The Ins and Outs of Activating RT-CDP Segments with Adobe Target

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Authors: @Mike-Broom, @JohnBauman, @Aimee-Gregg, @Danny-Miller 

Website personalization is one of the most popular use-cases we see our customers getting value out of with Real-time CDP segments. As our customers move towards a CDP, they are looking for ways to move more areas of their MarTech stack towards a centralized place on the CDP. As they do this, they want to incorporate it into the various activation touchpoints.  

We are always answering questions about the best ways to activate RT-CDP segments specifically with Adobe Target—and this is because there are a lot of different ways to do this. Each method of activating your segments to Target has different strategy considerations and pre-requisites. We’re going to set the record straight and walk through all these different options so you can choose the best integration method to power your personalized experiences.  

Personalization Connection via RTCDP Destinations 

This relatively new option is a personalization connection in the Adobe Experience Platform destinations catalog. This powerful new connection gives customers, who have Web SDK implemented, the option for same and next page personalization using edge segmentation. It also allows you to enforce Data Governance Policies defined by your organization, or by legal regulations.  

Pre-requisites: If you have Web SDK implemented, you can utilize a Datastream to enable same and next page personalization and edge segmentation. If you do not have Web SDK, you can still use this connection, but cannot use same and next page personalization unless you use at.js JavaScript Library; which allows for next page personalization. More information on both options is in the table below.  

Library Used	at.js	Web SDK
Edge Segmentation	No	Yes
Same Page Personalization	No	Yes
Next Session Personalization	Yes	Yes
Sandboxes	Prod Only	All

Permissions: to share segments to Target using this connection. Within Adobe Target, the user must have: 

• Access to the default workspace; 
• The Approver role. 

What is Shared: This connection allows you to select individual or multiple segments to expose to Target, like other connections you may be used to in the destinations catalog.  

Personalization and Use-cases: Your personalization capabilities depend on whether you have Web SDK implemented, as we discussed earlier.  As you begin mapping out your use cases and customer journeys, this is a crucial piece to understand.  

Real World Example: We have a grocer AEP customer, who is actively using Target via the Experience Platform Segment Sharing method (located in the next section of this blog). They are moving toward Web SDK implementation to start same page personalization, based on edge segment qualification in AEP. For example, we can create an edge segment in RTCDP that has customers who have purchased grilling and BBQ products and navigate to the Grilling and BBQ page on the website. So, once a user, who qualifies for the transactional part of the segment, (has purchased Grilling and BBQ products) navigates to the Grilling and BBQ web page, they’ll be added to that segment in real-time and receive a personalized experience.   

Sandboxes Supported: If you have Web SDK implemented, and select a datastream, you can use this connection and share segments to Target in both development and production sandboxes. If you do not have Web SDK, you can ONLY use this in a production sandbox.  

Data Governance Considerations: The beauty of this connection is the ability to utilize Marketing Actions and DULE labels and policies! This Automatic Enforcement will give you peace of mind when Target reaches out to AEP, ensuring you are following any data rules and policies.  

How to Enable: Navigate to the destinations catalog in RT-CDP, and locate Adobe Target under Connections. After being located, click on ‘Set Up’, and follow the directions to connect to this destination.  

Experience Platform Segment Sharing 

The Experience Platform Segment Sharing method utilizes Core Services to share your RT-CDP segments with Experience Cloud solutions including Adobe Target. For those who are familiar with Adobe Audience Manager (AAM), this utilizes the same capability that shares AAM audiences with Adobe Target. 

Pre-requisites: Target operates using the Experience Cloud ID (ECID), so profiles sent in segments using this method must have ECID present. You do not need to have AAM for this method to work for you—you can enable this even if you only have a Target and AEP license. 

What is Shared: When you enable this capability, beware that ALL of your segments in RT-CDP will be shared automatically with Target. After they are shared, they are automatically visible and consistently updated in the Target UI. 

Tip: We have found it especially helpful for customers using this method to ensure that their segment naming convention is clear with an “AEP” or “RT-CDP” prefix. This way, users of Target, as well as any other downstream solutions AEP may share Segments with, will know where each audience originates. 

Personalization and Use-cases: Next session is the only type of personalization that can be guaranteed with this method. This can be limiting for customers wanting more real-time personalization capabilities. 

Sandboxes Supported: You can only set this up to share segments from one sandbox. This has been a limitation for our customers with regional or line of business specific sandboxes.  

Data Governance Considerations: Marketing Actions cannot be applied to this Audience Sharing Module since it does not use the Destination framework. Therefore, any DULE labels or policies using them will not be applied to segments being shared. 

How to Enable: You will need to open a Support Ticket to request this type of Audience Sharing between RT-CDP and Target. You can include other solutions in the same ticket such as AAM if you’d like your segments to be shared there as well. This is usually completed in 4-5 business days. 

Ultimately, this method of sharing segments with Target has many limitations and is only recommended to customers who want to share segments (rather than forwarding events) from AEP with Adobe Target but their implementation does not support the use of the Connection. Otherwise, the Connection or Extension would always be better options. 

Target Extension

In AEP, there are two destination types - connections and extensions. We’ve already looked at the Target personalization connection. This approach uses the Target extension, which is located in the destination catalog. 

Note: There is the Adobe Target extension and the Adobe Target v2 extension, the personalization extension in Adobe Experience Platform. The Adobe Target extension supports at.js 1x libraries, while the v2 extension was added to accommodate additional actions unlocked with the At.js 2.x libraries. The “legacy” extension supports at.js v1.8.3, while the v2 extension supports at.js 2.9.0. Check which version of the at.js library you are using before deciding which extension to use for your implementation.  

Pre-requisites: You need to be able to access Tags within AEP. Also, be prepared to share your Client Code, Org ID, Server Domain, Timeout preferences and GDPR opt-in preferences as you configure the extension. 

What is Shared: By using the Target extension, you are sending raw event data to Target. Think of extensions as an Event Forwarding type of destination. Extension could be good to use, then, if you can’t use the connection for some reason, and your use-cases don’t involve segments which you couldn’t replicate with launch rules.  

Personalization and Use-cases: Extension action types for v2 of the Target Extension for the Then portion of a rule are: Load Target, Load Target with On-Device Decisioning, Add Params to All Requests, Add Params to Page Load Request, Fire Page Load Request and Trigger View.  

Use-cases for the extension include creating experiences based on previous site actions and current hit, as information is being passed in the page parameters.  

Also, it’s important to note that the Extension is only forwarding the event, not reading from the Profile. If you need to read from the Profile, use the Connector.  

Sandboxes Supported: Sandbox support is not applicable for the Target extension because of the forwarding. 

Data Governance Considerations: Take a second look at the documentation if you are deploying Target asynchronously, as there are additional considerations with that approach. 

How to Enable: Go to Destinations Catalog and select the extension. Click on the destination to highlight it, then select Configure. You can also set-up the Target extension within the data collection UI. There, you can set up rules for your installed extensions to send event data to the extension destination. 

Get Started 

Now that you have a better understanding of the different options available for activating segments from AEP to Target, you can better scope out your personalization journey. We recommend two things: 

1. Look at the Behavioral Web/Mobile Personalization Blueprints. There are a few flavors, so check each one to see which applies to you. It will give you a high-level understanding and steps on implementation. 
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2. Ensure you have a good understanding of your business goals, customer journeys, and data available. Here are some key questions to ask to help you get started: 
   • What are your business objectives with Adobe Target?  
   • What are your current personalization efforts and how will this change things? 
   • What level of personalization are you hoping to achieve? (e.g., same page, next page) 
   • Do you currently have, or are in the process of implementing Web SDK with Adobe? 

Keep an eye out for more upcoming content focused on Target in the coming months! 

Related Links: 

• Adobe Target
• Destinations
• Real Time Customer Profile
• Adobe Consulting Services
• Contact Us