Data ingestion process
Before you get stuck into this article, have you checked out
How data is ingested into the Hub? This article covers our data ingestion process. We recommend reading this first as it provides the foundation for the onboarding process.
The first step to data onboarding is figuring out what will work best for your business. If you don’t have the capacity to transform your data for use in the Hub, our purpose built integrations are a perfect option. If you do have the capacity to transform your own data for use in the hub, keep reading, you’re in the right place!
When thinking about onboarding data into the Lexer CDXP, you might consider one of the 5 following methods:
- Integrations: Browse our list of leading MarTech and AdTech platforms.
- APIs: Read our API docs.
- SFTP or S3: Read about our data specifications for simple onboarding.
- CSV Uploads: Upload simple, customer data.
- Custom: Speak with a Solution Architect about possible options.
Which option suits your business?
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Pros:
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Cons:
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- Easy-to-follow steps to set up your integration.
- Can be accomplished by anyone regardless of technical expertise.
- Initial set-up is quick.
- Data requirements will be handled by Lexer.
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- The Support team will need to approve your integration.
- The Product team will then need to transform your data which can take time.
- Transforms require our team to have access to your data.
- If your company has the capability to handle the data transformation, this could be an expensive option.
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APIs using our schemas
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Pros:
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Cons:
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- Not limited to the integration list.
- Potential cost reduction.
- More control over the speed of implementation.
- Less back and forth required to transform the data as you can validate as you go.
- API reference docs are updated frequently to ensure you have accurate schemas.
- Imports or changes can be carried out independently.
- Certain rate limits are applied to API keys to manage traffic efficiently. For more detail read our Rate Limits article.
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- Your team will take on some of the responsibility of the data transforms.
- You may not have the capability within your business to utilize this feature.
- The data limits may mean this solution has limitations for your intended purpose.
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Pros:
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Cons:
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- Clear documentation about standard schema use via SFTP or S3 to transform your data, ready for the hub.
- A significant reduction in back and forth communications during the transform process.
- Issues with the transform can be easily identified and resolved.
- Schemas will be updated regularly.
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- Your data has to be transformed into the standard schema format using JSON. This requires someone in your company having the technical skill to complete this work.
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Pros:
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Cons:
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- Can be a good solution for small volumes of basic customer data.
- You may be able to get CSV data easily generated by products in your MarTech suit.
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- It is far more difficult and time consuming to identify and resolve issues using a CSV file than it would be using a JSON file.
- Will only allow simple customer data uploads such as purchased lists, form/competition exports, or modeled data against a profile.
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Custom
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Pros:
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Cons:
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- If you want to break the mold, who are we to stop you! Reach out to your Success Manager to discuss custom work.
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- It can be expensive to create custom integrations.
- It can take some time.
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Where to from here?
All of the options mentioned above are comparative, there is really no “best” option. Finding the best solution for you can be a little daunting, but we are here to help. Once you have an idea of the data onboarding solution you believe will work best for your company, it’s a great idea to discuss this with your Success Manager. Our Success Managers will help make sure the chosen solution is the best fit for your business.
