Adobe Campaign Integration with Adobe Analytics: Setup Guide

The Adobe Campaign integration with Adobe Analytics sends email delivery metrics and campaign attributes from Campaign into an Analytics report suite. You can then see sends, opens, clicks and opt-outs next to the site visits and conversions those emails drive. It also lets Campaign pull back remarketing segments built from site behaviour. Think of people who clicked, browsed a product and didn't buy.

In Campaign v8 this runs through the Web Analytics connectors add-on and a Web Analytics external account. This post covers what the integration does, the prerequisites and Adobe's setup steps. It also explains what data moves each way, when Customer Journey Analytics is the better route, and the pitfalls teams hit.

What does the Adobe Campaign and Adobe Analytics integration do?

It joins two views of the same customer: what happened in the inbox and what happened on your site. Campaign knows who was sent what and who opened or clicked. Analytics knows what those visitors did after they landed.

Picture a retailer's weekly newsletter. Campaign can tell you how many recipients clicked. Only Analytics can tell you whether those visitors bought more than other traffic. The integration puts both numbers in one report suite, so the marketing team stops arguing over two spreadsheets.

Adobe's Campaign v8 docs split the work between the two products. Adobe Analytics marks the email campaigns launched from Campaign. Adobe Campaign sends the metrics and campaign details to the connector, which passes them on to Analytics.

In practice, the integration gives you three things:

• Email metrics in Analytics. Delivery numbers arrive as success events, so you can build reports that mix email activity with what people do on the site.
• Campaign tracking on the site. Campaign adds identifiers to tracked links, so Analytics can attribute visits to a specific delivery.
• Remarketing segments back in Campaign. Analytics segments built from post-click behaviour feed remarketing campaigns, such as a follow-up to people who abandoned a cart.

Don't run Adobe Analytics, and only need clicks and sales? There are lighter ways to get them. Our guide to Adobe Campaign integration with Google Analytics shows how tracking tags do the job.

Which Campaign versions support it?

The setup in this post follows Adobe's steps for Campaign v8, done in the client console. Campaign Standard has its own Analytics integration, and it works in a different way.

Version	How it connects	What Adobe documents
Campaign v8	Web Analytics connectors add-on plus a Web Analytics external account	Sends 10 delivery indicators and campaign attributes daily; supports remarketing segments
Campaign Standard	External account linked to Adobe Analytics	Shares delivery metrics; a technical workflow runs every 15 minutes by default; email only
v8 or Standard, for fast follow-ups	Experience Cloud Triggers	Sends emails in reaction to tracked site behaviour

For Campaign Standard, Adobe says the integration shares key performance indicator (KPI) data with Analytics. It also adds Analytics parameters to tracked links, and it works for email only. Moving from Standard to v8? Adobe's transition notes say it migrates existing Analytics configurations and data for customers who used the integration.

If you still run Campaign Classic v7, check the v7 documentation for your build rather than assuming the v8 steps match exactly.

What do you need before you start?

Most of what you need is about licences, access and Analytics setup. Sort it out before anyone opens the external account screen.

• The add-on. Adobe says the Web Analytics connector add-on must be installed on your environment through its dedicated package. Because it's an add-on, confirm it's in your contract.
• Adobe's help. As a Managed Cloud Services user, you contact Adobe to connect Campaign with other Adobe solutions.
• An Analytics report suite and admin rights to create conversion variables, success events and a classification set in it.
• Product profile permissions. Adobe notes that if a report suite, variable or event isn't visible during setup, the user's Analytics product profile is missing a permission.
• The right message type. Adobe states the Analytics connector is not compatible with transactional messaging (Message Center), so this covers marketing deliveries only.
• Your site's domains, because the tracking formula needs the domains whose activity should be tracked.

It also helps if Analytics already works well on your landing pages. If campaign tracking on the site is shaky, the integration will report shaky numbers. Fix campaign tracking on the site first, then connect Campaign.

How do you set up the integration in Campaign v8?

Adobe documents four steps for Campaign v8. Two happen in Analytics, one is a newer Analytics requirement, and one is in Campaign.

Step 1: create the report suite

In Analytics, go to Admin, then All admin, then Report suites, and create a new report suite from a template. Adobe lists the fields: report suite ID, site title, time zone, go-live date and estimated page views per day. If you'd rather reuse an existing suite, confirm with Adobe that it fits your setup before you start.

Step 2: configure conversion variables and success events

Add two conversion variables (eVars). Adobe describes them as the internal campaign name (cid) and the iNmsBroadlog table ID (bid). These are the identifiers used to measure the impact of each email.

Then add ten success events: Clicked, Opened, Person clicks, Processed, Scheduled, Sent, Total bounces, Unique clicks, Unique opens and Unsubscribed.

Step 3: create a classification set

Adobe added this step after the move to the Adobe Analytics 2.0 API (application programming interface). In Analytics, open Components, then Classification sets, and create a new set with type Primary. In Subscriptions, select your report suite and the conversion variable that holds the internal campaign name. This link lets Campaign discover and use that variable.

Step 4: configure the Web Analytics external account in Campaign

In the Campaign explorer, go to Administration, Platform, External accounts and create a new account. Choose the Web Analytics type and Adobe Analytics as the integration, then click Configure.

Link the account to the report suite. You'll enter your email, your IMS organisation (your ID in Adobe's Identity Management System), the Analytics company and the report suite. Map the two eVars and ten success events, then submit. Adobe says Campaign then creates a data source, calculated metrics, remarketing segments and classifications in the report suite.

Two more settings matter. Use the "Enrich the formula" link to add campaign IDs to the URL calculation formula and list the domains to track. On the Advanced tab, Lifespan defaults to 180 days and Persistence to 7 days. Persistence is the window in which a web event, such as a purchase, can be credited to a remarketing campaign.

Last, each delivery has to point to the account. Open the delivery properties, go to the Web Analytics tab and select the external account.

Check that it works

Don't wait for a big send to find out. After you submit the external account, open the report suite and look for the new data source, calculated metrics, segments and classifications. If they're missing, the mapping didn't complete.

Then send a small test delivery with the external account selected. Click a link in the proof and confirm the landing page URL carries the campaign identifiers from your formula. Check the report suite the day after the indicators workflow runs. Expect a lag, not an error, on day one.

What data flows from Campaign to Analytics, and what comes back?

Data moves both ways, but not in the same shape. Campaign sends aggregated delivery metrics and campaign attributes. Analytics gives back segments of people whose site behaviour qualifies them for remarketing.

A technical workflow named "Sending of indicators and campaign attributes" handles the outbound side. Adobe says it runs at 4am every day and can take up to 24 hours for the data to reach Analytics.

Indicator sent	Campaign field
Messages to deliver	@toDeliver
Processed	@processed
Success	@success
Total count of opens	@totalRecipientOpen
Recipients who have opened	@recipientOpen
Total number of recipients who clicked	@totalRecipientClick
People who clicked	@personClick
Number of distinct clicks	@recipientClick
Opt-out	@optOut
Errors	@error

Alongside the indicators, Campaign sends attributes. These are the delivery's internal name and label, its contact date and three web analytics tags. If the Campaign package is installed, the operation label and nature go too. Those attributes are what let analysts break results down by campaign in Analytics.

The return path works through the remarketing segments the integration creates. Campaign recovers the segments and starts the remarketing campaigns linked to them. A follow-up email then goes to people who, say, viewed a product without buying.

How do remarketing campaigns and Experience Cloud Triggers fit in?

Remarketing through the connector is batch, while Triggers are near real-time. Pick based on how fast the follow-up needs to land.

For remarketing through the connector, Adobe's steps are short. Duplicate the "Email delivery (re-marketing)" template and create a campaign from the "Re-marketing campaign" template. Then link it to an Analytics external account, a segment and the delivery template. Each segment needs its own remarketing campaign. A built-in "Re-marketing efficiency" report shows converted contacts against cart abandonments by week, month or since synchronisation began.

Experience Cloud Triggers is the faster route. Adobe describes it as a pipeline that picks up user actions on your website, such as a cart abandonment. Campaign processes them to send emails in near real time. For Campaign v8 on Managed Cloud Services, you contact Adobe to set it up. Adobe's documentation now calls the wider suite Adobe CX Enterprise (formerly Experience Cloud). Campaign's screens and docs still say Experience Cloud Triggers.

A sensible pattern is Triggers for time-sensitive moments and connector segments for slower nurture. Avoid building both for the same use case.

Should you use Customer Journey Analytics instead?

Customer Journey Analytics (CJA) is the better fit if your analytics already runs on Adobe Experience Platform (AEP). It also suits teams that need email data joined with offline and app data at person level. It isn't a drop-in replacement for the connector, though, because the data path is different.

The route Adobe documents goes through Experience Platform. A source connector called Adobe Campaign Managed Cloud Services loads Campaign v8 delivery and tracking logs into AEP datasets in batches. Adobe puts typical end-to-end latency at 15 to 30 minutes in standard configurations. First you create Experience Event schemas with the Campaign Delivery Logs and Campaign Tracking Logs field groups. The externalID field is the primary identity.

CJA then reads those datasets through a connection. Adobe describes connections as the way administrators choose which Experience Platform datasets CJA ingests, and several datasets can sit in one connection. So email events, web events and customer relationship management (CRM) data can be analysed together, as long as they share identities.

Need help on that side? The Customer Journey Analytics partner finder lists firms that do this work.

Question	Analytics connector	CJA through Experience Platform
What arrives	Aggregated delivery indicators and attributes	Row-level delivery and tracking logs
How often	Daily workflow, up to 24 hours to land	Batch micro-loads, typically 15 to 30 minutes
Remarketing segments back to Campaign	Yes, built in	Not from CJA itself; audiences built in Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform (Real-Time CDP) can go to Campaign
Extra licences	Web Analytics connectors add-on	CJA, which runs on Experience Platform

Want audiences flowing from Experience Platform into Campaign as well? Our post on Adobe Campaign and Audience Manager integration covers that Real-Time CDP path.

What goes wrong with the Campaign and Analytics integration?

Most problems are operational, not technical. These are the ones Adobe's documentation warns about, plus a few that follow from how the connector works.

• Restarting the indicators workflow. Adobe says it should not be restarted, because it resends all prior data and skews Analytics results.
• Negative values. The workflow sends the delta since the last snapshot, so some metrics can show negative values. Brief analysts before they raise a bug.
• Day-old data. A 4am daily run with up to 24 hours of lag means a send can take a day or more to show up.
• Missing components. If a variable or event doesn't appear in the external account, check the Analytics product profile permissions first.
• One account per delivery. A delivery can reference only one Web Analytics external account. Running another analytics tool too? Adobe suggests the "Other" partner option and a tracked URL formula that carries every tool's parameters.
• Transactional messages. The connector doesn't cover Message Center, so receipts and password resets won't appear in these reports.
• Renamed components. The Sync button pulls name changes from Analytics. Deleted components show struck through or as "not found" in Campaign.

One more is cultural rather than technical. Campaign's reports and Analytics will never match exactly. Campaign counts clicks on tracked links, while Analytics counts what loads on the site. Agree up front which system is the source of truth for which metric.

What to do next

Use this checklist to get from decision to first report:

• Confirm the Web Analytics connectors add-on is in your Campaign v8 contract, and open a request with Adobe.
• Pick the report suite and reserve two eVars and ten success events.
• Create the classification set before configuring Campaign.
• Check Analytics product profile permissions for the person doing the setup.
• Configure the external account, the tracking formula and your site domains.
• Consider setting the Web Analytics account on your delivery templates, so new deliveries inherit it.
• Decide which follow-ups use connector segments and which need Triggers.
• Agree which metrics come from Campaign reports and which from Analytics.

For the wider build, our Adobe Campaign implementation guide shows where this integration fits in the project plan. If you need help on the Analytics side, our guide to choosing an Adobe Analytics implementation partner sets out what to ask.

To compare firms that do this work, start with the Adobe Campaign partner finder or the Adobe Campaign request for proposal (RFP) template.