Native Connectors | Outbound

image-20260910-091506.png

Native outbound connectors send ZMP audiences to advertising platforms that Zeta supports natively, such as Google, LinkedIn, Meta, Pinterest, TikTok, X, and Yahoo DSP.

Authenticate the partner in Settings > Integrations > Connections, then export a segment or list from Audiences, or use Sync to in Experience Builder.

Typical setup:

1. Create the partner connection in Connections and select the ad account(s) to use.

2. Open the audience in Segments & Lists and choose the destination under Connect Audience.

3. Choose how to update the destination audience (Add, Remove, or Replace, where the partner supports it).

4. Run a one-time export, or turn on Automate connection for a recurring sync.

Direct (non-expansion) vs expansion (enriched) exports

When you export a ZMP audience to a native partner destination, you can control whether Zeta expands the audience through the identity graph before it is sent to the partner.

This choice applies across all supported partner connectors. Use it when you want either a precise first-party match or a broader enriched reach.

What each mode does

Mode

What ZMP sends

Best when

Expansion (enriched) — default

ZMP resolves and expands the audience through Zeta’s identity graph, then sends the enriched set of identifiers to the destination.

You want broader match coverage and larger destination audiences.

Direct (non-expansion)

ZMP sends only the people already in your selected audience, using the identifiers configured for that export. No identity-graph expansion is applied.

You want tighter control of audience size, faster processing, or to avoid expansion multiplying already-large files.

Why this matters: Expansion can increase file volume substantially. For large prospect, lookalike, or matched audiences, that growth can add processing time, hit partner rate limits, or cause export failures. Direct exports keep the payload limited to your selected audience members.

Which audiences can use each mode

The direct vs expansion choice applies to customer (first-party / retention) audiences — Customer Segments and Customer Lists — when your account supports both modes.

Prospect / Data Cloud audiences (Prospect Segments, Prospect Lists, Matched Lists, and Lookalikes) always use expansion. These audiences are built from Data Cloud identities and can’t be exported as a direct, first-party-only file. For those exports, audience expansion stays on and can’t be turned off.

How to choose the mode

  1. In Audiences > Segments & Lists, open the audience and start Connect Audience.

  2. Select the partner, ad account, and destination audience as usual.

  3. Under Optional settings, use the Disable audience expansion control:

    • Off (default) — expansion / enriched export

    • On — direct / non-expansion export

  4. Complete the export with Connect, or turn on Automate connection for a recurring sync.

Availability of the toggle depends on your account configuration. Some accounts are limited to direct exports only, some to expansion only, and some can choose either.

Account features enabled

What the account can do

Toggle behavior

CRM Features only

First-party (direct) exports only

Locked to direct — expansion can’t be turned on

Acquisition Features only

Expanded (enriched) exports only

Locked to expansion — can’t be turned off

CRM Features + Acquisition Features

Both direct and expanded exports

User can freely choose via the toggle

What to expect

  • Direct exports include only the people and attributes configured for that export. They do not add identity-graph matches.

  • Expansion exports require a resolvable email_md5 for identity matching. That value can come from either:

    • Hashing the profile’s email into email_md5, or

    • An email_md5 stored under external_ids

    When both are present, the top-level email_md5 takes precedence. Profiles without a resolvable identifier are skipped; if none can be matched, the export can fail.

  • For recurring exports, the selected mode stays with that export. You cannot switch an existing connection between direct and expansion after it is created; create a new export if you need the other mode.

  • Partner processing time still applies after ZMP finishes the upload. A successful ZMP export does not mean the destination audience is immediately targetable.

Quick guidance

  • Use expansion when match rate and reach matter more than file size.

  • Use direct when you need predictable first-party volume, shorter processing, or to reduce rate-limit risk on large audiences.

  • Check the partner-specific page for any connector that is expansion-only or that has additional identifier or operator limits.

List of available connectors