DocumentationExperience PlatformReal-Time CDP Collaboration

Activate audiences

Last update: September 9, 2025

Use the Activate tab within a project to send audiences to your collaborator, review audiences received from your collaborator, and activate received audiences for delivery to a configured destination. To configure and manage destinations from the top-level Activation workspace, see the destinations overview.

IMPORTANT
The Activate tab is only available if the Audience activation use case was enabled during the connection process. For more information about use cases, see Manage projects.

Use the Discover tab to identify the audiences that best match your campaign, then send them to your collaborator. The receiving collaborator selects a configured destination and schedules the received audience for activation.

Sending and activating are separate actions. Sending gives your collaborator access to an audience. The receiving collaborator then selects a destination and manually activates the received audience.

The sections and actions available to you depend on whether your organization is sending or receiving audiences in the project. The Activate tab contains the following sections:

Section
Description
Sent audiences to [collaborator]
Audiences that you have sent to your collaborator.
Received audiences
Audiences that your collaborator has sent to you and that are available for activation.
Activated audiences
Received audiences that you have activated to a destination.

The project-level Activate tab with summary counts at the top and expanded Sent audiences, Received audiences, and Activated audiences sections. Each section displays status counts and a table of audience details.

Prerequisites prerequisites

Before you send or activate audiences, ensure that:

  • Audiences are sourced and available for sending. For more information, see Source and manage audiences.
  • At least one destination is configured if you need to activate received audiences. For more information, see the destinations overview.

Send audiences send-audiences

Send an audience to give your collaborator access to it. After you send the audience, it appears in your Sent audiences to [collaborator] section and in your collaborator’s Received audiences section.

Navigate to Collaborate, open a project, and then select the Activate tab.

In the Sent audiences to [collaborator] section, select the add icon ( Add icon. ). If no audiences have been sent, select Send audience from the empty display instead.

The project-level Activate tab when no audiences have been sent. The empty display message explains that you have not sent an audience and displays a Send audience button.

The Send audiences workflow opens. Use the audience selector to find an audience, or select Browse audiences to compare the available audiences.

The Send audiences workflow with an audience selector and a Browse audiences button. The workflow allows the sender to choose an audience before configuring match keys and access settings.

In the Browse audiences dialog, review the Identity count, Overlapping identities, and Overlap % for each audience.

The Browse audiences dialog listing available audiences with their identity count, overlapping identity count, and overlap percentage.

IMPORTANT
If an audience uses multiple match keys, every selected match key must meet the required overlap threshold. Use the Discover tab to confirm that the audience meets the overlap requirements before sending it.

Select the audience that you want to send, and then select Save.

The selected audience appears in the workflow with its identity and overlap information.

The Send audiences workflow with a selected audience showing its identity count, overlapping identity count, overlap percentage, match keys, and Edit match keys option.

Edit match keys edit-match-keys

Use the match keys configured for the collaborator connection, or remove any match keys that do not apply to the audience.

Select Edit match keys in the selected audience.

The selected audience in the Send audiences workflow with the Edit match keys option highlighted.

The Edit match keys dialog appears. Turn off any match keys that you do not want to use, and then select Save.

NOTE
At least one match key must remain selected.

The Edit match keys dialog with toggle controls for the match keys available through the collaborator connection and a Save button.

Configure audience access configure-audience-access

Configure how the audience is sent and how long your collaborator can access it.

Use the Access duration control to select one of the following options:

  • Send now (one-time): Send the audience once. The receiving collaborator can activate it once.
  • Schedule recurring audience send: Refresh the audience during a specified access period. Use the Date range control to select the start and end dates.

The Access duration step in the Send audiences workflow with options to send the audience once or schedule a recurring audience send. The recurring option displays date controls for defining the access period.

When the audience and access settings are complete, select Send.

The audience appears in your Sent audiences to [collaborator] section. Your collaborator can review it in their Received audiences section.

View sent audiences view-sent-audiences

Use the Sent audiences to [collaborator] section to review audiences that you have sent and monitor their current access status.

Each sent audience displays the following information:

Column
Description
Audience name
The name of the sent audience.
Status
The current access status of the audience.
Identity count
The number of identities in the audience.
Overlapping identities
The number of identities that overlap with your collaborator’s inventory.
Created
The date and time when the audience was first sent.
Last sent
The date and time when audience data was most recently sent to your collaborator.
Access duration
The access setting configured when the audience was sent.
Match keys
The match keys used when sending the audience.

Delete a sent audience delete-sent-audience

Delete a sent audience to remove it from the sent-audiences list and revoke your collaborator’s access.

Select the delete icon ( Delete icon. ) next to the audience in the Sent audiences to [collaborator] section.

The Sent audiences section with the delete icon displayed next to an audience row.

A confirmation dialog appears. Select Delete to confirm.

The sent-audience deletion confirmation dialog explaining that the audience will be removed and the collaborator will lose access, with Cancel and Delete buttons.

The audience is removed from the section, and your collaborator loses access to it.

View received audiences received-audiences

Use the Received audiences section to review audiences that your collaborator has sent to you. A received audience must be manually activated before its data is sent to a destination.

Each received audience displays the following information:

Column
Description
Audience name
The name of the received audience.
Status
The current access status of the audience.
Identity count
The number of identities in the audience.
Overlapping identities
The number of identities that overlap with your inventory.
Last dataflow run
The date and time of the most recent dataflow run for the audience.
Access duration
The access setting configured by the collaborator who sent the audience.
Match keys
The match keys used for the audience.

The Received audiences section with active and expired audience counts. Each audience row shows its name, status, identity information, last dataflow run, access duration, match keys, and an add icon used to begin activation.

Activate a received audience activate-received-audience

Activate a received audience to send its data to one of your configured destinations.

In the Received audiences section, select the add icon ( Add icon. ) next to the audience that you want to activate.

The Activate audience dialog appears.

Use Destination to select the destination that receives the audience data. If the destination list is empty, configure a destination before continuing. For instructions, see the destinations overview.

Use Date to select the date when the activation runs, and then select Activate.

The Activate audience dialog opened from a received audience. The dialog contains a Destination dropdown for selecting a configured destination, a Date field with a calendar control, and Cancel and Activate buttons.

The dialog closes and the activation appears in the Activated audiences section. The received audience remains available in the Received audiences section while its access remains active.

View activated audiences activated-audiences

Use the Activated audiences section to confirm which received audiences have been activated and review their destination and delivery status.

Each activated audience displays the following information:

Column
Description
Audience name
The name of the activated audience.
Status
The current activation status.
Activated count
The number of identities activated to the destination.
Last refreshed
The date and time when the activated audience was most recently refreshed.
Destination
The destination that receives the audience data.
Frequency
The activation frequency. Manual activations display Once.
Date
The date when the activation runs.
Match keys
The match keys included in the activated audience.

The Activated audiences section with active, archived, and paused activation counts. Each row shows the audience name, status, activated count, last refreshed date, destination, frequency, activation date, match keys, and a delete icon.

Delete an activated audience delete-activated-audience

Delete an activated audience to remove the activation from the Activated audiences section.

Select the delete icon ( Delete icon. ) next to the activated audience.

A confirmation dialog appears. Select Delete to confirm.

The activated-audience deletion confirmation dialog explaining that the audience will be removed from the activated-audiences list and can be activated again later, with Cancel and Delete buttons.

The activation is removed from the list. You can activate the received audience again while its access remains active.

Next steps next-steps

After sending or activating audiences, monitor their status in the Sent audiences to [collaborator] and Activated audiences sections. When campaigns are complete, work with the Adobe enablement and engineering team to upload measurement data and view the corresponding measurement reports.

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