ESP Integration for Everest Engagement Module

[F_V_Y]

1. Is Adobe Campaign Manager (ACM) a current integration partner for the Engagement Module?  (I did not see it listed in the documentation below).    If we wanted to integrate with ACM in order to get the engagement data (delivered, bounces, opens, clicks, unsubscribes) - do will we need to do the Everest Webhook implementation?

Everest Advanced Setup Guide 3: Engagement – Validity Help Center

2. is ESP integration needed in all cases?   For example, if we are only interested in email read time,  is ESP integration still needed or could this be obtained via tracking pixels only?

Thank you for your help.

[CatieB_Validity · Accepted solution]

Hello! Thanks so much for reaching out!

We do have an intergration available with Adobe Campaign, yes. It is the first option available in the Apps & Integrations section - thank you for pointing out it isn't currently included in our article, we will work to get that updated. The instructions for setup are available in the actual integration screen itself, and we do split the instructions out for both Adobe Campaign Standard and Adobe Campaign Classic:

You could also utilize the Everest Webhook if you chose if you did not want to use the ESP specific integration.

ESP integration is certainly not required in all cases. The main benefit of ESP integration is being able to pull all of your engagement data into one place so that you do not have to bounce between Everest and your ESP in order to look at both read time and your click rates for example. But if all you are wanting to view is read time, that can absolutely be gathered entirely through the Everest pixel. If you have a specific use case, feel free to add more details, and I'd be happy to review it!

[F_V_Y]

Thank you for your help with this.   

1. I created an ESP account (Adobe)when trying to follow instructions on setup for Classic V7 - I did come wup with some more questions,   It seems like there will be a need to do a file transfer from ACM (including the engagement data) but I was not able to find a file name or the contents of the file and where this file needs to be directed .  Any more direction on this will be  appreciated.

2. Can the tracking pixel be anywhere in the html code (e.g. links) or is there a specific location ?   and  can it be a value dynamically populated via a dynamic variable in the html code?

3.  Would you be able to provide information on:

a) Adobe integration is supported for Adobe hybrid model as well as hosted model?

b) what is the typical identifier used for Adobe in order to identify engagement data at individual level?

Thank you for all your help.

[CatieB_Validity]

Hello,

Great questions! I will number my responses to match your questions to help avoid confusion.

1) The file transfer information for the Adobe Campaign integration is the same as what would be used for our Everest webhook - an article containing these requirements can be found here: https://knowledge.validity.com/hc/en-us/articles/360047239212-Everest-Developer-Guide-Universal-Endp...

2) The tracking pixel must be contained within the body HTML of the email. Everest will provide you with the entire code, including links, that needs to be inserted. Our pixel does support merge tag values both for our out-of-the-box values (email merge tag or e= tag and campaign merge tag or c= tag) as well as for custom properties. There is more information on that here: https://knowledge.validity.com/hc/en-us/articles/360047692351-How-do-I-add-or-update-my-Everest-trac...


3) Unfortunately I do not know the answer to question a - Can you tell me the differences between the two so I can ask our development team? For question b, I can tell you that the vast majority of our clients use a subscriber ID for their e= tag, and then a campaign ID for their c= tag.

Since you are using Adobe I do need to highlight this as well - Adobe has several different campaign IDs available. It is very important that you do not use the individual-level campaign ID for your c= tag in your Everest pixel. You need to use the campaign ID that is at the overall send level. The reason for this is that the c= tag will create a new pixel for every value it sees (that's how you can filter on your campaign data) so if you use the individual-level ID you'll create a new pixel for every single subscriber, which tends to crash engagement. Any individual-level tags should either be used as the e= tag, or in custom properties.

[F_V_Y]

Thank you for the very helpful answers.  I am getting there with your help!

1a). I created a tracking domain name called TestTracking.everestengagement.com (custom type) .  I was of the understanding that nothing special needs to be done before using this domain but wanted to confirm (e.g. no need for CNAME record or SSL).   

1b) Are there any cons associated with using a a domain like TestTracking.everestengagement.com (custom type)  (e.g. any impact on reputation etc.) as opposed to using separate/owned domains?

2) I also created a tracking pixel but did not yet paste the tracking pixel to any email's html yet.  Despite the fact that I did not deploy any emails with the tracking pixel, noticed that started to see engagement (avg. read times) with 1 recipient and 2 opens in the Engagement module right after creatubg the pixel (and later it went to 0 recipient and 0 opens) - what coluld be the reason for this?   Once the tracking pixel is defined, does Validity start the reporting even though no emails with the pixel are sent yet?

3) I simply created ESP account in Apps and Integration with Adobe (just gave a name to the account)  but did not do anythign else (such as following file transfer instructions for Adobe Classic V7 which is listed under the ESP account),   The 'Intagrate with ESP' step on the Module now has a green check mark and the Adobe ESP under Apps and Integrations tab shows 'Settings' instead of 'Add account' - does this mean the integration is all set?   (This was very simple so wondering if I need to follow more steps).

Thanks!  I really appreciate your help!

[CatieB_Validity]

Hello! I will continue to number my responses to help avoid confusion:

1a/b) Correct, if you are using a custom subdomain on our hosted parent domain, no additional setup is needed other than picking a unique subdomain. There are no cons associated with using our parent domain - it is in fact the recommended option because we manage the SSL certificate and all other technical details for that parent domain leading to an easier and more consistent experience for you!

2) If you are seeing pixel opens but haven't yet deployed the pixel in an email, it most likely was fired as part of testing. For some background, the Everest Engagement Pixel is effectively an image link (for a one pixel by one pixel image - hence the name) that loads for 8 seconds. We get the user agent string as part of the request for the image which is where we collect the recipient data, and then how long the image loads tells us how long the email was open or how "engaged" the user was.

What this means is, if you put that link in a browser, or perhaps put it in a template and load that template as part of your design and content process, that will all fire as an "open" because a request for the image was made. For this reason, we recommend not storing pixels in templates or test environments and only include them on final copy that is ready to be sent to customers.

3) For this item, I would need to be able to look at your specific account. I am a member of the Support team - would you mind using the Support option to create a support ticket with our team so that we can take a look? You can mention this post and that Catie has been working it and that will get it directed to the email team!