Ingest Web Engagement Data
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Explain how to configure and ingest website data into Data Cloud.
- Establish data capture rules and event definitions.
- Add a JavaScript beacon to your website.
Meet the Web Engagement Team
In order to begin ingesting web engagement data in Data Cloud, NTO’s IT system specialist and Data Cloud admin are responsible for configuring the connection between the company website and Data Cloud.
As an enterprise architect, Pia Larson serves as NTO’s Data Cloud admin and is responsible for assigning permissions, connecting data sources, creating data streams, and data management in Data Cloud. Prior to this implementation, it’s important for NTO to identify how they want to act on their data and what elements and events can bring key insights about its customers.
In order to do so, there are three important components to understanding how NTO’s website data gets processed in Data Cloud: event definition, data capture rules, and a JavaScript beacon. NTO’s IT system specialist Warren Mehta’s task is to create these aforementioned components. Once completed, he collaborates with Pia to configure the connection between the NTO website and Data Cloud.
Review Components
Let’s review the components needed to connect NTO’s website data to Data Cloud in more detail.
Data Capture Rules
A data capture rule (sometimes referred to as a sitemap) is a fundamental tool for gathering and analyzing user behavior data. It is a JavaScript snippet that includes event listeners and functions that track actions taken by users (such as clicks on a certain element or page scrolls). Other relevant information such as user IDs, timestamps, and contextual details related to the user’s session are associated with data capture metadata. An example of what this looks like is pictured in a snapshot of the JavaScript code. The code captures the event data during navigation which is transmitted to Data Cloud for further processing and analysis.
Event Definitions
Event definitions (also referred to as a schema) describe how people interact with NTO’s website using events. They are a blueprint that outlines the rules, relationships, and attributes of NTO’s data stored in Data Cloud. Some common event definitions are the following: page viewed, form submission, cart, cart item, or newsletter signup. These events fall under customer engagement categories and can offer NTO valuable information about the users on their site.
The event definition is defined through a JSON schema, a declarative language that specifies the required properties, data types, and constraints for given data. The schema ensures that the data conforms to expected formats and structures, making it useful for validating inputs. Click here to download a sample JSON schema to see an example of how engagement data is captured.
JavaScript Beacon
The JavaScript beacon script (also known as the content delivery network or CDN script) is a piece of code that needs to be added to the website pages where you are capturing events. This beacon allows engagement data to start flowing. The image below highlights a snippet of the script that is copied into a website’s content management system (CMS) or tag manager solution.
Now that you are familiar with the components, take a look at the diagram below to see how these pieces work together.
Let’s now check in with NTO to see how Pia and Warren work together to complete these tasks.
Configure and Connect NTO Website to Data Cloud
As the IT systems specialist, Warren is familiar with JSON, JavaScript, and NTO’s website. He works on creating a JSON file for the event definition and the JavaScript data capture script. He then works closely with Pia as she completes her steps in Data Cloud.
To ensure NTO’s website is properly connected to Data Cloud, Pia does the following.
- In Data Cloud Setup, Pia navigates to Configuration and selects Website and Mobile Apps.
- She selects New in the Website and Mobile App configuration header.
- Pia names the connector, NTO Website, and selects Website for the connector type.
- Using the event definition JSON schema provided by Warren, she uploads the file, previews the information, and clicks Save.
- Next Pia uploads the data capture script (the JavaScript schema) into the system and clicks Save.
Add a JavaScript Beacon to NTO Website
Once Pia configures the data capture and event definitions in Data Cloud, she shares the JavaScript beacon with Warren. It’s now his turn to embed the JavaScript beacon into the NTO website as a <script> tag. This functions as the data collection component, and must be copied into every page of the website that NTO wants to track.
Create a Web Engagement Data Stream
After Warren adds the script, Pia creates a new data stream to ingest the site’s engagement data. A data stream is a data source ingested into Data Cloud, in this case the source is NTO’s website. This data stream ensures that Data Cloud users can access, unify, and make use of NTO’s website data. To learn more about how to create a data stream in Data Cloud, check out Create a Data Stream in Data Cloud.
The marketing specialist, Paulo, is brought back into the picture and suggests creating additional data streams from Salesforce CRM and Marketing Cloud. With NTO’s website engagement data + NTO’s Salesforce CRM data + NTO’s Marketing Cloud data, the business is able to gather and unify data points from each data source as follows.
- NTO website data: Engagement data on the website (clicks, scrolls, abandoned cart)
- NTO Salesforce CRM data: Information about the customer (Name, Email Address, purchase history)
- NTO Marketing Cloud data: Email engagement data (customer email engagement and marketing data)
What’s Next for NTO?
Now that Warren and Pia have enabled the data connections from NTO’s website and additional data streams have been added, NTO is able to unlock valuable insights to address its abandoned cart issue. NTO realizes that a significant number of abandonments are occurring during the payment stage, indicating potential issues with the checkout process or payment options.
By combining these data sources, a unified view of customer behavior provides clarity and context to the overall case of the abandoned cart rate on NTO’s website. The business uses customer behavior insights to implement an automated email campaign that strategically reminds users about the items left behind in their shopping carts. The emails are crafted to be personalized offers related to the abandoned items, accompanied with NTO incentives of discounts or free shipping for the customer.
This strategy aims to entice NTO customers to revisit the website and complete their previously abandoned purchases, thereby fostering stronger customer engagement and loyalty over time. Following this implementation, NTO witnesses a decrease in the abandoned cart rate and an increase in sales, all made possible through the power of Data Cloud!
In Summary
In this module, you have explored how NTO learned to capture and analyze crucial website data in Data Cloud. NTO is now using Data Cloud’s capability of combining data from various data sources and using the insights to take actionable steps to improve and enhance customer experiences. The data integration and comprehensive customer journeys enables its business to drive sustained business growth and customer satisfaction. Now it’s your turn to harness and leverage your web engagement data in Data Cloud to create better engagement and connection with your customers.