How do I change data extension field names from a salesforce report import without having to change salesforce field display names?

Question

I am using the Marketing Cloud connector to import Salesforce reports into Sendable Data Extensions that I then want to use in Journey Builder.

The field names that are created in the data extension definition when setting up the import are as per the Salesforce fields (as expected). These unfortunately are not the names Journey builder wants i.e. SubscriberKey and EmailAddress.

How do I change the destination Data extension field names from the import whilst retaining the mapping to Salesforce report fields so I can use this data extension in Journey Builder?

Answer 1

You will need to create a separate data extension containing the same fields, but with the field names you need/prefer. Then, create a query to pull the fields from your SFDC Import data extension and alias the columns in that query to have the correct field names (the field names in your new data extension).

For example... select SFDCEmailAddressFieldName as EmailAddress, Contact ID as SubscriberKey, field1, field2, field3 from YourSFDCImportDataExtension

Then the results of this query would end up in your new data extension. Whether this query is Add/Update, Add Only or Overwrite would depend on your use case.