Zero-copy data integration

A zero-copy data integration offers several benefits. It uses existing data infrastructure and tools, which makes it efficient. It also provides flexibility and control since data stays in its native environment. The data is always as fresh as your data warehouse, with no waiting for imports and no synchronizations job that can fail.

Your externally sourced AttributesMetadata used for audience segmentation and personalization. They extend the concept of Tags by adding comparison operators and values to determine whether or not to target a user, helping you better evaluate your audience. behave the same as other Airship Attributes. You can use them to build SegmentsA grouping of audience members selected by unique or shared identifiers. Multiple identifiers can be combined within a Segment. and personalize content using HandlebarsHandlebars is Airship’s templating language for personalization. Handlebars expressions use double curly braces wrapped around a content template, ranging from a simple variable, e.g., {{first_name}}, to complex evaluations of personalization data..

How a zero-copy data integration works

The integration works in three steps:

1. Grant external data access — You provide Airship with credentials and define the specific data from your external source to be made available.

2. On-demand data retrieval — When an external Attribute is required, Airship requests and retrieves that specific data from your source. This information is efficiently transported via temporary, short-lived messages using a Publish-Subscribe mechanism , ensuring only the requested data is transferred.

3. Data application and purge — The retrieved data is immediately and temporarily used within Airship for segmentation and personalization, and is not permanently stored.

Supported data source and types

Zero-copy data integration is supported for Snowflake , a fully managed cloud-based data warehouse and analytics service for storing and analyzing data. For security information, see Continuous Data Protection  in Snowflake’s user guide.

The integration supports the same data type as Attributes from other sources:

• Text — String values for personalization and segmentation
• Number — Integer, float, or string values for calculations and comparisons
• Date — Date and timestamp values for time-based targeting
• JSON — Complex structured data for advanced personalization

For more information, see Attribute types in About Attributes.

To send Snowflake data to Airship without systems integration, see Export Lists from Snowflake. To send Airship data to Snowflake, see the Real-Time Data Streaming integration.

Benefits and use cases

Zero-copy data integration provides these benefits:

• Real-time data access — Use your most current Snowflake data without data copying or synchronization delays.
• Data governance — Maintain control over your data while still leveraging it for personalization and segmentation.
• SQL expertise — Leverage your existing SQL knowledge and workflows.
• Seamless integration — Access Snowflake attributes alongside Airship attributes in the same interfaces.

Consider these use cases:

• Customer lifetime value targeting — Use Snowflake-calculated CLV scores to segment high-value customers.
• Subscription status targeting — Target users based on subscription tiers and renewal dates.
• Geographic segmentation — Use location-based data for regional campaigns and local offers.
• Product affinity personalization — Personalize messages based on product categories and browsing history.

Configuring the integration

Setup requires configuration by Airship. To get started, contact your Airship account manager or Support  to request the integration.

Airship will help you with these steps:

• Setting up the integration for your Airship project
• Identifying the tables and views you want to be able to access in Airship — For example, tables containing customer profile data like demographics, preferences, or subscription status
• Mapping your Snowflake data to Channel IDsAn Airship-specific unique identifier used to address a channel instance, e.g., a smartphone, web browser, email address. and AttributesMetadata used for audience segmentation and personalization. They extend the concept of Tags by adding comparison operators and values to determine whether or not to target a user, helping you better evaluate your audience.

Using Attributes in Airship

Once the integration is set up, you can use your Attributes for segmentation and personalization. See:

• Targeting your audience using Attributes
• Personalizing messages using Attributes

To access a list of Attributes added to your project, go to Audience, then Attributes. Attributes from zero-copy data integration have badge External. You cannot edit or archive Attributes from zero-copy data integration in the dashboard. To make updates, contact your Airship account manager or Support . See also Managing Attributes.