How to Implement Adobe Analytics

Implementing Adobe Analytics was once as simple as using Adobe Launch (now called Tags) and the Analytics extension. However, with the introduction of the Adobe Experience Platform Service, the options for implementing Adobe Analytics have expanded.

In this post, we’ll explore some of those options and highlight some of the considerations that should be made before deciding which implementation method to choose.

Methods for Implement Adobe Analytics

Let's quickly explore all the available options for implementing Adobe Analytics.

For websites, the following methods are available:

• Adobe Experience Platform - Data Collection Tags (AEP Tags, formerly known as Adobe Launch) with the "Adobe Experience Platform Web SDK" Extension.
• Adobe Experience Platform Web scripts directly on your site (using alloy.js).
• AEP Tags with the Adobe Analytics Extension.
• Analytics scripts directly on your site (AppMeasurement.js).

On the other hand, for mobile apps, you could choose between:

• AEP Tags with the AEP Mobile SDK extension.
• AEP Tags with the Analytics extension.

Key Points for Making the Choice

There are at least six official means by which you could implement Adobe Analytics. So, how do you decide which? Start by considering these questions:

• Are you going to use Adobe Analytics only for websites? Mobile apps? Both?
• Is this a new implementation or a migration from another system? If it is a migration, check how the existing migration is working. Is it using a dedicated track server, etc.? This can limit your options for choosing the method.
• Be aware of existing Adobe contracts. The products under the Adobe Experience Cloud umbrella are meant to work together. It is not rare that sometimes products such as Adobe I/O, Admin Console, and AEP Tags which may be available for your account, but whoever is implementing the new product isn’t aware of them. Get in touch with the person responsible for Adobe products in your company and make sure you are aligned.
• Know the business’s long-term vision. This is highly important and may require help from business managers. Consider the following questions:
  • What is your vision regarding marketing campaigns? Are you leveraging Adobe Campaign?
  • Do you care about personalization? Is Adobe Target already in your plans? Is there any plan to integrate Adobe Analytics with Adobe Target?
  • Is it important to your marketing team to share audiences across Adobe products? Is real-time profile sharing a priority? This will indicate whether Adobe Real-Time CDP can come into play anytime in the future.
  • What about the other Adobe Experience Platform Products? Is there any glimpse of using Customer Journey Analytics or Journey Optimizer in the future?
• Consider your AEM implementation. Did you hear about Edge Delivery Services? Are you planning to try these new features? Is your AEM implementation cloud-based? Or is it hosted in Cloud Manager?
• Who will be responsible for maintaining changes in the Tag management system? How will these changes be managed? Given that “AEP Data Collection Tags” offers a user-friendly interface that most users can quickly learn to navigate, it's important to assess how maintenance will be handled after the Analytics implementation. For instance, if “AEP Data Collection Tags” are unavailable, a developer will probably need to make minor maintenance adjustments.

Decision Map

In addition to the insights mentioned above, Adobe has developed a decision map that can visually assist in determining which method to use when implementing your Analytics solution. Note that Adobe has also included a disclaimer emphasizing that the choice of method for implementing Analytics will depend entirely on the customer's specific needs.

Wrapping Up

Adobe Analytics is a powerful and well-known analytics solution within the Adobe ecosystem, renowned for its technology and architecture agnosticism. This versatility is one reason why multiple options exist when implementing Adobe Analytics.

Oshyn is a certified Adobe partner with years of expertise in Adobe Experience Manager and adjacent products. If you need help implementing Adobe solutions, contact Oshyn.