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Get to Know the Data 360 Activation Toolkit

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

  • Explain how the Activation Toolkit solves challenges that ISVs and subscribers face.
  • Define the Data 360 Activation Toolkit and its core components.
  • Describe the benefits of using a metadata-driven approach to onboarding destinations.
Note

As of October 14, 2025, Data Cloud has been rebranded to Data 360. During this transition, you may see references to Data Cloud in our App and documentation. While the name is new, the functionality and content remains unchanged.

Get Cloudy Consulting

Meet Get Cloudy Consulting, an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) that runs an ad network. Its customers, or subscribers, are big brands like Northern Trail Outfitters (NTO) that want to push high-intent audiences from Data 360 straight into Get Cloudy’s ad destinations. The catch? Every brand uses Data 360 a little differently, and every ISV destination expects data in its own shape. Building a one-off integration for each subscriber is time-consuming and inefficient.

Robert Bullard, a developer at Get Cloudy, has a better idea: Ship a single activation platform on AgentExchange that any Data 360 customer can install in minutes. He can build it using the Data 360 Activation Toolkit.

What Is the Data 360 Activation Toolkit?

Data 360 segments are powerful, but a segment by itself doesn’t do anything. To act on it, you have to send it somewhere, such as an ad network, a publisher, or a media platform. That “somewhere” is called an activation target, and the system behind it is an activation platform.

For years, getting a new destination wired up to Data 360 meant custom engineering work on both sides. The Activation Toolkit changes that. It’s a metadata-driven solution that onboards any destination platform onto Data 360. ISVs package destination platform metadata using Salesforce Package Manager and distribute it to companies like NTO through AgentExchange. Subscribers install the package, fill in a few configuration values, and start activating. The activation toolkit supports any platform, from analytics to marketing, including the ISV’s proprietary platform. NTO uses the same toolkit to activate segments to major advertising platforms such as Google Ads and Meta.

Think of it like writing a recipe card instead of cooking every meal yourself. Robert writes the card once. Every Data 360 subscriber follows it in their own kitchen.

Destination Platform Metadata

The toolkit relies on destination platform metadata to configure the activation. This metadata includes:

  • Connection and authentication steps: How the platform authenticates connections.
  • Target schema fields: Specific attributes required by the platform, such as email, phone number, and engagement events.
  • Activation frequency: The schedule for how often data is sent to the platform, such as hourly, daily, or weekly.
  • Data thresholds: Criteria and limits for data to be activated, such as minimum audience sizes or data freshness.
  • File and storage specifications: Destination platform details, such as the AWS S3 bucket name where segment files will be published and the supported file format.

With the toolkit, Robert’s team can ship an external activation platform that:

  • Onboards through a JSON metadata file uploaded in Data Cloud Setup.
  • Distributes through Salesforce Package Manager and AgentExchange.
  • Supports multi-key matching, so subscribers can send hashed email, phone, and digital identifiers in the same activation.
  • Pulls attributes from any standard or custom data model object, including contact points.
  • Filters contact points so subscribers can refine which records flow to the destination.

Get Cloudy’s (ISV) Steps

Let’s take a look at Get Cloudy’s high-level steps to configure a package using the toolkit.

  1. Create the external activation platform. Define core destination platform metadata.
    • Define target schema fields and multi-key support. Select required contact points (like email, phone, or mobile advertising ID). This enables NTO to map multiple attributes for multi-key matching later on.
    • Define activation frequency and file specifications.
  2. Create a custom metadata type to securely store authentication credentials, such as AWS IAM Access Keys and Secret Keys.
  3. Package using Salesforce Package Manager. Test in a designated test org. Distribute to customers via AgentExchange.

NTO’s (Subscriber) Steps

Here are NTO’s high-level steps for going from the package to activation.

  1. Install the package from AgentExchange.
  2. Enable the newly installed external activation platform in Data 360 Setup.
  3. Create an activation target, selecting the platform. The toolkit uses the Get Cloudy’s packaged metadata to prompt NTO for required details.
  4. Build an audience segment. Use dynamic filtering on attributes to define the target audience.
  5. Create the activation, selecting the new activation target. Map Data 360 data to the destination schema.

Now NTO is ready to activate its Data 360 data to the external platform! With Get Cloudy’s package, it’s able to quickly onboard a new destination platform with guided setup.

Next, explore specific use cases for the toolkit.

Resources

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