What is the purpose of using the intersection activity in a workflow?

The intersection activity in a workflow is specifically designed to identify and extract the common elements between two data sets. This functionality is crucial when a campaign requires focusing on a specific segment of recipients who meet certain criteria present in both data sets. For instance, if one dataset contains all customers who have made a purchase in the last month, while another dataset contains customers who have opted-in for marketing emails, the intersection activity will yield only those customers who meet both criteria. This precision facilitates targeted marketing efforts and ensures that resources are spent efficiently, maximizing the likelihood of engagement from the chosen audience.

In contrast, combining data from different sources would suggest more of a merging or aggregating process, which is not the specific goal of the intersection activity. Filtering out unwanted records pertains to data cleansing based on specific criteria, while creating a union involves merging two datasets rather than finding commonalities.