Create a new destination connection

IMPORTANT
  • To connect to a destination, you need the View Destinations and Manage Destinations access control permissions. Read the access control overview or contact your product administrator to obtain the required permissions.
  • To connect to a destination that supports dataset exports, you need the View Destinations and Manage and Activate Dataset Destinations access control permissions. Read the access control overview or contact your product administrator to obtain the required permissions.

Overview overview

Before you can send audience data to a destination, you must set up a connection to your destination platform. This article shows you how to set up a new destination connection, to which you can then activate audiences or export datasets using the Adobe Experience Platform user interface.

Find the desired destination in the catalog setup

  1. Go to Connections > Destinations, and select the Catalog tab.

    Screenshot of the Experience Platform UI, showing the destinations catalog page.

  2. Destination cards in the catalog might have different action controls, depending on whether you have an existing connection to the destination and whether the destinations support activating audiences, exporting datasets, or both. You might see any of the following controls for destination cards:

    • Set up. A connection first needs to be set up to this destination before you can activate audiences or export datasets.
    • Activate. A connection has already been set up to this destination. This destination supports audience activation and dataset exports.
    • Activate audiences. A connection has already been set up to this destination. This destination supports audience activation only.

    For more information about the difference between these controls, you can also refer to the Catalog section of the destination workspace documentation.

    Select either Set up, Activate, or Activate audiences, depending on which control is available to you.

    Screenshot of the Experience Platform UI, showing the destinations catalog page with the Set up control highlighted.

    Screenshot of the Experience Platform UI, showing the destinations catalog page with the Activate audiences control highlighted.

  3. If you selected Set up, skip to the next step, to authenticate to the destination.

    If you selected Activate, Activate audiences, or Export datasets, you can now see a list of existing destination connections.

    Select Configure new destination to establish a new connection to the destination.

    Screenshot of the Experience Platform UI, showing a list of available destinations and the Configure new destination control highlighted.

Authenticate to destination authenticate

The first step in connecting to a destination is to authenticate to the destination platform.

Depending on the destination that you are connecting to, you might be taken to the destination partner’s page to authenticate, or you might be asked to input authentication credentials directly in the Platform workflow. Below is an example of required input to authenticate to an Amazon S3 destination. Detailed instructions about the required input is provided in each destination documentation page (see, for example, the authentication section for Amazon S3 and for Facebook).

Amazon S3 required and optional authentication parameters

Image showing the required and optional input parameters when authenticating to an Amazon S3 destination.

Set up connection parameters set-up-connection-parameters

If you have already set up authentication to the destination, you can continue with the existing account or you can set up a new account.

Depending on the destination that you are connecting to, you might be asked to input different types of connection parameters. For example, when connecting to an Amazon S3 destination, you are asked to provide details regarding the Amazon S3 bucket name and folder path where files will be deposited. Below are two examples of required inputs for an Amazon S3 destination and a Trade Desk destination. Detailed instructions about the required input is provided in each destination documentation page.

IMPORTANT
The images below are used for illustration purposes only. The destination connection details vary between destinations. For detailed information about the connection details for your destination, read the Connect to the destination section in each destination catalog page (for example, Google Customer Match, Trade Desk, or Amazon S3).

Amazon S3 required and optional input parameters

Image showing the required and optional input parameters when connecting to an Amazon S3 destination.

The Trade Desk required and optional input parameters

Image showing the required and optional input parameters when connecting to a Trade Desk destination.

Set up file formatting options for exported files file-formatting-and-compression-options

For file-based destinations, you can configure various settings related to how the exported files are formatted and compressed. For more information about all the available formatting and compression options, read the Configure file formatting options for file-based destinations tutorial.

Image showing the file type selection and various options for CSV files.

Set up destination connection for audience activation, account activation, prospects activation, or dataset exports segment-activation-or-dataset-exports

Some file-based destinations support audience activation to known customers, account customers, or prospects, as well as dataset exports. For those destinations, you can choose whether to create a connection that enables you to activate audiences, accounts, prospects, or export datasets.

WARNING
When exporting datasets, note that exports to JSON files are supported in a compressed mode only. Exports to Parquet files are supported in a compressed and uncompressed mode.

Image showing the data type selection control which allows users to select between audience activation and dataset exports.

Enable destination alerts enable-alerts

  1. (Optional) Select the destination dataflow alerts that you want to subscribe to. You can subscribe to alerts when creating a dataflow to receive alert messages regarding the status, success, or failure of your flow run. The available alerts differ based on the destination type (file-based or streaming) that you are connecting to. Read Subscribe to in-context destination alerts for detailed information on destination dataflow alerts.

    The Configure new destination dialog with the in-context destination alerts subscription options highlighted.

  2. Select Next.

    The Configure new destination dialog with the Next control highlighted, allowing the user to proceed to the next step in the workflow.

Select marketing actions select-marketing-actions

  1. Select the marketing actions applicable to the data that you want to export to the destination. Marketing actions indicate the intent for which data will be exported to the destination. You can select from Adobe-defined marketing actions or you can create your own marketing action. For more information about marketing actions, see the data usage policies overview page.

    The Configure new destination dialog with the available marketing actions highlighted. The available controls to complete the Connect to destination workflow are also highlighted.

  2. Select Save & Exit to save the destination configuration, or select Next to proceed to the audience data activation flow.

Next steps next-steps

By reading this document, you have learned how to use the Experience Platform UI to establish a connection to a destination. As a reminder, the available and required connection parameters vary from destination to destination. You should also consult the destination documentation page in the destinations catalog for specific information about the required inputs and available options per destination type.

Next, you can proceed to activating audiences or exporting datasets to your destination.

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