What is a database?

All your recipients are saved into a database in Carma. In that database you can save as much data on each recipient as needed. The more data you add to a recipient the more specific you can be in your segmentation and can send relevant information to your customers.
Your raw facts about a recipient, like contact information, area of interests, membership status and so on, are saved in attributes in your Carma database (more on that below). Individual recipient events, like purchased products, booked hotel stays or upcoming events, are saved in a separate relational database called Purchase History database (more on that at the end of this page).

Recipient data is saved in what is called Recipient attributes with that recipient’s specific attribute value (data). For example, your recipient Tom Waits with email address tomwaits@example.com, can have data saved like this:

Three really important things about databases in Carma

1. Carma Original ID is the key factor in how a recipient is handled in your database. The ID must be unique and consistent for your recipients.
   You can use a unique customer number from your own database or if you don´t have own ID’s you can simply use the email address which also is unique per recipient. Read more here.
2. Each database in Carma is unique, meaning that a recipient with the same Original ID can be found in several databases as a unique recipient. If a recipient unsubscribes from your emails sent to one database it still can receive emails sent through another.
3. Recipient activity (how your recipients reacts in your emails) is connected the specific database for the sendout.
4. Carma unsubscribed status is connected the specific database for the sendout.

The Carma Team strongly recommend that you use as few databases as possible to which you add recipient data and use segmentation to target the recipients you want. This will help you to streamline your communication in different channels and methods. You can import recipients manually or automatically.

“As few databases as possible, you say?”
Yes, yes, yes! Use the same database for all your recipients that have a relation to either a language or a specific brand but consider cross targeting between your main selections. Create a new database if you i.e. expand your business to another country. The recipients in these two databases will never receive the same sendouts.
If you have received a file with email addresses from your manager including recipients that should receive a specific sendout, verify if they have a relation to your already created database and if they do, add them to that database with a specific attribute value and then create a segment matching that value to target these recipient.

Purchase History

With the Purchase History feature you can add all kinds of data connected to your recipients as a complementary layer of data to your normal recipient database(s) in Carma. The data will not be overwritten by the next import which means that you can add events to specific recipients whenever a new activity is completed.

Read more about Purchase History.