If you’re like me and already are proficient in SQL, when looking at DESelect, you might wonder, “What’s in it for me?!”. I did the same until I had a closer look into what the tool has to offer and how easy it is to use. Thinking about where the tool could help you even if you’re not the one to use it also is interesting 😉
No more spending hours on debugging and support
Even for those who are tech-savvy but not necessarily a developer or database person, some SQL queries can be difficult to write. Occasionally they may reach a point where they have a complex query that just doesn’t do exactly what they want, leading them to ask for your help.
That’s just one example of what’s really in it for me – debugging SQL queries can be challenging even for someone experienced with SQL. Especially if you don’t know the underlying data or the exact use case, etc. So you find yourself switching from data extension to data extension, then data designer, then SQL activity, and talking to your colleague until you finally figure out what’s wrong. Not to mention then figuring out how you can help your colleague or client to achieve their goals. And all of that often takes nearly as much time as starting from scratch and writing the SQL query on your own. From a scalability perspective, that won’t work well if more and more colleagues start using data and having the desire to create more intelligent segments.
After learning about DESelect Segment and experimenting with the platform, I found myself thinking, “what if the person just used DESelect instead? Would they have figured it out on their own?”. And usually, the answer to that question is yes. Creating complex selections using DESelect Segment, of course, also requires some time to adapt. But, once your colleagues know how to work their way around combining data extensions and understanding when it is necessary to use a “Waterfall Selection,” it’s like they never did their selections differently.
For example, many people struggle with the correct way to create joins and define which rows should be in the result. Another common task is deduplication – a grouping of data. But what can go wrong with an easy-to-use interface that even shows you a Venn diagram of the data extensions you’re connecting and what data you’re going to get out of them:
The same ease of use is presented for other features like deduplication, filtering, etc. And as I’ve heard from DESelect’s product manager, they are currently focussing on delivering an even better user experience in the near future.
One neat feature I also appreciate having is for selections that are based on the same data extensions and relationships over and over again. As an admin, you can even save yourself and your colleagues some time by preparing “Data Sets”. This makes it possible to predefine relationships and have them ready to go for new selections in the future. This makes it even more convenient for marketers to use their data without having to understand all the underlying data model details.
Save time for your own tasks
Have you ever had a stressful week with a packed schedule and then needed to create a complex SQL query on a Friday afternoon? I bet you have! What seems to be simple on a Tuesday morning might not go as smoothly on Friday. Next time, try using DESelect Segment and start your weekend early.
What I mean by that is, even if you are familiar with every notion SQL has to offer, experiencing the same outcome using a no-code tool will definitely save some time. And if you don’t trust anyone but yourself when it comes to writing SQL queries, don’t worry. You can have a look yourself using the “View SQL query” feature in the preview step of your selection to double-check:
Markus Dang
Markus is a guest author at DESelect. He's a Marketing Cloud Unit Lead & Solution Architect. He is also a Salesforce Marketing Cloud Champion.
