Unique and Uniquely Constrained | A value that is unique to a contact. Unique identifier values cannot be shared across multiple contact records. |
| Required | A value that must be supplied for every record. |
| Optional | A value that is not required for a record to exist. |
| Contact supplied | A value that the contact supplies. This is usually an email address, phone number or deviceID. |
| Client supplied | A custom identifier value provided by the client to manage their contact records. This is usually a CRM, application, or ecommerceID. |
Identifier Configuration Examples
Cordial's flexible data management infrastructure allows you to execute integrated cross-channel marketing strategies using data from wherever it lives in your technology stack. Historically, email address has been used as the primary contact record identifier in most single channel accounts. However, the use of secondary identifiers makes it possible to track contact data across multiple channels and devices, and enables the integration of data insights from other channels with email marketing data.
Single channel configuration
Accounts with email as the required identifier can accept contact records that contain a unique email address. This configuration is ideal for single channel accounts where, in order to be actionable, all contact records must contain a unique email address.
- Reach a wide audience using highly targeted and personalized content
Multichannel configuration
Multichannel accounts accept several secondary identifiers. Ideal for complementing and boosting your email marketing strategies.
- Allow contacts to subscribe to one or more channels directly
- Drive engagement with focused marketing via push notifications to contacts interacting with your app
- Allow contacts to sign up for promotional SMS programs by texting keywords to your short code
Client supplied identifier configuration
Multichannel configuration does not require all secondary contact identifiers to be optional. You can leverage multiple channels even if your current database is restricted to accepting contact records with some unique value as a required identifier. In this scenario, you supply the required secondary identifier value for every contact record in Cordial at the time the record is created or updated.
Additional Resources
Identifiers are an integral part of the Cordial data platform, tying together contact profile, activity, purchase, product catalog, device, and supplement data in a meaningful way, allowing you to deliver personal, relevant, and emotionally intelligent messaging. We invite you to explore these resources for a deeper dive into Cordial's contact and data management capabilities.
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