Meet the Harmonization Center

Learning Objectives 

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

• Explain data harmonization.
  
• Justify why data needs to be harmonized.
  
• Describe the purpose of the harmonization center.
  

What Is Data Harmonization?

We use data harmonization to describe bringing together data from multiple sources to function in unison as if they were a single data source. Although there are various ways to harmonize data, there’s one characteristic that can tell you whether data has been harmonized successfully. When visualizing multiple source data, if it’s perfectly aligned from all sources at the level of a shared value, it’s considered harmonized at that level. Let’s consider three different data sources. Each source has its own unique data, and all sources have activity related to the same marketing campaign.

If this data is visualized in Marketing Cloud Intelligence—using a simple table widget for example—the data is considered to be harmonized if the sources are perfectly aligned along the same row for the same campaign. Here’s how that looks.

Why Harmonize Data?

Harmonization is what allows data from multiple sources to merge together and provide a holistic view of your marketing activity. In most cases, no single data source holds all the relevant data on a marketing event or campaign. This data is shared by the multiple platforms that digital marketers use to do things like promoting the campaign on multiple channels. In order to see the full picture, data from all the sources involved must be harmonized into one. If data isn’t harmonized, you must analyze each source individually—making it a challenge to gain insights at a holistic level, quickly and efficiently.    

What Is the Harmonization Center?

There are various ways to harmonize data in Marketing Cloud Intelligence. Some data harmonization occurs naturally, by virtue of the data model. The Marketing Cloud Intelligence data model is marketing-oriented and facilitates natural harmonization of marketing data from multiple sources. Another option is to use data harmonization tools, like the harmonization center. Marketing Cloud Intelligence has a number of harmonization tools, but the harmonization center is the primary one. The harmonization center is designed with a no-code approach, making it useful for non-technical users and code-savvy users alike. It consists of four different tools, each dedicated to a different aspect of data harmonization. 

• Data classifications
  
• Patterns and harmonized dimensions
  
• Media Name Builder app
  
• Fix & Maintain
  

In the following units, we cover each of the four tools in more detail and explain how they contribute to harmonizing your data. First up, data classifications.