BigQuery to Salesforce: Everything You Need to Know

Are you looking into Salesforce? It is a great thing to have on your side. But what is the best way to upload your data into it? Here’s what you need to know about sending your data from BigQuery to Salesforce.

Salesforce: Why You Need It

Salesforce is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform. Being a CRM means that Salesforce effectively gives your company all the context necessary to engage with your customers. If you don’t already have it, you need it. Having this integrated throughout all of your departments is a game-changer.

The Only Drawback

While Salesforce is a great resource to have, there is one major drawback. The data that Salesforce needs to operate at full capacity is often exclusively stored in a separate, large database like BigQuery. These databases are typically built for business making decisions and are not integrated into other types of software. So needless to say, you need a way to get the data out of the database.

You Have Options

When it comes to taking data from a place like BigQuery and distributing it to Salesforce, you have a few options. You can create a custom data pipeline, use a customer data platform, manually do it, use integration platforms, or take advantage of reverse ETL.

Custom Data Pipeline

The first solution to this problem is getting your software engineers to build a data pipeline specifically for transporting data from BigQuery to Salesforce. However, this is much easier said than done.

This process is very work-intensive and time-consuming, meaning that your engineers would be kept away from their daily tasks for a very long time, not to mention the upkeep. The APIs for both services change often, causing the need for regular maintenance on your pipeline.

Customer Data Platform

Customer data platforms, or CDPs, are your next option. They take all of your data and move it to a third-party system. Where it can then be transported into services like Salesforce. While they do offer a plethora of other features, this is not the most time-efficient process.

Manual Operation

One of the easiest ways to get your data from BigQuery to Salesforce is manually uploading it. Just download your data as a CSV file and upload it where you want it. However, there are two main drawbacks to this way of doing it.

• First: It takes a while to do it this way.
• Second: The data doesn’t automatically update. So you will need to consistently upload fresh data.

Integration Platform as a Service

Next up, you could use an iPaaS to build specific workflows and triggers for when specific situations occur. While this option will work, it could get pretty complex depending on your industry. You may find that it becomes more work than it is worth.

Reverse ETL

Finally, the reverse ETL. Integrating a reverse ETL into your business would be the easiest and most efficient way to move data from BigQuery to Salesforce. It’s easy to integrate into your current systems and allows you to completely own your data pipelines.

The Best Option: Reverse ETL
After reviewing the above options, it is clear that, for most industries, a reverse ETL is the best option to move your data between these two services. But is that all it can do? There are actually several reasons why having a reverse ETL would be a good option for any company.

Here are a few examples.

Operational Analytics

A reverse ETL allows your data to seamlessly sync with many programs. This optimizes your operational analytics and allows your data to be wherever it needs to be, whenever it needs to be there. Ultimately allowing all of your departments to make more data-informed decisions that they can trust.

Improved Customer Experience

With the analytics that is readily available from a reverse ETL, a company could improve its customer service like never before. Your customer service department can access this data and build personalized customer service for each person.

Data Automation

For any company on any given day, there are seemingly constant requests for data. Whether it is from the financial department, sales department, customer support, or accounting, you name it. For businesses that don’t use a reverse ETL, someone has to go into the database, download files, and send them to the requesting source.

Needless to say, that seems like a lot of unnecessary work. There has to be a way to automate that, right? There is, and it is reverse ETL.

The Bottom Line
Salesforce is a great CRM platform and is a highly recommended way to engage with your customers. If your business is trying to implement Salesforce and needs to move data from BigQuery into it, you should consider implementing a reverse ETL. Reverse ETLs are a quick and easy way to create a pipeline for all of your data needs.