When I started out implementing Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement, I kept hearing other consultants refer to Data Views in Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement (SFMCE). I logged in to SFMCE and searched around for Data Views but I couldn’t find them anywhere in Reports or Setup, or anywhere else.
Then I read a Community Post on AMPscriptAcademy, and it all made a bit more sense. The post, if I recall correctly, went a bit like this:
Data Views are system‑generated tables inside SFMCE that store tracking and subscriber activity data.
These Data Views live behind the scenes in the system data schema. Still not clear is it?
These Data Views can be queried using SQL in Automation Studio or Query Studio (FYI Query Studio isn’t even part of standard SFMCE, you need to install it from the AppExchange Query Studio for Marketing Cloud | Salesforce AppExchange)
Think of Data Views as read‑only log tables that record everything happening in your account:
- Sends
- Opens
- Clicks
- Bounces
- Unsubscribes
- Journey activity
- Subscriber status
- Complaints
- FTAF
- And lots more
Data View Tip: This is one of the greatest resources ever put together to help you understand Data Views. https://dataviews.io/ No, it’s the GOAT of Data View tools.
I don’t know why SFMCE ‘hide’ Data Views so much, they are crucial for understanding your engagement data. Get to know them well.
Data View Tip: if you have Data Cloud, then you can push these tables into Data Cloud. Just extract the data with an SQL Query in Automation Studio into a Data Extension, then sync the Data Extension over to Data Cloud.
But really, why bother with Data Views?
- They give you access to raw tracking data
- You can build custom dashboards, behavioural segments, and retention models.
- They’re more accurate than Email Studio reports
- Reports often aggregate or filter data; Data Views give you the underlying truth.
- They let you join multiple datasets
- For example:
- Join Sent + Open + Click to build engagement scoring
- Join Subscribers + Unsubscribe to track churn
- Join Journey_Activity + Journey_Entry to analyse Journey Builder performance
- For example:
- They’re free and available in every SFMC account
- No add‑ons required.
Good luck with Data Views. They can be tricky to get your head around for a start, but once you have tamed them, they will be your best SFMC friends.
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