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Compare ActionIQ and Adobe CDP

ActionIQ is a CDP with a hybrid architecture. Adobe CDP is marketing platform that helps you create unified profiles. Get a deep-dive on each tool below.

ActionIQ
Adobe CDP

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ActionIQ and Adobe CDP both are platforms that allow you to sync data to downstream marketing destinations like CRM tools, email tools, and advertising platforms. Both platforms have the functionality to collect events via an SDK, and functionality to resolve identities.

However, there are plenty of differences across feature sets, functionality, usability, and more. Below we take a deep-dive into both platforms to highlight the differences.

Compare ActionIQ and Adobe CDP

FunctionalityActionIQAdobe CDP
Data Collection
Client-side, server-side, & other 3rd-party sources
Client-side, server-side, & other 3rd-party sources
Data Storage
ActionIQ's managed infrastructure (less mature data warehouse option available)
Adobe's managed infrastructure
Data Retention
Variable
Variable
Data Schema
Flexible but must involve an ActionIQ engineer to edit a schema.
Controlled by Adobe (supports users, accounts, & events)
Audience Management
No-code audience builder (offers some functionality to leverage data in your data warehouse)
No-code audience builder (integrates with some data warehouses, but limited 250 syncs per destination)
Journey Orchestration
Yes
Yes (add-on product)
Identity Resolution
Deterministic IDR managed in ActionIQ's infrastructure
Deterministic IDR managed in Adobe's infrastructure
Identity Graph Storage Location
Owned by ActionIQ
Owned by Adobe
Reverse ETL
Basic features supported - limited functionality for data teams. (not a core sync engine)
NA
Real-Time Audience Computation
Yes (limited to clickstream/behavioral data with no time-based lookbacks)
Yes (limited to clickstream/behavioral data with no time-based lookbacks)
Real-Time Streaming (Event Forwarding)
Yes
Yes
Low-Latency Profile API
Yes
Yes
Streaming Reverse ETL
No
No
Data Activation Flow
ActionIQ to destination or data warehouse to destination
Adobe CDP to destination
Activation Destinations
200+
Adobe ecosystem (limited support for external destinations)
Source of Truth
Multiple: ActionIQ & your owned data warehouse
Multiple: Adobe & your owned data warehouse
Security & Compliance
Data can live in your infrastructure or ActionIQ managed-infrastructure (can be configured to be GDPR, CCPA, & HIPAA compliant)
Data lives outside of your cloud infrastructure (can be configured to be GDPR, CCPA, & HIPAA compliant)
Pricing
Bundled (variable-based pricing)
Bundled pricing: dependent on monthly tracked users (MTUs) & feature add-ons
Proof of Concept (POC)
4-6+ months
4-6+ months

Pros and Cons of ActionIQ

Pros

  • Integrates with some data warehouses
  • Audience builder is easy & intuitive to use
  • More flexible than traditional CDPs

Cons

  • Setting up new integrations requires you to submit support tickets
  • Migrating to hybrid or warehouse-only architectures requires significant engineering effort
  • Identity graph is owned by ActionIQ
  • Documenation is only available to paying customers

Pros and Cons of Adobe CDP

Pros

  • Strong integrations with the Adobe ecosystem (Adobe Target, Adobe Analytics, Marketo, etc.)
  • Segmentation builder has some basic AI capabilities
  • Identity resolution supports clean room use cases through a “Co-op graph” for Adobe CDP customers

Cons

  • Very expensive (lots of add-on products required)
  • Limited integration support for external tools & systems
  • Event collection is only accessible through Adobe's closed-source library
  • Long implementation time & difficult setup process
  • Inflexible data data model/schema (cannot support custom objects & entities)

Should I Buy ActionIQ or Adobe CDP?

Before you purchase a customer data platform, there are a few important factors to consider:

  1. Time-to-value: You need to show ROI quickly to your internal stakeholders to validate that the platform can provide business value. Many customer data platforms can take upwards of 6-12 months to implement and get started.

  2. Usability: Tools like Segment and ActionIQ can come with steep learning curves that make them difficult to use, especially for non-technical marketing teams. It doesn't matter how good the technology is if your marketing team doesn't use it.

  3. Functionality: Before you purchase any tool you need to ensure that it has functionality to solve your business-specific use cases, and that means supporting your proprietary data. Your main goal should be to purchase a solution that actually solves the problem you're facing.

  4. Flexibility: Not every company is the same. Make sure the tool you're purchasing can dynamically adapt and conform to your data. Otherwise, you'll end with a failed implementation and an upset marketing team.

What's the Best Alternative to ActionIQ and Adobe CDP?

Hightouch is a Composable Customer Data Platform that is the perfect alternative to both Segment and ActionIQ because the platform offers the following:

Fast Implementation: Hightouch enables you to start activating your data immediately. The average customer is powering live use cases within weeks and sometimes days.

Ease-of-Use: Hightouch was specifically built for non-technical users. The platform has an easy-to-use audience builder, built-in analytics, and experimentation and measurement capabilities your marketers can drive value and optimize performance without getting blocked by your data team.

Completeness: Hightouch offers a complete suite of capabilities to collect data, resolve identities, build audiences, sync data to any destination, and increase match rates. You won't end up with a bloated tech stack because you can select the functionalities you need for your specific use cases.

Flexibility: The Composable CDP approach that Hightouch provides allows you to have the most flexible data activation solution. Unlike traditional CDPs, Hightouch lets you access any data in your organization and use any schema structure imaginable to power your most complicated marketing use cases.

Our team of experts at Hightouch is comprised of former CDP experts, so if you have any questions about CDPs, schedule some time with a Hightouch expert so we can point you in the right direction.

200%

boost in
engagement


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1 day

migration


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52%

increase
in ROAS


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Composable CDPs are more secure because no duplicate storage is required. Instead, we simply read from your data warehouse, where it stays safe and sound.


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