How to create a customer database

A customer database, or a profile database, is a database that contains all the information about your customers. You can create an unlimited number of profile databases.

How to split your customers into databases?

By the type of sales:

• B2C customers
• B2B customers

By the degree of loyalty:

• Prospective customers
• Regular customers
• VIP customers

By geography:

• Domestic customers
• Foreign customers

We recommend that you accumulate customer data within one database, and further segment the database for personalized communication.

A digital profile is automatically generated for each client in the database. The profile interface resembles a social media page:

Here you will find personal and demographic data, history of activity, subscriptions to different resources, loyalty promo codes and so on.

You need at least one database to work with the platform.

How to create profile database in Altcraft Platform

To build a database, select «Data» → «Profile databases» in the main menu. After that, click «Create» at the top of the screen:

Step 1. General settings

1. Enter the name and description of a profile database

Description is optional, but sometimes it can be useful. State which customers should be in this database. This information will come in handy if you work in a team. It will be easier for your colleagues to get involved in the workflow.

2. Create a group

Groups allow you to differentiate the work of different departments in your organization. If someone wants to change something in a group, this person needs to have access to do it. Thus, by creating groups, you restrict access to a certain database for users of other groups.

3. Add tags

Later, you will be able to use tags to quickly search for the profile database you need at the moment.

4. Enter the title and language of the subscription manager

Subscription manager is a special page where a subscriber can view their subscriptions to certain newsletters.

5. Specify the attached suppression list

If you want to exclude some recipients from your newsletter, add their contact details to a suppression list. When you select a necessary suppression list from the drop-down menu, messages will not be sent to the email addresses, domains and phone numbers that are specified there.

Suppression lists are created separately. Only the global stop list is available to you by default.

6. Add resources

A resource is a means of organizing subscriptions to certain content via special communication channels. A profile that is subscribed to some resource will regularly receive newsletters from it.

A resource can represent any channel to which the profile is subscribed:

• a website,
• a mobile app,
• a separate web page,
• a contact data collection form,
• a separate product,
• an online or offline special offer.

Example of a resource

Let's create a separate resource for everyone who wants to get notifications about new blog articles. Let's call it «Blog Subscribers». When a new person subscribes to your blog, their data will immediately get into the resource. Thus, every time we send our newsletter to all subscribers of this resource, every new subscriber will also receive it.

If you have not created a resource yet, leave the field empty. The database settings can be updated at any moment.

7. Watchers database

You can activate this option if you want the profiles of the database to be able to monitor your campaigns. You can also add your employees' profiles there. They will receive the same newsletter as the other subscribers. This way you can make sure that your messages are delivered on time, displayed correctly and do not get into spam.

Step 2. Default and custom fields

A field is a special area where profile data is recorded and stored. Fields are used during data import and data export. Fields data are displayed in a customer's digital profile.

First, create default fields. These fields are used to record the most requested information about your customer: their name, email, phone number, date of birth, gender, etc. Default fields are fixed in the platform. It means that they cannot be deleted, their names and data type cannot be changed.

As for custom fields, there are no restrictions here. These are your own fields that you can add and customize according to the requirements of your project. For example, you can add a CRM ID field to integrate the platform with a CRM system or Loyalty Score field to score potential customers.

You can see a brief description of the field settings below:

Step 3. From email and Reply-to settings

Now let's configure the email:

Specify the from name and from email. This is the information on your company that your subscriber will see in the received email.

As for email settings for getting feedback, you can leave these fields empty. In this case, if your subscriber wants to reply to your email, they will send their response to the sender's email address. If you want replies to be sent to another email address, specify it in a certain field.

Step 4. Confirmation and saving

Go back to the top of the page. Tick the box to confirm that all email addresses that have been added to the database agree to receive newsletters from your company. Then click «Save»:

Congratulations, you have created your first database. Now you need to import customers' data.

Check list

1. Go to «Profile Databases» and click «Create».
2. Enter the name of the profile database and describe it briefly.
3. Create groups to restrict access and add tags for quick search if it is necessary.
4. Enter the title and language of the subscription manager.
5. Attach a stop list if you want to exclude certain profiles from your newsletter.
6. Select resources. The database will be linked to these resources. Only those clients who have subscriptions to the specified resources will receive your newsletter.
7. Configure standard and additional fields. Profile data will be put there.
8. Select the sender's address and address for feedback.
9. Save the profile database.