In September 2023, Microsoft launched the revamped Dynamics 365 Customer Insights. Customer Insights has been reimagined by the strategic repositioning of two pre-existing standalone applications, which are now unified together under the revised Customer Insights banner. The repositioned solutions include:
- Dynamics 365 Customer Insights
- Dynamics 365 Marketing
Under the revised Customer Insights, Microsoft re-named ‘Dynamics 365 Customer Insights’ and ‘Dynamics 365 Marketing‘.
| Old Name | New Name |
|---|---|
| Customer Insights | Data |
| Marketing | Journeys |
What are the Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Apps?
Before understanding why Microsoft has restructured Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, it is important to understand the functionality of each Customer Insights applications.
- Customer Insights - Data: This retains the name of the old Dynamics 365 Customer Insights and serves as the data foundation for the entire platform. It unifies and analyses customer data from various sources to build a 360-degree customer profile, which feeds into journey creation.
- Customer Insights - Journeys: This is the rebranded version of the old Dynamics 365 Marketing. It focuses on creating and managing personalised customer journeys through various marketing channels like email, and SMS. The solution also includes event management and website integration.
| Old Version | New Version | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Dynamics 365 Customer Insights | Customer Insights - Data | Unifying and analysing customer data for a 360-degree view |
| Dynamics 365 Marketing | Customer Insights - Journeys | Building and managing personalised customer journeys |
Why has Microsoft Restructured 'Customer Insights'?
During its standalone existence, Dynamics 365 Marketing (D365 Marketing) often operated in isolation, leading organisations to overlook the untapped potential of connecting to the previous Customer Insights (D365 Customer Insights). Factors contributing to this missed opportunity may have included cost considerations and a lack of awareness regarding the benefits of integrating D365 Marketing and D365 Insights. Essentially, these solutions proved to work significantly more effectively in tandem, but organisations were not adopting them as one.
The strategic consolidation of Marketing (now Journeys) and Insights (now Data) applications under the revamped Customer Insights is Microsoft’s response to this challenge. This amalgamation results in a value-packed solution that grants marketers access to a business’s comprehensive dataset. With increased data accessibility, organisations gain greater control, enabling them to:
- Use data from a large number of sources as the centrepiece of creating superior customer experiences - made easier now with 'Dynamics 365 Insights - Data' and 'Dynamics 365 Insights - Journeys' apps together under Customer Insights
- Meticulously design and build complex communication templates (email, SMS etc.)
- Launch sophisticated customer journeys
- Use complex data to trigger communications
- Improve the overall customer experience
What Does 'Customer Insights - Data' Connect To?
Customer Insights – Data is designed to seamlessly integrate with a variety of data sources to provide a comprehensive view of customer information. Here are examples of common data sources that Customer Insights – Data can connect to:
- Custom APIs
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Applications
- Azure Data Lake Storage
- Common Data Service (CDS)
- Azure Synapse Analytics (formerly SQL Data Warehouse)
- Azure Blob Storage
- Various Third-Party Applications
We suggest regularly reviewing the official Microsoft documentation or consulting FUJIFILM MicroChannel to stay updated on the latest connections, evolving features and capabilities of the solution.
Examples of Everyday Data Sources
To provide inspiration of the types of data marketers can incorporate into their communications we have hand-picked a few common examples which one or more should hopefully resonate with you.
- Deliver Experiences based on Geospatial Data with Built-in Location Intelligence
- eCommerce Platforms
- Out-of-the-Box integration with Third Party Apps e.g. LiveRamp
- Point of Sale (POS) Solutions
- Utilise Data from Your own Applications
- Website Data
Explore Customer Insights further with FUJIFILM MicroChannel. Request a free consultation with our experts today.
Request ConsultationAn Example of Using 'Insights - Data' and 'Insights - Journeys' Together
Enhancing your Journeys by seamlessly incorporating various data sources, real-time or otherwise, is now more straightforward with Dynamics 365 Customer Insights. Here is a hypothetical, yet relatable scenario: suppose you’ve developed a music player app and aim to boost app engagement, and the growth of a dedicated and enthusiastic community. After brainstorming internally with your colleagues, you identify that:
- One of your most requested features from customers is to see an overview of their listening habits
- You have access to your customers music listening history via Customer Insights - Data
- You already know that your best off-app channel is email
The team decides to send an email to your customers summarising their music listening habits. Because Customer Insights now includes both the Data and Journeys apps, both apps now work seamlessly in tandem! Your team loves ‘Customer Insights – Data’ as it allows you to easily construct sophisticated personalised customer experiences in ‘Customer Insights – Journeys’ via multiple channels, including email, SMS and more.
The next step is for the Marketing Team to fire up ‘Insights – Journeys’ to kick off the creation of your dynamic email template!
- The template which will dynamically populate with cool stats and details about your customers’ listening (e.g. popular genres, artists, listening hours for the week)
- To create exclusivity, only customers who have achieved 1000+ listen hours receive the email
- Boost awareness with a social media campaign prompting top listeners to check their inbox for exclusive content, creating FOMO and encouraging more music engagement
The final step in Customer Insights – Journeys, is to create a milestone journey to send an email when customers hit 1000 listening hours. Subsequent customers reaching this milestone will automatically receive the email…
…and you’re done!
Q&A
Are you Required to Use Both Applications?
While both applications are available, Microsoft does not enforce you to use both.
What is the Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Pricing for New and Existing Customers?
For the latest information on pricing, we recommend visiting the Dynamics 365 Customer Insights pricing page or contact FUJIFILM MicroChannel to better understand the pricing models.
As of writing this article, customers who already held sperate licenses for each app will receive a significant reduction to their base license price if they move to Dynamics 365 Customer Insights. Existing customers of Dynamics 365 Marketing may renew their standalone license for one more cycle, then move to the new Customer Insights model.
Chat with the FUJIFILM MicroChannel team or leave a message to learn more about the new Customer Insights.
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