Adobe Experience Platform (AEP) is an empty box. It can do NOTHING on its own. It’s a beautifully packaged, high-tech, stunningly advanced box. But still, just an empty box. And if you don’t put something in it, it will sit there, pristine and useless; expensive shelfware.
What AEP Is (And What It Isn’t)
Adobe Experience Platform is an open, scalable platform designed to centralize and standardize customer data from any source. It’s the mothership, the big shiny thing that’s supposed to make your marketing efforts feel like they’re powered by a supercomputer.
But here’s the catch: AEP doesn’t actually do anything. Not on its own. Not until you start filling that pretty little box with useful things like data, schemas, segments, and connections to other Adobe products.
You want AEP to work? Then you’ve got to:
- Define Schemas: Because AEP isn’t psychic. You have to tell it what kind of data you’re giving it and how it all fits together. This is where most folks underestimate the level of effort required.
- Feed It Data: Pour in all your customer information, transactional data, behavioral data, consent data, and anything else you can scrape off the metaphorical floor. If you did step 1 properly, then this is comparatively easy. But there’s always something that was missed or doesn’t quite fit, so plan on some tweaking.
Set Up Identity Resolution: Otherwise, your data is closely related to a childish shout of “52 pick up” or a thousand piece puzzle tossed casually into the air. AEP can help you put the pieces together, but not if you just stand there staring at the mess.- Build Segments: AEP’s Unified Profile is only as useful as the segments you define. Basically, you have a massive, pristine library filled with every book ever written, but none of them are sorted or cataloged. And its awfully hard to focus on the chaos for long without categorizing things a bit.
What AEP Isn’t
AEP isn’t some magical marketing robot that runs itself. It doesn’t:
- Send emails. (that’s AJO)
- Personalize experiences. (also, AJO)
- Optimize journeys. (still, AJO)
- Display metrics and trends. (hey, CJA!)
- Consolidate profile data. (oooh, CDP)
- Make coffee. (that’s me)
It’s the infrastructure, the nervous system, the power grid. And you have to hook it up to other systems (Adobe Target, Adobe Analytics, etc.) and leverage the apps built from that foundation (Adobe Journey Optimizer, Customer Journey Analytics, Real-time CDP) to really make it sing.
The Paradox of AEP
The irony here is that AEP is both extraordinarily powerful and utterly useless at the same time. It’s a spaceship without instructions. Sure, it can take you to new marketing frontiers, but only if you can figure out how to fly the damned thing.
The secret is understanding that AEP is a tool, not a solution. It’s the construction site, not the building. And it’s your job to fill that empty box with the right pieces and make them work together.
Right, but what’s the point?
Too many organizations get seduced by the sleek, high-concept pitch of AEP. They buy it, roll it out, and then stare at the empty box like it’s supposed to jump up and perform miracles.
The real magic only happens when you start feeding it the right data, building the right schemas, connecting the right tools, and defining the right journeys. Until then, it’s just a box. A fancy, expensive, digital box. I know I already said that and am totally overdoing the box metaphor, but I’m pretty sure the SEO likes my excess.
Bring it home, kid.
AEP’s power lies not in what it does, but in what you make it do, or better yet, what it EMPOWERS you to do. Treat it like the powerful tool it is, and it’ll reward you with connected capabilities far beyond traditional marketing solutions. Regard it as a magic bullet, and you’ll just be another poor soul standing in front of irate stakeholders, wondering where all the magic went. So, once you are ready to fill the box with something useful, hit me up. Maybe I can help you with the magic. It’s kind of my thing.