After importing your data and enabling the contact extension, you can link it to the contact profile by creating an association field. This lets you use data like orders, events, or loyalty programs directly in magnews to:
Segment contacts based on their behavior
Personalize communications and automated flows
Get a more complete view of each contact without relying on external systems
The association defines how external data is linked to contacts and can be of two types:
One-to-one association
Links each contact to a single item in the data table.
Useful when each contact has one reference value (e.g., company).One-to-many association
Links each contact to multiple items in the data table.
This is the most common case in marketing (e.g., a contact can have multiple orders, attend multiple events, join multiple programs).
It’s not just about what you connect, but how your data is structured and linked: this determines whether the association is automatic, manual, or managed through an intermediate table.
Below you’ll find three common scenarios for one-to-many association, from the simplest to the most structured:
Example 1: no direct link between contacts and data, you decide what to associate
Example 2: most common case, the table already includes a direct reference to the contact
Example 3: no direct reference, or you want more flexible relationships
Where to create the field
Go to the database where you want to create the field:
Profile Studio > Database name > Settings > Contact fieldsClick New field and define label and category
In Type of field select Association 1-to-many
From here, follow the instructions in the examples below based on your data structure.
Example 1 - Event participation
When to use it:
When there is no direct link in the data and you want to decide later which elements to associate with each contact.
Typical scenarios:
Physical event attendance, sales assignments, or offline lists
Data structure:
Contact database
Events table with the list of organized events
How to configure it:
Create the field as described above
Keep the option Specify how to link the data turned off
You can populate the field:
Manually from the contact profile
Through scheduled activities
Through automated flows
In this case, there is no automatic link between contacts and events. The field works as a container that you can fill manually or through automation.
You decide which events to associate with each contact, for example based on attendance lists collected offline or from other sources.
Once populated, you can use this data in your marketing activities, for example to:
Segment contacts based on the events they attended
Send targeted follow-ups after an event
Build personalized communications based on interests
This approach works well when data isn’t already connected but you still want to use it in a structured way.
Example 2 - Orders
When to use it:
When the data table already includes a direct reference to the contact, such as email or contact ID.
Typical scenarios:
Orders, purchases, transactions, or tickets
Data structure:
Contact database
Orders table with a column identifying the customer
How to configure it:
Create the field as described above
Enable Specify how to link the data
Select the table to associate, in this case Orders
Keep The contact is specified within the extension enabled
Select the column containing the contact reference
If the extension column referring to the contact contains the database key values (e.g., email), enable The field matches the database key
You’ll see this data in the contact profile and use it to:
Create segments based on purchase behavior
Trigger automated flows
Personalize communications
Example 3 - Loyalty program
When to use it:
When the data table does not include a direct reference to the contact or when you need more flexible relationships.
Typical scenarios:
Loyalty programs, service subscriptions, complex relationships
Data structure:
Contact database with customer identifier
Loyalty programs table
Association table: connects two entities when there is no direct reference between them and typically contains only their identifiers (e.g., customerID, programID). It is used when the relationship is managed in a separate table
How to configure it:
Create the field as described above
Enable Specify how to link the data
Select the table to associate, in this case Loyalty programs
Disable The contact is specified within the extension
Select the association table
Select the field that identifies the contact
If the association table column referring to the contact contains the database key values (e.g., email), enable The field matches the database key
Select the field that identifies the extension item
In this case, magnews uses the association table to link data: it identifies which programs are associated with each contact and retrieves their details.
You’ll see this information in the contact profile and use it to:
Segment by program or level
Personalize communications and offers
Manage targeted initiatives (rewards, upgrades, promotions)
This approach is ideal when your data is more complex but you still want to keep it flexible and usable in segmentation and automation.