Introduction
Adobe Customer Journey Analytics (CJA) is a solution that allows for the analysis of customer journeys across multiple channels using unified datasets. It provides valuable insights by offering an understanding of customer intent signals, preferences over time, and event-based behaviors. By connecting well-architected Adobe Experience Platform (AEP) data sources to CJA via Connections, you can fully leverage its capabilities.
Creating a Connection in CJA involves several steps. After completing the Connection process, you can perform analysis and gain insights using the CJA workspace built on top of the AEP. CJA helps you make informed decisions by providing data that helps you understand your customers and their journeys.
Step 1: Choose Adobe Experience Platform Dataset Sources
The initial step in establishing a connection in CJA is foundational and critical. You need to select the most suitable AEP dataset sources for your CJA requirements across event, profile, and lookup dataset types. An event dataset represents point-in-time activity (for example, web visits, interactions, transactions, POS data, survey data, ad impression data, and so on), profile data is data that is applied to your persons, users, or customers in the event data, and lookup datasets provide lookup values or keys found in your event, profile, or lookup data.
Adobe CJA supports a broad range of AEP data sources, including Adobe Analytics at the report-suite-level via source connector, Adobe Experience Platform Web & Mobile SDK-based collection, and third-party data source connectors.
When selecting a data source for AEP, it is essential to consider the types of data you need to analyze. Make sure that the data source provides access to the specific data required for analysis in CJA. CJA ensures cross-dataset person identification continuity to the best of its ability, using a common namespace ID (Person ID) across datasets or via stitching means. This guarantees that you have all the necessary data at your disposal for a comprehensive and thorough analysis, providing the insights required to make informed decisions. Taking the time to choose the appropriate data sources is a critical step in the process of establishing connections with CJA.
Step 2: Configure the Connections
After selecting a dataset source, the next step is to create and configure CJA Connections. This involves providing necessary details, descriptions, and data settings for the chosen Experience Platform dataset sources.
To begin, access the interface for configuring Connections through Adobe CJA. You will be guided through the process with instructions for each stage. To establish a connection in CJA, follow the steps provided in the Create a Connection documentation.
First, select the data source you want to connect to CJA. This can be an Adobe Analytics report suite, an AEP established dataset, or a third-party data source that has landed in AEP. Once you've selected your data source, provide all necessary details such as sandbox designation, data retention rolling window, schema, declared Person ID, as well as import new data and backfill processing options. Keep in mind that at least one event dataset must be part of the connection. Any event dataset introduced at the connection level will be unioned together in CJA to enable cross-journey and cross-platform reporting and analysis.
By providing all of this information, you can ensure that your CJA Connections are fully optimized and configured to meet your unique data needs. This will allow you to take full advantage of all the features and capabilities that CJA has to offer, including advanced reporting and analytics capabilities that can help you gain deeper insights into your data.
Step 3: Verify the Connections Using Connection Preview & Connections Manager
After configuring the connection, it's essential to verify that it is working correctly. Adobe CJA provides an initial Connection preview verification process that allows you to review the Connection and ensure that data is being properly retrieved. This step is a good high-level check to ensure that your CJA intended Connections data to be brought in is based on accurate and complete data.
After Admin users have created one or more connections, they can manage them in the Connections Manager. The Connections Manager is a user interface that allows you to manage your connections. You can use the Connections Manager to perform tasks such as creating, editing, and deleting connections, as well as viewing connection details and monitoring connection status. The Connections Manager provides a centralized location for managing all your Connections.
The Connections Manager also provides a range of monitoring features that allow you to track the status of your connections and ensure they are working correctly. For example, you can view connection logs to see if there are any errors or issues with your connection. You can also view latest connection status to monitor the health of your connections and ensure that data is being properly retrieved.
In summary, the Connections Manager is a key tool for managing your connections in CJA. It provides a centralized location for creating, editing, and deleting connections, as well as monitoring connection status and troubleshooting issues. By using the Connections Manager, you can ensure that your connections are working correctly and that you are getting the most out of CJA.
Step 4: Select Configured Connections and Configure to Customer Journey Analytics Data View
With the Connection and basis AEP datasets in place, you have a solid foundation for exploring and analyzing your data using Adobe CJA Data Views. By leveraging the power of Data Views, you can gain a deeper understanding of your data and uncover valuable insights that can inform your business decisions.
To create a new Data View, follow these steps. First, navigate to the Data Views tab on the left-hand side of the screen. Once you are in the Data Views tab, locate the "Create new data view" button and click on it. This will take you to the base data view configuration, where you can select the connection you want to use for the Data View.
After selecting your connection, you can begin to customize your data view by establishing component settings, optional filters, and overarching session settings. These options will allow you to refine your data view and ensure that you are analyzing the data in a way that is most beneficial for your organization.
After creating your Data View, you can take advantage of Workspace advanced analysis features to gain even more valuable insights into your customers' journeys. The visualizations, dynamic reporting tools, and filtering techniques available in CJA Workspace allow you to explore your data in depth and gain a more nuanced understanding of your customers' behavior and preferences. With these tools at your disposal, you can identify patterns and trends that might otherwise have gone unnoticed and use this information to optimize your marketing and improve your customer experience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is essential to emphasize the importance of establishing strong foundational Connections and configuring Data Views in order to fully harness the power of Adobe Customer Journey Analytics. By taking the time to carefully select the appropriate Adobe Experience Platform dataset sources, you can ensure that your Connections are properly configured. After that, you can verify your Connections using Connection Preview and Connections Manager, and select the appropriate Connections to configure to Data Views. By doing so, you can gain valuable insights into your customers' journeys, which can help you make informed decisions about your marketing, sales, and customer experience strategies.
It cannot be overstated how essential it is to follow the steps outlined in this guide if you want to unlock the full potential of Customer Journey Analytics Connections. By taking the time to do so, you will be able to gain a much deeper understanding of your customers and their behaviors, not just on a single platform or channel, but across all of them. With this knowledge, you can make well-informed decisions to optimize your customer analytics and enhance your business outcomes for the long-term, rather than just short-term gains.
