I used a series of queries in automation studio and filter activities in automation studio. What I did: Using SQL: copied my original data extension into a new one, added a new column and used a case statement to determine the value of this column. Using filters: filtered this data based on this new column.
In my original data extension, I had a lot of special characters (tildes, accents, etc.) in most fields (not in the primary key). Now, the new data extension with the added column replaced these special characters with weird question marks: �
I previewed emails using these fields and the � still showed.
Why does this happen and how do I fix it?