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This page covers the Azure Blob Storage destination — sending audiences out of Zeotap CDP into a container in your Azure Storage account. It is a batch, file-based destination: each activation writes one or more CSV files into the container and folder you nominate. To bring data into Zeotap CDP instead, start from Sources; for the object-storage destinations that work the same way as this one, see Amazon S3 and Google Cloud Storage.

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What this is

Azure Blob Storage is Microsoft Azure’s object storage service, organised into storage accounts that hold containers, and containers that hold blobs. The Azure Blob Storage destination in Zeotap CDP activates an audience (segment) by writing it as a complete CSV file into a container in your storage account, optionally under a virtual folder path. Zeotap CDP authenticates to the storage account with the account’s Connection String, which carries everything needed to establish the connection. This page walks the setup end to end: retrieving the connection string in the Azure Portal, identifying the container and folder to write into, and creating the destination in Zeotap CDP.

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Prerequisites

Gather the following before you begin. You do the Azure-side work once; the destination in Zeotap CDP then reuses it for every audience you activate.
  • An active Microsoft Azure account.
  • An existing Azure Storage Account created within that account.
  • The necessary permissions within your Azure account to access the storage account’s security credentials.
  • The storage account’s Connection String — see Find your connection string in Azure.
  • The Container, and optionally the Folder path inside it, that Zeotap CDP should write to — see Choose the container and folder in Azure.

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Supported actions

The destination exposes a single action, Send Complete CSV file to Blob Storage. On the mapping screen you can map:
  • Identifiers
  • Any other custom field, using the + Add Mapping button
For how actions and mappings work across all destinations, see Key concepts and Define the mapping.

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Authentication: using the connection string

To connect to your Azure Storage Account, Zeotap CDP uses a Connection String. This string acts as a secure password, containing all the information needed to authenticate access. It is the only credential needed to establish the connection.

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What you need

You need four values to authenticate the connection and name the exported files:
  1. Storage Account Name — the unique name you assigned to your Azure Storage account.
  2. Connection String — the access string obtained from the procedure below.
  3. Account Key — a secret access key that provides administrative rights to the storage account.
  4. Filename Prefix — the way you would identify your file. The naming convention is described under Create the Azure Blob Storage destination in Zeotap CDP.

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Find your connection string in Azure

Follow these steps to locate the credentials in your Azure Portal.
1
Log in to the Azure Portal. Open your web browser and navigate to https://portal.azure.com.
Azure Portal sign-in page
2
Navigate to the storage account. Use the main search bar at the top of the portal to search for and select your storage account.
Searching for a storage account from the Azure Portal search bar
3
Open the access keys. In the left-hand menu for your storage account, find the section labelled Security + networking and click Access keys.
4
Retrieve the credentials.
  • The Storage account name is displayed at the top of this page.
  • You will see two keys, key1 and key2. Click Show next to either key.
  • Azure also provides the complete Connection string. Click the copy icon next to the connection string to copy it to your clipboard.
The copied connection string looks similar to this example:
This single string is what you provide to Zeotap CDP for authentication.

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Choose the container and folder in Azure

Once authentication is established with the connection string, specify the exact location within the storage account where the audience files land. These path inputs are provided separately from the connection string.
  • Container Name — the name of the specific container that Zeotap CDP writes into.
  • Folder Name (optional) — the virtual folder path within the container. If no folder is specified, data is placed in the root of the container.

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Find your path inputs in Azure

1
Navigate to the storage account. In the Azure Portal, go to your storage account’s main page.
2
Go to Containers. From the left menu, under the Data storage section, click Containers.
Containers option under Data storage in the Azure storage account menu
3
Identify the container name. You will see a list of all containers within this storage account. Copy the exact name of the container you wish to use.
List of containers in an Azure storage account
4
Identify the folder name.
  • Click on the desired container name to view its contents.
  • Azure Blob Storage uses a virtual folder structure. These folders are created by including slashes in the blob names — a file named processed/invoices/inv_123.pdf creates the virtual folders processed and invoices.
  • Determine the folder path you intend to use, for example input-files or processed/invoices.

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Create the Azure Blob Storage destination in Zeotap CDP

1
Log into the Zeotap CDP App and go to the Destinations application.
2
Click + Create Destination.
Create Destination button in the Destinations application
3
Under the All Destinations section, search for Azure Blob Storage.
Searching for Azure Blob Storage under All Destinations
4
Click Azure Blob Storage. A screen appears displaying details about the destination on the left. On the right-hand side you find the list of fields required to establish the integration. Enter the details as described below.a. Enter a name for the destination.b. Enter the Access token that you obtained from your Azure instance — the steps to retrieve it are under Find your connection string in Azure.
Azure Blob Storage destination configuration fields in Zeotap CDP
c. Enter the Container, Connection String, Prefix name and Folder of your Azure instance — the steps to find the container and folder are under Choose the container and folder in Azure.d. Under Filename Prefix, enter a text value without special characters, such as underscores (_), spaces, or symbols (#, @, $, %, &, *). Note that the file name follows the format: ${filenamePrefix}part-${sequence}_${destinationAudienceId}_${timestamp}.csv, where the timestamp is in yyyy-MM-dd format and destinationAudienceId is the ID associated with your audience (segment) in Zeotap CDP, which is generated by Zeotap CDP after the audience (segment) is linked to a destination.
Filename Prefix field on a batch file destination configuration form — capture taken from the Amazon S3 destination, which uses the same field and naming convention
Example File Name:exportpart-01_894548842_2024-08-06.csve. Review all the values entered above and then click Next to proceed.
Completed Azure Blob Storage destination configuration before clicking Next
5
In the new screen that appears, choose the appropriate action and mapping. Under Choose your Action, choose Send Complete CSV file to Blob Storage.You can map the following fields:i. Identifiersii. Any other custom field, using the + Add Mapping button
6
Click Create Destination. The created destination gets listed in the Audiences application, where it can be linked to an audience.
Attach the newly created destination to a Zeotap audience from the Audiences application. For the full walkthrough, see Link an audience to the destination.
The terms Audiences and Segments are used interchangeably to refer to customer cohorts belonging to a specific category. For example, an audience or a segment could be a specific group of customers who are over 18 years of age and who have performed an addToCart event within the last 30 days.

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Verify the destination worked

After linking an audience and triggering an activation, confirm delivery in the Azure Portal.
  1. Open the storage account, go to Containers, and open the container you configured. If you set a Folder, browse to that virtual folder path; if you left it empty, look in the root of the container.
  2. Confirm a CSV file is present and that its name follows the ${filenamePrefix}part-${sequence}_${destinationAudienceId}_${timestamp}.csv pattern, with the prefix you entered on the destination.
  3. Open the file and confirm the columns match the identifiers and fields you mapped on the destination’s action.

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Troubleshooting

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FAQ

No — it is a destination. It sends audiences from Zeotap CDP out to your Azure Storage account as CSV files. To bring data into Zeotap CDP, start from Sources.
In the root of the container you configured. The Folder value is optional; set it only when you want the files placed under a virtual folder path.
Azure Blob Storage uses a virtual folder structure — there are no real folders. Folders are created by including slashes in the blob names, so a file named processed/invoices/inv_123.pdf creates the virtual folders processed and invoices. Enter the path you intend to use, for example input-files or processed/invoices.
CSV. The action is Send Complete CSV file to Blob Storage, and the delivered file name ends in .csv.

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Next steps

Last modified on September 24, 2026