Difference between List & Data Extensions in Marketing Cloud?
Managing the data in marketing cloud is very important and it is very crucial to decide how to store that data inside marketing cloud.
Because if we do not make the right decision we may end up to mess up everything.
There are two different way to store the data in marketing Cloud, List and Data Extensions. List have some limited functionality whereas Data Extensions provide full flexibility to store and relate subscriber information. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.
What is a List?
A list contains the list of subscribers who are the subset or segmented from All Subscribers. You can send email communications to targeted email.
A list is a compilation of subscribers that receive your communications.
Lists store the email address and subscriber status (Active, Bounced, Held, Unsubscribed) for each subscriber
List can only contains the information about subscribers
What is a Data Extenstions?
A data extension is a table within the application(Marketing Cloud) database that contains your data.
Data cane be the list of subscribers or any other information like Orders, Products, Purchases and etc.
You could use a data extension to store sendable subscriber data like lists or just to house relational data.
List-Based Data Model
Use list when you wanted to
- your lists contain 500,000 subscribers or less long term
- you prefer simplicity over performance
- you don’t require fast import speed
- you plan to use a limited number of subscriber attributes
Data Extension-Based Data Model
Use Data Extensions when
- your lists are going to be greater than 500,000 subscribers
- you support multiple subscriber data sets, with separate definitions
- you send global messages
- you require fast import speeds
- you implement triggered sends
- you use the SOAP or REST APIs
- you prefer a flexible subscription model
Which to choose?
- A List is recommended if you want a simple list of names and email addresses or want to use welcome messages or double opt-ins.
- A Data Extension is recommended if you want to store additional information about your subscribers and is required if you want to use Publication Lists to manage unsubscribes.