One of essentially the most troublesome options to grasp in Adobe Audience Manager is profile merge guidelines. I considered diving instantly into the configuration, however first I need to clarify what drawback profile merge guidelines is making an attempt to resolve it and the way it does it. Then I can transfer on to the code and, lastly, the configuration.
Devices all over the place
Ideal state of affairs
For the primary 15 years of my digital life, I solely had one machine, a pc, and I used to be the one person of the pc. Initially, it was not even related to the Internet. When I bought my first V-series modem, I might lastly connect with the Internet and I began browsing (effectively, crawling) the online at 56Kbps. I didn’t get my first cell phone till 10 years after my first pc. It goes with out saying that the primary few telephones had no Internet entry. Therefore, no matter I did with my pc, was mainly my digital self. Or, in different phrases, there was just one digital profile of me.
| Device | Profile |
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From a digital advertising perspective, that is superb: one profile equates to 1 individual. As a marketer, I can create audiences and I may be very assured that I’m focusing on the best folks.
The actuality
However, 2019 is a distinct matter. We all have a number of gadgets: laptops, tablets and cellphones, and use them indistinctively. Whatever I do on-line is break up between a number of gadgets, each having solely a portion of my digital self. As I defined in my publish about visitor identification, digital advertising instruments depend on randomly generated cookies to establish guests. Adobe Audience Manager is one among such instruments and, for simplicity, I assume you might be additionally utilizing the ECID service. So, on this state of affairs, that is what AAM will see:
| Device | Profile |
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ECID: 123456
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ECID: 987654
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ECID: 135790
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For each machine, one profile is created. What is the issue with this example? There isn’t any strategy to merge all these profiles right into a single one. There is nothing within the profile that tells AAM all of them seek advice from the identical individual. What is even worse, you have no idea the device-to-person ratio, so it’s not possible to know what number of actual persons are visiting your web site.
The rapid consequence is that digital advertising actions may have a restricted success. For instance, think about an AAM viewers of profiles that “visited from London and bought A”. In the desk above, solely the profile linked to my laptop computer will qualify for it and any show adverts or personalisation based mostly on this section will solely present up on this machine. I can’t see the identical advertising campaigns in my different gadgets. My expertise will likely be poorer and the marketer will see dialog fee go down.
Without any further info and processing, there is no such thing as a method for a Adobe Audience Manager to mix all profiles from a single individual.
Anonymous vs authenticated
The resolution that Audience Manager makes use of, depends on the customer figuring out him-/herself. I’ll present you ways you want to set the AAM implementation up in a later publish. For now, let’s proceed with the ideas.
The second somebody logs in into one machine, we are able to then ignore the ECID, which is at machine degree, and begin saving the behavioural knowledge towards a CRM ID. I assume this ID comes from a CRM system the place every particular person has a novel ID. You can also use SSO IDs or something distinctive to every buyer and also you management.
| Device | Anonymous profile |
Authenticated profile |
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ECID: 123456
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CRM ID: 1a2b3c4d
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ECID: 987654
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ECID: 135790
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As you may see, now we have a number of nameless profiles, however just one authenticated profile, which is widespread to all gadgets. While you browse the web site in an nameless state, AAM shops your behaviour beneath the corresponding nameless profile. However, the second you log in, AAM will get your CRM ID and your behaviour is saved within the authenticated profile. This begins fixing the problem. Now, in whichever machine you might be, so long as you might be logged in, AAM makes use of solely the authenticated profile.
Offline knowledge
Given the earlier state of affairs, I can now transcend the behavioural knowledge. Since now AAM is aware of about my CRM ID, I can add no matter info I’ve in regards to the customer to AAM keyed off of this ID. Therefore, I can enrich my authenticated profile with offline knowledge.
| Device | Anonymous profile |
Authenticated profile |
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CRM ID: 1a2b3c4d
Online:
Offline:
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Device graph
But Audience Manager doesn’t cease right here. In truth, the earlier resolution is incomplete. We nonetheless have the nameless profiles which can be indifferent from the authenticated profile. However, when a person is logged in, we all know each the ECID and the CRM ID. Basically, AAM shops this info and builds what is known as a tool graph. With this machine graph, it’s doable to know {that a} collection of gadgets belong to 1 individual, and hyperlink them.
Audience Manager can even work with exterior machine graphs, offered by 3rd events, however the idea is similar.
Profile Merge Rules, the place?
Yes, I do know, I’ve not defined precisely how profile merge guidelines work. I’m additionally conscious that I’ve simplified some particulars. However, this publish is required to higher perceive the subsequent couple of blogs. Stay tuned!
Image by: Benjamin Dada
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