We created Audience Manager as a tool designed to be a customer data platform for analytics users. We were happy to see it being used eagerly and continued to develop it over several years.
However, as we worked on the further development in our product, we began to realize that Audience Manager had some technical limitations. For example, we found that it couldn’t extend its capabilities in areas like behavioral audiences, automated data activation and outgoing webhooks, which are all vital features that our users need.
Given these limitations, we decided to create a new module called Customer Data Platform (CDP). We believe that this new tool can offer more to our users and help them get the most out of our product. As we plan for its release, we also decided to phase out Audience Manager and put it into a sunset phase.
While it’s always difficult to say goodbye to a tool that has served us well over the years, we are confident that this change is necessary to ensure that our users have access to the best technology available.
Sunset phases
We understand that some people still use Audience Manager, and we know it takes effort and time to switch to an alternative option. We promise to help you plan for such a move.
Here’s a plan for sunsetting Audience Manager on Cloud:
- On April 10, 2023, we’ll launch the beta version of our new Customer Data Platform. It will have features like behavioral audiences, data activation via webhooks, audiences in triggers and more. The new Customer Data Platform will be available in versions +17.0.0, which means that you’ll need to upgrade to use it.
However, we plan to set up a demo account with Customer Data Platform and let you test it out before you decide to upgrade. - From April 2023, we’ll keep working on Customer Data Platform, adding features like API, data import and single customer view. We hope to help you move over to the new system by the end of 2023.
- On March 31, 2024, we’ll stop supporting our old Audience Manager and shut it down.
Here’s a plan for sunsetting Audience Manager on On-premises:
- Audience Manager will remain part of your on-premises account until you decide to migrate to the new solution. Your account manager will contact you to discuss such a change.
Key features in Customer Data Platform
Before we compare Customer Data Platform to Audience Manager, we want to highlight some key features that many users have been waiting for.
Here’s a summary:
- Event-based data model: Lets you create behavioral audiences.
- Behavioral audiences: Audiences based on visitor behavior like “people who visited page X and Y but not page Z in the last 7 days.”
- Data activation via webhooks: When a visitor becomes part of an audience, you can run a webhook and send the data of your choice to a third-party tool (Zapier, Mailchimp, Slack, Power Automate and so on). Since the data is sent almost instantly, it allows you to design seamless communication with your visitor.
Audience Manager vs. Customer Data Platform
The new Customer Data Platform will be a game-changer in terms of offered functionality. The beta version will not have all the features that Audience Manager has, but in the coming months most of the missing features will be added.
Here’s a comparison that will give you more details:
| Feature | Audience Manager | Customer Data Platform (beta, released April 10, 2023) | Customer Data Platform (upgrades planned in 2023) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity recognition and profile linking | –– | ||
| Custom attributes | –– | ||
| Form tracking | unplanned yet | ||
| Data import | (manual csv) | (automated via incoming webhooks) | |
| Export CSV | (manual) | unplanned yet | |
| Audiences in triggers in Tag Manager | –– | ||
| API (streaming profiles and checking audience membership) | |||
| Audiences based on user attributes | –– | ||
| Behavioral audiences based on user events | –– | ||
| Data activation via webhooks | –– | ||
| Importing attributes via API | |||
| Single customer view (profile browser with attributes and visitor log) | |||
| Webhook integrations (Slack, Mailchimp, Zapier, Power Automate and more) | –– |
What should I expect when I migrate to CDP?
If you choose to switch to the new Customer Data Platform, you’ll receive a brand-new tool. But because the technology is different, we won’t be able to move your old settings and data to the new tool. However, we’ll do our best to help you with the transition.
Here’s a short list of things you can expect when you migrate to CDP:
- Profile data from Audience Manager won’t be migrated.
- Audience definitions from Audience Manager won’t be migrated. You’ll need to create new audience definitions from scratch.
- Triggers that use audiences won’t work. You’ll need to remove these triggers and set them up again after migrating.
- Audience Manager is part of older versions of Piwik PRO (below 16.0.0). When you decide to switch to Customer Data Platform, you’ll be automatically upgraded to the latest version of the product and will be able to use many new features in Analytics, Tag Manager and Consent Manager.
If you have any questions or want to plan your migration, contact your account manager. They’ll be happy to help you out.