Today I will explain how to implement server-side Adobe Analytics. If you have been reading my last few posts, this is a continuation of the series on server-side digital marketing. I assume you are familiar with Adobe Analytics implementations using JavaScript.
Server-side ECID
So, after reading my introduction to server-side digital marketing, you have deeply thought about it and now you are convinced that you should be going server-side. As with the JavaScript implementation, the first step you need is to get the Experience Cloud ID, or ECID for short (new name for the MCID). I assume you have a good understanding of the HTTP protocol, as this is going to be a more technical post.
Server-side digital marketing
A few weeks ago I read a great blog post entitled The Era of Server-side Everything from my colleague Jan Exner. I wanted to write a comment, but as I started to think about what to write, I realised it was going to be too long. Instead, I decided I would write my own post on this topic. Then, as I started to think what I would include, additional blog posts came to my mind. So, this is the first of a series of posts on server-side digital marketing.
Anomaly Detection and Contribution Analysis
In my previous post, I introduced Adobe Sensei. Two of the examples I gave, of tools using this feature, were anomaly detection and contribution analysis. Last week one of my customers asked me about these features so I thought I would explain them in more detail in this blog.
Introduction to Adobe Sensei
I am sure you have been hearing a lot about Adobe Sensei lately. This technology was announced in November 2016, but only in the last few months it has become more mainstream. In summary, Adobe Sensei is Adobe’s approach to artificial intelligence. In this post, I would like to provide a brief introduction to this new Adobe offering. I am not an expert in these technologies, but if you have heard of these technologies and are wondering about them, this post will shed some light.
Some learnings from Cambridge Analytica
If you are in the digital marketing world, you should have heard about the Cambridge Analytica latests scandals. The first time I heard about it was how they harvested 50M profiles from Facebook, a few days ago. Today I read some allegations on their influence on Trump’s victory. This is not a blog about politics, so I am going to skip this part. Instead, I want to focus on the digital marketing side. Before progressing, I recommend you read the last link I have shared, which is what has inspired this post.
Security in the Adobe Experience Cloud
I am sure we have all been concerned about security in the last decade or more. However, since 2013, after the revelations of Edward Snowden, we have begun to be really worried about it. It comes to no surprise that Adobe tools need to be secure too. In the end, you are pouring your marketing data there. I am not a security expert, so always get independent advice. However, in this post I will give an introduction to some security considerations concerning the Adobe stack.
Customer Data Feed
A while ago I wrote about the the Adobe Analytics data feed. Adobe Audience Manager has the same concept: you can get a file with the raw data. This feed is call Customer Data Feed or CDF.
The Display Advertising Industry
When I attended my AAM training a few years ago, I remember I barely understood what I was explained. To me, it was all new. The technicalities were not that difficult, but when the trainers explained the business side, I stopped following the course; it was all gibberish to me. It took me a couple of years to get a reasonable understanding of the display advertising industry. Since then, colleagues and customers have asked me to explain them how this industry works, so I thought I would write a “display advertising introduction for dummies” post. I will omit a lot of parts and will simplify it. If you are well versed in this area, I suggest you skip this article, as it will not offer anything new to you. In fact, you may even know more than me!
User Management in the Adobe Admin Console
The main functionality of the Adobe Admin Console is user management. If you have been using Adobe products for a while, you will remember when you had to create users in each tool. This is all changing and Adobe is moving to a centralised approach, where all user management is done in one single interface. Let’s see how.