Check out Personalization Tables – Insider One

Not all data that drives good personalization resides in a user’s profile.

Some of the most important campaign information is unrelated to each user. Cabin class and its amenities. Store opening hours and current local promotions. Resort entry times and local events. This is the contextual data that belongs to your business, changes frequently, and often shapes what is the most important and accurate message.

Until now, bringing that data to your messages meant editing, manual efforts, testing, and editing. Lookup tables change that.

The problem: shared data is stuck in operational strategies

Advertisers have always had content data. Putting it into the campaign was the hard part.

Most marketing platforms are built around user profiles and events. That makes shared, non-user data difficult to store and reuse, because the only way to use it is to copy it to every user or every event.

To do this, groups rely on profile attributes, event attributes, API-based enrichment, or external sources such as spreadsheets. These methods work in the short term, but they come with real costs. Sales teams depend on developers to set up and change. Updates feel slow and dangerous. Campaign setup is getting more complicated than it needs to be. And platform limitations, such as profile attribute counts and API call rates, start to bite.

There are also side effects. Storing important business data such as pricing rules or availability in external tools raises security and compliance concerns, which can hinder business onboarding. And integrating simple “Call API” use cases within the ‘Architect’ can force a one-off email or SMS into a full journey just to fetch value, increasing usage capacity and pushing teams to price limits.

Introducing Lookup Tables with Insider One

Lookup Tables are a native way to manage shared reference data within Insider One and use it across segments, personalizations, and journeys, without storing that data in user profiles or events.

The easiest way to download it: Lookup tables work like VLOOKUP for your events and users. You store the shared metadata table in one place, define the primary key, and Insider One enriches your existing data at the time of use, without changing the underlying event or profile. Update the table once, and the change is reflected everywhere it is referenced.

This is a clean and flexible data model. Because campaigns query the lookup table directly, you no longer have to update user profiles every time the underlying business data changes. You update the table, and your classification and personalization stays current.

A dedicated user interface, designed for users of all skill levels

Previous reliance on API calls puts contextual data in a place that most marketers don’t reach. Lookup Tables instead with a dedicated UI for creating and updating both the data structure (schema) and the data itself. Setup and ongoing management no longer require deep technical knowledge, eliminating developer dependencies that have slowed teams down.

Content data, visible and connected

Lookup Table data is visible on a user’s profile, giving teams visibility into the context in which they are playing and how it relates to all of their data in Insider One. That seems to address a big gap in the old way: knowing what data you have and how it is connected.

It is available where you already work

Lookup Tables are integrated across Dynamic Segmentation, User Profiling, Dynamic Content, and Onboarding. Personalization capabilities are enhanced across products including Architect campaigns and email, so contextual data flows into the experiences and journeys you’re already building.

Use it for segmentation, personalization, and travel

Lookup tables are designed to be activated, not just stored.

In separationyou can filter users or events using shared metadata using a join key, for example, “users who purchased a flight where wifi = No,” or “subscribed to plans where plan type = Premium,” dynamically checked against recent data.

In personalizationview values ​​are resolved to dynamic content at post time. Email is the most important channel, where teams fill dynamic blocks with details such as store hours, flight services, or program offers, and SMS, WhatsApp, and Push support simple personalization such as store name or service status.

In The buildertrips can refer to shared metadata directly, so “Call API” is reserved for really complex or real-time situations rather than simple lookups.

Advantages of Insider One Lookup Tables

For teams that own personalization and segmentation, Lookup Tables deliver:

• Easy personalization: Enhance messages with shared metadata without repeating them across profiles or events.
• To make a quick campaign: Update data in one place and reflect changes everywhere, no trips to rebuild or restart integrations.
• Less technical dependence: A streamlined interface means marketers manage shared data without ongoing engineering support.
• Safer, more reliable workflow: The most important business data resides within Insider One, reducing reliance on external tools.
• Confidence before implementation: Preview and verify how the data appears in the campaign before sending it.
• Measuring room: It supports enhanced personalization for mature teams without adding operational complexity.

Lookup tables use cases by industry

Lookup Tables are especially important for businesses with rich data models and more advanced personalization needs, where shared data changes frequently and should not live in a user profile.

Flights and travel

Maintain a central flight table and cabin amenities. When a customer triggers the Flight Purchased event, provide them with details such as wifi, power outlets, and seat screens, then segment (“flights where wifi = No”) or personalize (“your flight includes {{wifi}}, {{power_outlet}}, and {{seat_screen}}”).

Selling

Store store information, such as city, opening and closing times, and current local promotions, in a lookup table linked to the store ID. Personalize at scale: “The store near you opens at {{open_time}} and closes at {{close_time}} today.”

Hospitality

Manage room services, recreation areas, and center occupancy policies. Categorize guests with adjectives like “kids friendly = Yes” and personalize check-in information: “Your hotel allows check-in from {{check_in}}.”

Communications

Store the plan identifier in the profile and store plan details, such as data allowance and 5G eligibility, in a lookup table. Segment “users eligible for 5G upgrade” and personalization: “Your current plan includes {{data_limit_gb}} GB.”

Services, events, and more

Notify customers of planned maintenance or outages affecting their service area, or event details such as location and type of reminders and updates. The pattern extends naturally across services, media and subscription platforms, as well as businesses with multiple locations.

Getting started with lookup tables

Lookup Tables are available to Insider One customers today. Setup is done collaboratively by design: your data or technical team can quickly and easily define the schema and upload the initial data once, via CSV upload or API. Now, whenever your team creates segments, personalized campaigns, and indexes that store data on channels from there, without rebuilding the integration or raising an engineering ticket every time something changes.

To see Lockup Tables in action and see how they can benefit your team, request a personal demo of Insider One or speak to your account manager.

Frequently Asked Questions