Matching Users Across Channels

To target the same user across different channels (desktop, mobile, email), Experience OS must be able to identify the user on each of the distinct channels with the same customer unique identifier (CUID), and, optionally, secondary identifiers for use in multi-channel apps such as Reconnect. The default CUID type is email address, but the CUID can be any unique value you use to identify your users, such as a CRM ID or loyalty club number. We recommend using hashed email addresses for your CUIDs, as this simplifies the implementation of Experience OS email campaigns.

Identifiers and identification events

Identification events

Sending one of the following events to Experience OS with the CUID as a parameter identifies the user in the system:

• Signup
• Newsletter Subscription
• Login 
• Identify User

For additional functionality, such as Reconnect and exporting audience data, users must be matched in addition to being identified. In Reconnect this is done in-app, in the Reconnect Subscriber Lists (Opted-in users). For audience export, it's done by uploading a list of opted-in user email addresses to a data feed.

View the number of identified users

To view the number of identified users over a specific time period, go to Audience Hub › Audience Explorer and use the condition Identified User is True. Use the time selector to specify the time range.

You can then view User Segment Data to see information about identified users.

Identifying users

When unidentified users (users who have not logged into their profile) enter a website that contains the Dynamic Yield script, they are given a unique Dynamic Yield identifier (DYID), only after they have provided consent. The DYID is stored in the cookies, session storage, and browser local storage. This enables us to personalize content to the user based on their behavior as long as they are using the same browser on the same device and do not delete the cookies and cache.

Dynamic Yield does not track unidentified users across multiple browsing sessions. However, there are two additional levels of information about identified users you can provide Dynamic Yield that enable richer personalization options and experiences.

Identified users

For Experience OS to target the same user across different channels (desktop, mobile, email) the user must be identified on each of the distinct channels with the same CUID. Users are identified when an event or API is sent to Experience OS with a CUID, but you can also identify website users who have been invited to your site in an email campaign.

When we receive an email address that identifies a particular user, we hash the email address before storing it to protect user privacy. This means that Experience OS can't use the email address or identify users externally without additional steps.

Matched users

To enable Reconnect messages and audience export, identified users must be matched to an email address or other identifier. In Reconnect, this is managed through a list of opted-in subscribers or secondary identifiers. Audience export uses a data feed of opted-in email users (soon: Secondary identifiers). The feed consists of one column of identifiers. Dynamic Yield then hashes these identifiers and checks for matches among identified users. When a match is found, these users are called matched users and are eligible to be included in triggered messages and audience exports. The unhashed email addresses are stored separately from other personal data in a highly secured location.

Learn more about email address feeds.

Identifying users from external email campaigns

When Experience OS recognizes a user on your site by an external identifier like their email address, they are called an identified user. Identified users can be targeted with triggered messages, email recommendations, and more.

When a user enters their email address on your site, you can fire an event to send the information to Experience OS. Events can include Login, Newsletter Subscription, Signup, or Identify User.

You can also identify users who arrive at your site from any external email campaign using their hashed email address or external identifier, using the following procedure:

1. When sending links to your site in email campaigns from your ESP, include a parameter to capture the user’s hashed email address or external identifier. For example, instead of including a link to www.mysite.com, include a link to www.mysite.com/?uid=${email}$ or www.mysite.com/?uid=${cuid}$.
   If you can't use a hashed email address, you can use the regular email address.
   If you have some hashed, and some regular email addresses, use different parameters for each type (for example, uid for regular email addresses, huid for hashed).
2. In Experience OS, create a new custom code campaign (Web Personalization › New Campaign › Custom Code).
3. Set the trigger to Page Load and the frequency to Once per session, and then click Next.
   
4. In the targeting settings, set Where to page url contains ?<parameter name>= or page url contains &<parameter name>= and deselect Ignore URL parameters (this is critical). Parameter names are case-sensitive, so make sure the name is exactly as it appears in your URLs.
   
5. Click Next and select New Variation.
6. Select the template Email Identification or Hashed Email Identification. If you're using an external identifier, select Hashed Email Identification, and then make the changes to the template described in the next step.
   
7. Specify the name of the parameter that contains the email address.
   If you're using an external identifier: In the JS tab, in the identify event, change the value for type from he to external.
   
   
8. Save the variation and the experience.
9. If you use hashed email as your identifier, and have some hashed and some regular email addresses, create another experience with one variation targeting URLs that have the second parameter. Use the appropriate template (Email Identification or Hashed Email Identification).
10. Save the variation, save the experience, and click Save and Publish to publish the campaign.

You should now see an increase in identified users, particularly when you send out major email campaigns.