---
schema_version: "1"
id: 58dc51d3b5ad7d9cf9d3df7d3fe28623959d6519e0ce7e08da27504d6573c775
title: Journey Builder Prerequisites
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/mktg/264-0-0/mc_jb_prerequisites.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_jb_prerequisites.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 84cd4220f7a4f241b63c9a699dffb1f5ca0cbc717bbdd4f9480d650689ae424d
description: Review these items before using Journey Builder in Marketing Cloud Engagement whether you’re a marketer or administrator.
products:
  - Marketing
  - Marketing Cloud Engagement
release: "264"
---
# Journey Builder Prerequisites

Review these items before using Journey Builder in Marketing Cloud Engagement whether you’re a marketer or administrator.

- A Marketing Cloud Engagement Services or Partner Services engagement is recommended for organizations using Journey Builder with integrations and complex use cases.
- Assistance from an IT administrator is often helpful while designing the Contact Builder contacts model and audience segmentation filters for Journey Builder.

## Account Provisioning

Before you can create a journey, provision your Engagement account to support Journey Builder. Manage access to view and create Journey Builder journeys using Marketing Cloud Engagement Setup. Customize permissions for roles or individuals to deny access, allow limited access for viewing journeys, or allow complete access to create, edit, and publish journeys.

Contact your Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement representative if you have account provisioning questions.

## For Marketers

Marketers commonly perform these tasks.

- Data Extensions
    
    One common way to admit contacts into a journey is to fire them into the journey from a sendable data extension. To admit contacts, create a sendable data extension and add or import contacts into it. There are multiple ways to create a data extension.
    
    After contacts are added to a sendable data extension, configure an entry source to detect data extension changes and determine Journey Builder’s action.
- Channel Content
    
    Before adding channel activities to a journey, create channel content, like email messages, SMS messages, or push notifications.

## For Administrators

IT Administrators commonly perform these tasks.

- Contacts
    
    A contact represents a single instance of a person within Engagement. A contact contains data derived from communications through multiple channels mapped back to a single person.
    
    Contact Builder defines a contact based on whether its ContactID is found in a population or by subscription to channels such as email or SMS.
    
    ![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-mktg-mc_journeys_and_automations-264-0-0-production-enus/e08cdd71-c1c1-4ae5-a5e9-8a6dad583ad4/images/icon_note.png)
    
    Note The term contact describes a data record in Engagement that stores data about a person your organization communicates with. The term customer describes the persons to whom communication is sent, about whom data is collected, and whose decisions affect Journey Builder behavior.
    
    Some entry sources, audiences, and Sales or Service Cloud entry events, create a ContactKey automatically when no ID can be matched. All other entry sources require that an existing contact matches to an existing record, confirming a positive match. Entry sources that don’t create a contact automatically must be a channel subscriber or part of a Population to enter a journey.
    
    To avoid rejections when using an entry source that doesn’t create contacts, use Contact Builder to create contacts. Provide a ContactKey that Journey Builder uses to identify them.
- Journey Entry Data Source
    
    Identify a data source, often a sendable data extension, as the source that contains contacts to admit to the journey. When you configure an entry source, you can select this data extension as the source of contacts in the journey.
    
    - Set up a data extension entry source to easily select a sendable data extension to start the journey.

#### See Also

- [Modify Marketing Cloud Engagement User Settings](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_overview_modify_user_settings_and_permissions.htm&language=en_US)
- [Journey Builder Roles](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_overview_journey_builder_roles.htm&language=en_US)
- [Contact Builder in Marketing Cloud Engagement](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_cab_contact_builder.htm&language=en_US)
- [Content Builder](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_ceb_content_builder.htm&language=en_US)
- [Get Started in Marketing Cloud Engagement MobilePush](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_mp_get_started.htm&language=en_US)
- [Get Started in MobileConnect](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_moc_getting_started_with_mobileconnect.htm&language=en_US)
- [Distributed Marketing](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_dm_distributed_marketing.htm&language=en_US)
- [Marketing Cloud Engagement Feature Settings](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_overview_feature_settings.htm&language=en_US)