Responsys - Deep dive into data models

Responsys - A Deep Dive into Data Models

Introduction

Oracle Responsys is a flexible customer data and activation layer designed to support highly personalized, cross-channel engagement at scale. Email, SMS, push, in-app, and other campaign types can all draw from a rich ecosystem of connected data sources, enabling real-time segmentation, dynamic content, and true one-to-one communication.

At the core of this flexibility is Responsys’ data model. Rather than forcing all data into a single structure, Responsys allows you to design a layered and extensible data architecture that can evolve with your business. This makes it possible to integrate multiple upstream systems—such as CRM, e-commerce, loyalty platforms, product catalogs, and event streams—without compromising performance, governance, or usability for marketers.

Responsys integrates naturally with upstream systems such as CRM platforms, e-commerce solutions, loyalty systems, and data warehouses. It can also seamlessly tap into an external Customer Data Platform (CDP) in near real time. By using Profile Extension Tables (PETs) as a structured integration layer, CDP attributes and signals can be synchronized and activated effortlessly—without redesigning the core contact model or introducing technical complexity for campaign teams. This allows Responsys to remain lightweight and activation-focused, while the CDP handles advanced identity resolution, real-time event processing, and enrichment.

To build scalable, maintainable, and intelligent campaigns, it is essential to understand the three fundamental data types in Responsys and how they work together:

Profile Lists (Contacts) – the stable customer anchor and deliverability layer
Profile Extension Tables (PETs) – structured, one-to-one extensions for customer attributes
Supplemental Tables and SQL Views – highly flexible, many-to-many data for transactional, behavioral, and reference data

Used together, these data types allow you to model your business reality accurately: keeping core contact data clean and lean, extending it where needed, and integrating large or complex datasets without overloading the contact record. This separation of concerns is what enables Responsys to support both deep technical integrations and marketer-friendly audience design—without requiring SQL expertise for everyday use.

The sections below describe each data type, its role in the overall architecture, and best-practice guidance for when and how to use them.

PROFILE LIST (CONTACT)

The Profile List serves as the foundation for targeting, personalization, and deliverability. An email address must exist in this table in order to send emails. Profile Lists store recipient audience records, which may represent leads, prospects, customers, contacts, consumers, or visitors, depending on your business terminology. Marketers primarily use Profile Lists—together with related objects such as Profile Extension Tables and Filters—to support campaign targeting and personalization.

This table contains these fields:

Built-in Standard Responsys fields:

CUSTOMER_ID_ (you own external contact ID)
EMAIL_ADDRESS_
MOBILE_NUMBER_
COUNTRY_
EMAIL_DELIVERY_STATUS_
EMAIL_PERMISSION_STATUS_
and others

Custom fields you add like:

LANGUAGE
BUSINESS_UNIT
MARKET
FIRST_NAME
LAST_NAME
AVAILABLE_POINTS (from loyalty system)
Any field you need for segmentation or personalization

Profile lists records can be changed via REST API:

https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas/marketing/responsys-rest-api/api-profile-list-recipients.html

The usage of a profile list may vary, but its recommended to keep it to a minimum. Because PETS, filters, campaign and program must be directly linked to a profile list, and too much work to change between profile lists.

PROFILE EXTENSION TABLES (PET)

Profile Extension Tables (PETs) are one-to-one extension tables linked to contacts through the RIID_ field. They allow you to store additional attributes for each unique recipient in a Profile List, and each PET record must map to exactly one record in its parent Profile List. Like Profile List data, PET data can be used for segmentation and targeting in Filters and Programs. They are frequently used with Audience Designer or Filters, as these tools do not require technical skills such as SQL.

Use a PET when:

A field only applies to a subset of contacts
You want to keep the Profile List lean
You are approaching the 80 custom field limit in your profile list.

Example: Add fields for tracking channel subscriptions such as:

CONSENT_APP_YN
CONSENT_WEBPUSH_ACTIVE_YN

PET records can be changed via REST API:

https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas/marketing/responsys-rest-api/api-profile-extension-recipients.html

SUPPLEMENTAL TABLES

Supplemental Tables have no enforced relationship to the Profile List. Because you define the schema when creating a Supplemental Table, they can be used for a wide range of purposes. Common use cases include message personalization and dynamic content, segmentation, and storing form responses or campaign-related events.

A typical use case is to import raw data into a Supplemental Table, transform or refine it, and then reimport it (for example, via a Connect job) into a Profile Extension Table (PET), where it can be used for audience selection and segmentation.

Use them for:

Product catalogs
Event lists
Article lists
Transaction histories
Store lists
Loyalty items

They offer maximum flexibility and can be joined together or linked to contacts through SQL Views.

Supplemental Data table records can be changed via REST API:

https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas/marketing/responsys-rest-api/op-rest-api-v1.3-folders-foldername-suppdata-tablename-members-post.html

Ways to edit and maintain data

Responsys supports multiple ways to create, update, and maintain data across Profile Lists, Profile Extension Tables, and Supplemental Tables. This flexibility allows organizations to align data updates with both real-time use cases and batch-based operational processes.

1. API-based Updates (Real-time or Near Real-time)

Responsys provides REST APIs to insert and update records in Profile Lists, Profile Extension Tables, and Supplemental Tables. APIs are commonly used when data needs to be synchronized in near real time from upstream systems such as CRM platforms, e-commerce solutions, loyalty systems, or Customer Data Platforms (CDPs).

Typical use cases include:

Updating contact attributes (for example consent, status, or preferences)
Syncing loyalty points or tier changes
Injecting real-time behavioral or eligibility signals from a CDP
Creating or updating contacts at the moment of interaction

This approach supports event-driven architectures and keeps campaign data fresh and actionable.

2. Connect Jobs (Batch Imports)

Connect jobs are the most common method for scheduled or large-scale data updates. Data is imported via SFTP and processed in batch, making this approach well-suited for nightly, hourly, or periodic synchronization.

Common scenarios include:

Daily CRM or ERP contact updates
Importing product catalogs or store lists
Loading transactional or behavioral data
Feeding transformed data from a data warehouse

Connect jobs are often used together with Supplemental Tables for raw data ingestion, followed by controlled propagation into PETs or Profile Lists.

3. Audience and Campaign-driven Updates

Certain data can also be updated as part of campaign execution or program flows.
For example:

Writing engagement or lifecycle flags back to PETs
Updating status fields based on campaign interactions
Tracking channel subscription or opt-in states

This allows Responsys to not only consume data, but also enrich customer profiles based on marketing interactions.

How to Use the Data

Responsys data can be consumed in different ways depending on the use case, audience complexity, and technical requirements. While Profile Lists, PETs, and Supplemental Tables define where data is stored, the following mechanisms define how that data is used in campaigns, programs, and personalization.

SQL Views for Logical Data Modeling

SQL Views provide a logical data modeling layer on top of existing Profile Lists, Profile Extension Tables, and Supplemental Tables. SQL Views allow multiple data sources to be combined and presented as a single, simplified dataset for use in targeting, segmentation, and personalization.

From a business perspective, SQL Views enable advanced data usage without increasing data duplication or altering the underlying data structures. They are especially valuable when working with complex relationships such as one-to-many or many-to-many datasets (for example transactions, products, or events).

Typical use cases include:

Joining contacts with transactional or behavioral data
Linking product, store, or event data to customer profiles
Creating reusable audience datasets for campaigns and programs
Abstracting complex joins away from marketers and campaign logic

SQL Views are often used as data sources in:

Filters and Audience Designer
Campaigns and Programs
Dynamic content and personalization rules

By using SQL Views, organizations can keep their core data model clean and stable, while still enabling flexible, scalable, and sophisticated audience definitions. This approach allows technical teams to define reusable logic once, and marketing teams to activate the data repeatedly—without requiring SQL expertise in day-to-day campaign execution.

Audience Designer

Audience Designer allows marketers to build and refine audiences using Profile List data, PET attributes, and SQL View–based datasets without requiring SQL skills. This enables fast audience iteration, self-service segmentation, and reuse of audience definitions across campaigns.Sample of the Audience designerSample of the Audience designerSample of the Audience designer

Sample of the Audience designer

Programs (Orchestration)

In Programs, data is used to drive decisioning, branching logic, and lifecycle orchestration. Customer attributes, behavioral signals, and transactional data determine how contacts move through journeys, trigger actions, or qualify for next steps. Data can also be written back to PETs as part of program execution, enabling continuous profile enrichment.

Sample of Program designer

Campaigns

Within campaigns, data is used for message-level personalization and dynamic content. Attributes from Profile Lists and PETs, as well as related data exposed through SQL Views, can be injected directly into messages to tailor content, offers, and timing at an individual level.

By activating the same underlying data consistently across audiences, programs, and campaigns, Responsys enables a cohesive, data-driven engagement strategy—reducing fragmentation, improving relevance, and accelerating time to market.

Key Takeaways:

Built for scale and flexibility Responsys provides a modular data foundation that adapts as the business grows—supporting complex data, brands, and markets without re-architecture.
Turns data into action Designed as a customer data activation layer, Responsys converts insights from CRM, CDP, and enterprise systems into personalized, cross-channel engagement.
Seamless enterprise integration Native support for APIs, Connect jobs, and SQL Views makes it easy to integrate with CRM systems, data warehouses, loyalty platforms, and CDPs.
Supports real-time and operational needs Responsys handles both real-time signals and large-scale batch data, ensuring communications remain timely, relevant, and consistent.
Real-time and batch support Responsys supports both event-driven and scheduled data updates, ensuring campaigns always use fresh and relevant data.
Enterprise-proven and scalable Trusted by global brands, Responsys delivers governance, performance, and flexibility at scale — positioning it as a leader in customer engagement and activation.
Designed for multi-brand organizations Supports multiple brands and business units within one platform, with governance and separation at the profile, data, and content levels.

Written by: Henrik Jochumsen