Integrate Adobe Analytics with Demandbase

The Demandbase Account Connector for Adobe Analytics assigns Company Profile Attributes to conversion variables and traffic variables in Adobe Analytics. Account Connector works with Context Variables in Platform 15 and thus requires s_code H23 and above. There are options for how conversion variables can be assigned depending on your business needs and how your Adobe Analytics instance is configured.

Follow the steps below to set up the integration.

Step 1: Confirm Your Adobe Analytics System

Ensure Adobe Analytics is actively used and confirm the version.

Step 2: Select Demandbase Attributes

Identify the Demandbase attributes you want to access within Adobe Analytics in addition to the standard attributes.

Standard Attributes

For identified companies, Demandbase automatically sends the following attributes to one conversion variable.

• company_id
• company_name
• industry
• sub_industry
• employee_range
• revenue_range
• audience
• audience_segment

Using a second conversion variable, you can integrate an additional 8 Demandbase attributes, including any custom Account Watch attribute.

Step 3: Add and Set the Conversion Variables

Add the custom variables (eVars) you want to map to the Demandbase attributes and apply recommended settings. Then you'll enable the eVars for both Staging and Production.

3.1. Add an unused eVar to the report suite.

3.1.1. Click Add New.

3.1.2. Select the eVar fields you want to modify.

3.1.3. Adjust the settings.

3.1.4. Click Save.

Recommended eVar Settings

The appropriate settings for an eVar are driven by business requirements and definitions as well as the type of reports an analyst wishes to run. The following settings recommendations are based on current best approaches used by marketers. Verify the appropriate settings with business users as well as analysts before deploying your solution.

Any eVars receiving Demandbase attributes should have the following settings.

 Example Conversion Variable Setup

3.2. Enable the eVars for both Staging and Production

3.2.1. To enable eVars in the Admin Console, first check the Status box.

3.2.2. Select Enable.

Step 4: Configure Adobe Data Connector

The fastest and easiest way to add Demandbase to Adobe Analytics is through the Demandbase Adobe Data Connector (formerly known as the Genesis platform). The Data Connector provides an easy-to-follow wizard interface for capturing attributes into eVars as well as creating dashboards and starter reports.

Leveraging the newest features of the Adobe Analytics platform, the latest Adobe Data Connector enables the integration of up-to 40 Demandbase attributes using up to 5 conversion variables. This is achieved using contextData and a combination of Processing Rules and Auto Classification rules. The Data Connector wizard handles the setup of the Processing Rules and Auto Classification rules. Administrators only need to provision new conversion variables (eVars), as described earlier in this article.

Here is a video walk through of the steps for version 3 of the Data Connector, and written instructions are provided below. If you need to get instructions for version 2 of the Data Connector you can access them here. 

4.1. Go to Admin > DataConnectors.

4.2. Locate the Demandbase Connector in the Other category, then drag and drop it to begin configuration. Make sure you see the orange v3 next to the Demandbase logo.

4.3. Enter all the basic information and click Save.

4.4. Select the eVars you provisioned to capture the concatenated attributes.

4.5. Set the names of the attributes you want to use in the Auto Classifications. The first 8 are filled automatically, and the second 8 should be filled in as needed.

4.6. Under Classification Rule Sets, always check the first box. Check the other boxes only if using more than the 8 standard attributes.

4.7. Check the box next to Demandbase Integration to create a default report.

4.8. Review your setup.

Step 5: Deploy Scripts

At the end of running Demandbase Data Connector V3, under the Support tab you'll find 2 links for downloading 3 scripts. The first set of scripts is for deploying the API call and the callback script. The second is the snippet for your AppMeasurement library.

Script Deployment Options

Option 1: Deploy Scripts Inline (Recommended deployment)

5.1. Deploy 2 tags to the head in the global template to optimize against racing condition with Adobe's image request.

5.2. Deploy another snippet for s_code.js to read the cache.

Example HTML Setup: Changes to your global template.

Example S-Code Changes: You only need to add a small snippet in the s_code to read the cached data.

Option 2: Deploy Scripts through a Tag Manager

Deploying using a tag manager means you will introduce another layer of asynchronicity (the tag manager code is async as well) and other variables of the TMS such as firing order and priority. This means Demandbase cannot guarantee you're optimized, and you may need your own technical resources to improve the identification rate.

5.1. Deploy 2 tags to the head in your tag manager.

5.2. Deploy another snippet for s_code.js to read the cache.

For more instructions to how to deploy via different tag managers see this article.

Step 6: Set up Basic Reports

Follow the steps in the Adobe Analytics Report Set Up Guide to set up your basic reports.

The Adobe Data Connector will automatically create Auto Classifications as shown below. Auto Classifications are an innovation and relatively new feature of Adobe Analytics. Unlike a traditional (SAINT) Classification, which requires an offline process and uploading of data, Auto Classifications are run automatically. Further, Demandbase attributes are captured in real-time.

Using Classification Rules, several Demandbase attributes (generally up-to 7) can be sent to a single eVar then broken-out into a Classification.

For further details on Classification Rules, talk to your Adobe Customer Care Representative.

Data Flow Summary