Matching or profile search mode
What is matching
Matching, or profile search mode, determines the data by which Altcraft Platform will search for existing profiles to update them. Every time you import profiles, you are offered to choose the search mode:
This mechanism allows you to update customer data and avoid duplicating profiles.
By default, the platform uses the «email» field to find the profile to update.
Profile Search Modes
Profiles are searched by one of the profile fields:
| Search mode | Description |
|---|---|
| By email, from profile or subscriptions | By the «email» profile field or email addresses from subscriptions to resources. |
| By email from profile | Only by the «email» profile field. |
| By phone, from profile or subscriptions | By the «phones» profile field or by phone numbers from SMS subscriptions. |
| By push data from subscriptions | By the Push subscription ID (device token). |
| By profile ID (only on update!) | By the system ID — profile_id. |
| By custom field | By user database field. For example, by customer ID in the company's CRM. |
| By email from subscriptions | By email addresses from subscriptions. |
| By phone from subscriptions | By phone number from SMS subscriptions. |
| By push subscription | Used when importing subscriptions from a third-party push service. |
| Search for a profile by subscription to the custom channel | Used if you have set up your own communication channel with subscribers. |
| By email or phone, from profile* | By the «email» or «phones» profile fields. |
| By email or phone, from subscriptions | By email addresses from subscriptions or by phone numbers from SMS subscriptions. |
How does it work?
- The search mode is specified when importing profiles. The search mode corresponds to one of the profile fields.
- By this field, the platform searches for and compares existing profiles with imported ones.
- If the field of the existing profile matches the field of the imported one, a new profile is not created.
- In this case, the data of the existing profile is updated.
Example
You create a database called «Prospective customers» and import 1000 profiles there. One of them is John Brown, whose email address is brown@example.com.
A month later, you decide to update this database: add new profiles there and update the data of existing ones. When configuring import, you specify «by email, from profile or subscriptions» as the profile search mode.
When you start importing, Altcraft Platform will search for existing profiles. Each profile will be compared to those that you are going to add to the database. The platform will carry out the search and comparison by the «email» profile field or by email addresses from subscriptions.
At a certain point, the platform will find John Brown's profile in the database, and the email brown@example.com will match the one in the profile that is being imported.
Altcraft Platform will not create another profile with the same email address. If the platform finds some new information on this profile, it will update John Brown's profile (e.g. date of birth, phone number, promo code, etc. will change). However, if all the imported data of this profile matches the information that already exists in the database, the profile will not be changed.
Matching by custom field
If you are going to use a custom field for matching, you need to:
- Create a custom field in the database. It is recommended to make it mandatory for filling.
- Create an index for this field in the administration panel. Without an index, searches will take significantly longer. To do this, contact your administrator or support team.
- Select the “By custom field” matching mode and specify the created field.