Let’s dive deeper into the differences between a subscriber and a contact in Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) with an example:
- Subscriber:
Example: Let’s say you have an online retail store, and a customer named John visits your website and signs up for your newsletter by providing his email address. In SFMC, John’s email address becomes a subscriber record.
Characteristics:
Subscribers are primarily associated with email communications. John’s subscriber record will include his email address and any additional information he provided during the signup process, such as his name or preferences.
You can add John to specific email lists or data extensions within SFMC, allowing you to target him with relevant email campaigns.
John can have a subscription status, such as “active” (opted in and receiving emails) or “unsubscribed” (opted out of receiving emails).
When you send an email campaign, John’s subscriber record is used to determine whether he should receive the email based on his subscription status and preferences.
- Contact:
Example: Let’s consider that John, in addition to being a newsletter subscriber, also made a purchase on your website. His purchase details, along with other relevant information like his address and phone number, are stored as part of his contact record in SFMC.
Characteristics:
Contacts represent a broader view of customer data beyond just email communication. John’s contact record includes information about his interactions with your brand, such as purchases, website visits, or support requests.
Contacts are managed within the Contact Builder module of SFMC, allowing you to create a unified customer profile by combining data from various sources and channels.
John’s contact record includes his email address (as a subscriber) as well as his purchase history, contact details, and any other relevant information you have collected about him.
Contacts enable you to engage with customers across multiple channels, such as email, SMS, social media, or advertising platforms. You can use the contact record to personalize and orchestrate customer journeys across different touchpoints.
In summary, a subscriber in SFMC primarily represents an individual’s email communication preferences and is associated with email campaigns, while a contact represents a broader customer profile that includes information beyond email, allowing you to engage with customers across various channels.
In the given example, John’s subscriber record would be used to send him newsletters and promotional emails, while his contact record would provide a holistic view of his interactions with your brand, including his purchase history and other relevant data. This comprehensive customer view enables you to create personalized and targeted marketing strategies across multiple touchpoints.
