What You Need to Know About Reverse ETL

Reverse ETL is a term for which the “ETL” acronym stands for the three-part process of “extract, transform, load.”

Extract refers to pulling out data from multiple sources. Transform deals with the cleaning of data and shaping that data into the correct storage format and structure. Finally, Load is the portion of the process that puts data into its new database destination.

Why are these three steps of ETL used? Data integration is the reason, so that data can be copied from one location or multiple locations and repositioned to be centralized inside one singular data warehouse.

Aside from what is happening internally with the shifting of data with Reverse ETL, in a real-world sense, the data is getting queried from its database and then being made available to various designated areas of a business or organization so that they can use it to take action and fulfill their responsibilities for increased productivity.

With that definition of what Reverse ETL is, from its function as a go-between when dealing with data warehouses and existing operational systems inside a business, in which ways is Reverse ETL typically used on a day-to-day basis?

1. Customized Use of Data infrastructure

The power of marketing in the digital age depends on the outdated, one-size-fits-all approach of appealing to an audience with one singular advertising message and strategy. Instead, your organization can reach niche portions of society and customize media messaging to appeal to people based on their interests or past spending habits.

With this tailor-made advertising action, companies can gain quantifiable results while avoiding the vague marketing messages that make audiences feel like they are merely being spammed over and over by a company that has no clue what their wants and needs are.

Reverse ETL brings customer personalization to the forefront, which probably makes you wonder how particular Reverse ETL becomes with data infrastructure when used in the real world?

Imagine an online footwear store with the data to inform them of who has previously purchased sneakers from them last summer.

If they are launching a summertime sale for past customers that would provide a discount off the retail price, the store could utilize Reverse ETL so that the marketing team can launch an email campaign to previous customers.

This ultra-specific marketing effort can use data stored inside their data warehouse to create a customized sale for the company’s benefit and for customers looking to save some money.

2. Real-Time Operational Analytics

The beneficial usage of Reverse ETL that you need to be aware of continues, this time in with operational analytics. Reverse ETL allows the status of your data stack to be more fleshed out, making your workflow more effective.

Your data warehouse has been secured for data storage. With Reverse ETL, you can query and pull data and implement real-time personalization for your customer data platform to model and activate data in several business areas.

Operational analytics is an everyday use case for Reverse ETL to acquire multiple internal teams’ data and then incorporate it into their workflows.

With the assistance of operational analytics, you can go from educated guesses to fact-based decisions, saving factual information from the data platform of customers inside the digital workspace that staff members are already used to working.

3. Benefit from Data Automation

Reverse ETL allows data automation to handle tedious but necessary processes in how an organization functions so that human labor can be used in more impactful ways to benefit the customer experience.

Here are some ways in which different departments with a company could request data, and data automation can push things through without having to wait on people to get it done:

• Sales departments could be asking for conference attendee information to import them into the CRM as leads.

• Support teams may need data regarding customers who have premium accounts and are eligible for their advanced level of support.

• Accounting departments could need the customer data for quarterly accounting purposes.

• Marketing departments may be asking for the purchase history of customers to create custom marketing messaging for them.

Reverse ETL makes data automation an automatic solution instead of one that has to be executed manually.

From operational analytics and data automation to data infrastructure, Reverse ETL is a crucial piece of software engineering and data infrastructure that can engage with different data sources and make it possible for its users to personalize the customer experience.