Marketers and data teams need speed and flexibility to act on real-time opportunities to keep pace with the rapid movement of today’s business landscape. What if you could quickly upload ad hoc files from your desktop into Salesforce Data Cloud and immediately use that data to drive marketing campaigns, customer segmentation, and operational efficiencies?
With the new Local File Upload connector, you can easily upload comma-separated value (CSV) files directly from your local drive and ingest them into Data Cloud. The data ingested is just like the existing data stream functionality and can be used just similar to any other data ingestion pipeline (unify, segment, activate).
This feature is ideal for users who need to quickly bring in small amounts of data(100MB) or who do not want to set up a full data pipeline. It’s also great for testing and experimentation. With ad hoc file uploads, businesses can seamlessly ingest, harmonize, unify, segment and activate customer data on demand—without waiting for IT-managed ETL pipelines.
Besides segmenting and activating on the uploaded data, you can also use data cloud triggered flows to power data actions that be could be as simple as injecting these uploaded subscribers from the file into an existing journey.
Let’s explore a few scenarios where this capability can unlock new efficiencies.
Rapid Campaign Activation
Your marketing team just received a high-priority list of VIP customers who have been invited to an exclusive event happening in a few days. To maximize engagement and attendance, you need to send personalized emails, ads, or SMS messages as soon as possible. However, your standard data ingestion process involves an IT-managed pipeline, which could take several hours, days or even weeks to process the file. You don’t have that kind of time.
How It Works
With the Local File Upload connector, you can bypass traditional ETL processes and quickly ingest the list into Salesforce Data Cloud, enabling your team to take action immediately:
- Upload the VIP customer list (CSV file) into Data Cloud using the Local File Upload connector.
- Harmonize, Unify and enrich the data in Data Cloud
- Segment the VIP customers for targeted outreach in Marketing Cloud, Google Ads, Facebook, LinkedIn, or other ad platforms.
- Trigger near real-time marketing automation—send personalized invitations via email, SMS, or push notifications.
- Enhance personalization by leveraging existing customer insights in Data Cloud, such as past purchase behavior, engagement history, or loyalty status.
- Launch the campaign within hours, ensuring maximum reach and engagement before the event.
Why This Matters
- Faster Execution: No waiting for IT to ingest the file—marketers can act immediately.
- Higher Engagement: Timely, targeted messaging increases the chances of event attendance.
- Omnichannel Activation: Extend outreach across email, SMS, social media, and digital ads for a cohesive experience.
- Data-Driven Personalization: Enriched customer profiles ensure messages are relevant, increasing conversion rates.
Ad Hoc Customer Suppression
Your marketing team is about to launch a large-scale email and SMS campaign, but at the last minute, the compliance or legal team provides a list of customers who have opted out of communications. The campaign is already built and scheduled—pausing everything for manual list adjustments would cause delays and disrupt marketing workflows.
How do you quickly suppress these customers to avoid regulatory violations, brand reputation risks, and customer dissatisfaction?
How it Works
With the Local File Upload connector, your team can instantly integrate suppression lists without modifying the entire campaign setup:
- Upload the suppression list (CSV file) into Data Cloud using the Local File Upload connector.
- Harmonize and unify
- Update segmentation rules to exclude the suppressed contacts from campaigns using exclusion criteria
- Activate the updated segment to Activation partners
- Ensure near real-time suppression across all marketing channels
Why this Matters
- Regulatory Compliance: Quickly adhere to GDPR, CCPA, CAN-SPAM, and other privacy laws.
- Brand Trust & Reputation: Avoid negative customer experiences from unwanted messages.
- No Campaign Disruptions: Suppress records dynamically without rebuilding segmentation or delaying launch timelines.
- Multi-Channel Control: Ensure compliance across email, SMS, push notifications, and paid media platforms.
- Flexibility: Easily handle small suppression lists without IT involvement.
Rapid Critical Customer Communication
Your company has identified a product defect, safety issue, or security breach that affects a specific group of customers. Immediate action is required to alert impacted customers, provide remediation steps, and prevent potential harm. Waiting for traditional IT data processing to ingest and activate the customer list could cause delays—putting customers at risk and increasing liability.
How do you swiftly notify affected customers across multiple channels while ensuring compliance and accuracy?
How It Works
- Upload the list of impacted customers.
- Use Data Cloud to segment only the affected customers
- Activate and trigger near real-time multi-channel outreach (email, SMS, push notifications).
- With Data cloud you can also monitor engagement and setup a follow up campaign for those customers that have not engaged or received the message.
- A Data cloud triggered flow can also be used on the ingested data to perform other actions such as updating the records in Service cloud so that customer service agents can proactively assist affected customers.
Why This Matters
- Rapid Response: Avoid delays in critical customer outreach by bypassing traditional IT bottlenecks.
- Regulatory Compliance: Stay compliant with consumer protection laws by ensuring timely communication.
- Customer Trust & Safety: Minimize customer risk while demonstrating proactive and responsible communication.
- Real-Time Monitoring: Track message deliveries and responses to ensure that every affected customer is informed.
Why Ad Hoc File Uploads in Data Cloud Matter
The ability to quickly upload and activate data gives businesses a critical advantage in today’s fast-moving environment. Whether it’s launching a last-minute campaign, ensuring compliance with opt-outs, or responding to urgent customer issues, having a direct and efficient way to bring data into Salesforce Data Cloud makes all the difference. By leveraging not just Segmentation but also Data Cloud-triggered flows, businesses can automate actions, such as injecting new subscribers into existing customer journeys or updating records in Service Cloud for proactive customer support.
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