Use LiteConnect
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Identify when to use LiteConnect in Marketing Cloud Intelligence.
- Upload data using LiteConnect.
- Verify and validate your data.
- Navigate the LiteConnect dashboard.
What Is LiteConnect?
LiteConnect allows you to upload files into Marketing Cloud Intelligence without having to map your data or consider the predefined structure of the data model. In a matter of clicks, a file is uploaded in its original format and what you see is what you get.
When you use LiteConnect, Marketing Cloud Intelligence automatically generates dashboards so you can see your data visualized, reducing time to consumption and analysis. Here are the main differences between LiteConnect and the other upload methods.
- You don’t need to map your data.
- New data isn’t integrated with the rest of your marketing data, because LiteConnect doesn’t use the data model.
- Data uploaded with LiteConnect usually acts as standalone data—like weather information or product reviews—that’s evaluated separately from your marketing data.
In this unit, we cover how to connect your data using LiteConnect. Check out this video to see the steps in action.
Upload Your Data
Once you select LiteConnect, start by uploading your data files. Here’s how.
Choose Drag & Drop or click Browse to locate the file. You can upload almost any flat file.
Once the file is loaded, the LiteConnect Preview screen appears allowing you to view and edit how your file is processed in Marketing Cloud Intelligence.
Here’s an example of weather data that was loaded using LiteConnect.
We recommend you review the items on this screen before creating the data stream to make sure the platform has correctly identified the field types, allocated date, and so forth.
After you’ve verified the data, click Create to create the data stream.
Set Up LiteConnect
Now that your data is uploaded, let’s take a look at your options in LiteConnect.
- In the sidebar you see a Table Name (1). By default it appears as the name of the file you uploaded. All dimensions and measurements from your source file are grouped under this table name. If you want to change the name, make sure it’s short yet descriptive.
- Inside the table you can see your Dimensions (2) and Measurements (3). If you want to change the type, simply click the measurement or dimension and select a different type. For example, you can change the measurement type from Number to Duration.
- To add a field to your Data Stream click Add Field (4). This adds either a dimension or measurement that doesn’t exist in the source file. You have to create a formula for the new column. You can either apply code that’s based on the existing columns or code that creates new values altogether.
- Notice that there are two date columns in the table (even though the source file only has one date column). The first column called Day (5) always contains the date value as interpreted by the platform and is noneditable. The other Date (6) column is the actual date values from the source file.
The date field is crucial in Marketing Cloud Intelligence whenever you upload measurement data. You can modify the date by selecting another option or by creating a formula to generate the date values. If your file doesn’t contain a date but has measurements, Marketing Cloud Intelligence automatically sets the date to Yesterday.
- You can also name your Data Stream (7).
- And when you finish validating the Data Stream’s configuration, click Create.
Now let’s see your data in action.
Check Out Your LiteConnect Dashboard
A dashboard is automatically created for you once you create the data stream in LiteConnect. All the LiteConnect dashboards are located in LiteConnect Previews.
Here’s an example of a LiteConnect dashboard.
Sum It Up
In this module, you learned about the three main ways to upload data in Marketing Cloud Intelligence: API connectors, TotalConnect, and LiteConnect. Now you know when each method should be used, how it works, and how to set it up in the platform. All that’s left to do is select the best method for you and upload your data with ease.