Salesforce Data Cloud empowers businesses to collect, unify, and activate customer data by integrating with Salesforce applications, external cloud services, APIs, and batch processing systems. The platform supports real-time streaming, batch processing, and cloud storage ingestion, ensuring flexibility and scalability.
In this guide, we’ll explore the best ways to ingest data into Salesforce Data Cloud, focusing on Salesforce integrations, external connectors, SDKs, APIs, and batch processing options.
Data ingestion is the foundation of Salesforce Data Cloud, allowing businesses to import data from multiple sources into a centralized customer data platform (CDP). This unified data powers AI-driven insights, automation, and predictive analytics.
Why Is Data Ingestion Important?
Enables a Single Source of Truth – Unifies data across platforms.
Improves AI-Powered Insights – Provides clean, structured data for advanced analytics.
Enhances Personalization – Enables real-time segmentation for personalized marketing.
Boosts Operational Efficiency – Reduces manual work and ensures data consistency.
Salesforce Data Cloud Ingestion Methods
Salesforce Data Cloud provides multiple ingestion options, categorized into Salesforce Integrations, External Integrations, APIs, SDKs, and Batch Processing.
Salesforce Integrations: Seamless Native Connectors
Salesforce Data Cloud offers built-in integrations with Salesforce CRM, Marketing Cloud, and Commerce Cloud, making it easy for businesses to sync customer data.
Salesforce CRM Connector: Sync Business-Critical Data
The Salesforce CRM Connector allows businesses to seamlessly sync customer data, including:
- Accounts and Contacts – Customer profiles, interactions, and preferences.
- Leads and Opportunities – Sales pipeline data and purchase history.
- Cases and Support Tickets – Service interactions and customer feedback.
Data Bundles for Salesforce CRM: Pre-Packaged Data Ingestion
A Data Bundle is a predefined dataset that simplifies ingestion by auto-mapping related Salesforce objects.
Benefits of Using Data Bundles
- Automated Data Flow – Reduces setup time and ensures smooth ingestion.
- Optimized Performance – Provides faster and more efficient data ingestion.
Available Standard Data Bundles
- Sales Cloud
- Service Cloud
- Salesforce CDP CRM Loyalty
- Salesforce CDP CRM Unified Health Scoring
- Salesforce CDP Salesforce Commerce
Marketing Cloud Integration: Unifying Customer Engagement Data
Salesforce Data Cloud integrates with Marketing Cloud Engagement and Personalization, allowing businesses to:
– Track campaign performance (email opens, ad clicks, social media engagement).
– Optimize customer journeys based on real-time interactions.
– Leverage AI-driven segmentation for targeted marketing.
B2C Commerce Integration: E-commerce Data
For e-commerce businesses, Salesforce Data Cloud enables ingestion of:
– Customer Shopping Behavior – Browsing history, product views, abandoned carts.
– Order History – Transactions, returns, refunds.
– Product Interactions – Wishlist activity, category navigation, search data.
External Integrations: Connecting Third-Party Systems
Salesforce Data Cloud supports integrations beyond Salesforce products, allowing businesses to bring in external data sources.
Snowflake
The Snowflake integration allows businesses to:
– Store and process vast customer datasets in the cloud.
– Perform real-time analysis to identify customer patterns.
– Seamlessly sync structured and unstructured data between Snowflake and Data Cloud.
Websites & Mobile Apps: Real-Time Customer Interactions
Salesforce Data Cloud enables real-time tracking and ingestion from websites and mobile applications through SDKs.
Website SDK
- Captures website visitor behavior, session tracking, and engagement metrics.
- Enables real-time marketing automation based on user actions.
Mobile SDK
- Collects app usage analytics, push notification interactions, and device-specific behaviors.
- Helps businesses create personalized app experiences using AI insights.
Ingestion API: Custom Data Pipelines for Advanced Users
For businesses requiring custom integrations, Salesforce Data Cloud provides Ingestion APIs.
Key Features of the Ingestion API
- Supports real-time and batch ingestion of customer data.
- Allows businesses to connect custom-built applications.
- Ideal for handling proprietary datasets that don’t fit into existing connectors.
Other Connectors: Expanding Data Ingestion Options
Salesforce Data Cloud supports other connectors, categorized as Source & Target integrations.
Source Connectors: Bringing Data into Data Cloud Source connectors help businesses ingest data from external platforms into Data Cloud.
Supported Source Connectors
- AWS Aurora PostgreSQL – Import structured data from AWS databases.
- AWS RDS PostgreSQL – Sync relational database information into Data Cloud.
- Adobe Marketo Engage – Ingest lead engagement & marketing automation data.
- Amazon Kinesis – Collect real-time streaming data from event sources.
- Amazon Redshift – Connect live Redshift tables for AI-driven insights.
- Amazon S3 – Retrieve structured/unstructured files from AWS.
- Azure PostgreSQL – Sync Microsoft-hosted PostgreSQL databases.
- Databricks – Ingest data lakes & structured/unstructured business data.
- Demandbase – Import B2B account-based marketing data.
- Google Ads – Sync campaign performance & conversion data.
- Google Big Query – Import Google Analytics & AdTech data for insights.
- Google Cloud Storage – Import structured and unstructured data from Google.
- Heroku PostgreSQL – Sync Heroku-hosted application data.
- Jira – Ingest customer service tickets & workflow analytics.
- LinkedIn Ads for MI – Import advertiser intelligence & campaign results.
- Meta Ads – Sync ad delivery & engagement data from Facebook & Instagram.
- Microsoft Azure Blob Storage – Import enterprise-scale datasets for AI analytics.
- Secure File Transfer (SFTP) – Ingest CSV & JSON files securely via SSH.
- ZoomInfo – Enrich customer data with B2B company & contact insights.
Choosing the Right Data Ingestion Method
| Use Case | Best Method |
|---|---|
| Salesforce Data Sync | CRM Connector & Data Bundles |
| Real-Time Website & App Tracking | Web SDK, Mobile SDK |
| Marketing Performance Insights | Marketing Cloud Connector, Google Ads |
| E-commerce Transaction Data | Commerce Cloud & B2C Connector |
| AI-Powered Analytics | Snowflake, Google BigQuery |
| Custom Integrations | Ingestion API, Other Connectors |
| Enterprise Data Warehousing | AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure |
| Batch Processing & Legacy Data | SFTP, CSV Uploads |
Conclusion
As organizations grow, managing fragmented data across multiple sources becomes a challenge. Salesforce Data Cloud simplifies this by offering seamless data ingestion, empowering businesses to unify, analyze, and activate their data effectively.
With the right data ingestion strategy, businesses can unlock AI-driven insights, enhance customer engagement, and drive operational efficiency.
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