---
title: Lab 1 - Introduction to AEP
slug: syd2025/lab-1-introduction-to-aep
docTags: 
createdAt: 2025-05-12T00:54:37.316Z
---

## Learning Objectives 

In this exercise you will learn how to view a real-time customer profile in Adobe Experience Platform and understand how the different pieces of information collected about that customer are stitched together through the evolving Identity Graph.   

You will learn about the different types of audiences that can be created through the Adobe Experience Platform rule-based audience builder, including real-time audiences for onsite personalisation and look-alike audiences for expanded reach.  

## Scenario 

SecurFinancial is a leading retail bank offering personal banking services across a range of loans, credit cards and insurance products.  They have recently completed their Adobe Experience Platform Real-Time CDP implementation. With unified customer profiles and real-time data streaming in from digital and offline channels, the bank is now ready to activate its personalization strategy.

As part of a cross functional team you have been briefed on an upcoming campaign to promote a new Travel Credit Card.   The campaign brief includes: 

- A personalised experience when customers land on the website from any of the campaign ads 
- Retargeting on social when users start an application but do not complete it 
- Advertising suppression for anyone who made a purchase in the last month 

## Access 

Before you get started please confirm that you are in the right sandbox - it should be **HOL2 (AUS5)**

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/ql7rT8GuQFYBy3Y1A6vl9_image.png)

## 2.1   The Unified Profile

Before we start creating audiences for our use case, let's take a quick look at Adobe's Unified Profile combining data from multiple sources into an actionable profile.  

Browse to **Customer -> Profiles.   **The **Overview **dashboard shows insights on how many profiles exist in the sandbox along with the distribution of identities. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/zivYdeQZgoq_YnBm6Lh0J_image.png)

To lookup a specific profile, move to the **Browse **tab. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/D9NWEwEvg834DpuNU-3Uw_image.png)

Profiles can be retrieved by any of the identities that are attached to that profile.  Which identity namespaces are leveraged depends on your organisations requirements.   For this exercise we will use a CRM Id to look up your profile.  

Start typing **crm **in the **Identity namespace** field, select **Demo System - CRMID** when it appears.  

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/VXxk3-93S4kp3HR1852-N_image.png)

Type **SUMMIT\_CRM\_01** into the **Identity value** field and click **View**

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/l-HvlXci08nyzRrxUfpmM_image.png)

Click the **PROFILE ID** to view the profile details.  

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/my3ZFtImtj58RiliXITA6_image.png)

The **Detail** tab shows us some basic information about the profile, which fields are displayed here can be customized according to business needs. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/gl_VNFxd5Qmy_BndZUjMD_image.png)

There are 2 main types of data collected against the profile, **Attributes** and **Experience Events**.   Profile can change over time while Experience Events represent point in time interactions a profile has had with your brand, whether that's viewing a web page, watching a show, making a booking, calling the call center or visiting a store.   

Click on the **Attributes** tab to view the full list of attributes ingested for this profile.  These attributes can come from different source systems, Adobe Experience Platform will merge them in real-time.  

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/QY2mYfs89xFYhGjb_eiZw_image.png)

Click on the **Events **tab.   Here you can see a chronological view of all the behavioural experience events coming from different source systems for this profile.   These events are ingested in real-time from the sources like your website and mobile app. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/LKHCNM3gx3l_pKn4o9Zle_image.png)

Move to the **Audience membership** tab.  Here you can see which audiences the profile is currently a member of, this list will update as the profile moves in and out of audiences based on their attributes and behavior. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/CN5sAEkTxO8BzYRQ7dj5T_image.png)

Lastly, return to the **Details** tab and click to view the **Identity Graph**. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/Wp8fwboOyODSfbPFCYCQC_image.png)

Here you can see a visualisation of the Identity Graph linking all of the different sources of information together to create our profile.  You can see that there are multiple ECID's or Cookie ID's attached to the profile, this represents the different devices that the customer has identified themselves on. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/2nmHHRMinMLeroVL9aOgz_image.png)

Use the slider to see how the graph grew as the profile interacted over time.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/xpPJcFksJ25bY5Ie4RuTc_image.png)

## 2.2 Create a real-time audience

Now you've seen the types of data that lives on our real-time profile, let's create an audience targeting customers aged 18-24 who have visited the credit card application page today.   This is the audience that will be used to target some of the personalized home page experience.  

Click on **Customer -> Audiences **and go to the **Browse** tab.   This is the **Audience Portal **where you'll find all of the centralized audiences, regardless of how they were created.   The **origin **column indicates where the audience was created:

- Segmentation Service - using data onboarded to the real-time profile
- Federated Audience Composition - using data that lives in a remote data warehouse 
- Customer Journey Analytics - segments can be shared directly from the analysis done in CJA.
- Custom Upload - directly from files

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/ksffvJ-f1qv6frfeshI43_image.png)

Click to **Create Audience.**

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/HCIOpKakSEW2HIsULWfHS_image.png)

Change the option from compose audience to **Build rule **and click **Create.   **We are going to create a new rule based audience using the attributes and events in our profile. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/v0F7A_paBH4Z1GE7Gt-A3_image.png)

In the audience builder we can add attribute and event based rules.  From the Attributes tab, search for **age **and drag the **Age 18-24** attribute into the builder. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/JoVGtRc3jn2owCmqLo_Oo_image.png)

Set the value to **yes **

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/UAyzuEVPC8-o1HIMEotHb_image.png)

You can estimate the size of your audience at any time while configuring it.   Click the **Refresh estimate **link in the **Audience properties** panel

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/guRC0J_WgQhxdDAN_xyA3_image.png)

Now we want to add an event based rule.   Change to the **Events **tab and search for **URL.  **Drage the **Web page details > URL **field into the builder. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/ZBNUM6tUXWvXuu-_ElzpH_image.png)

Change the operator from equals to **contains **and add the value **credit-card.   **This will qualify anyone who's viewed a web page with the word credit-card in the url.  

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/cP6rWplrkwPGM5fubYCAi_image.png)

Now let's add a time frame so users will drop out of the audience if they don't show continued interest.  Change the setting from any time to **In last 1 days.**

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/_Ux0i-LRMp00Pd-1-cJOf_image.png)

Lastly we need to give the audience a name and set the evaluation method.   For the name prefix it with your lab user number or your name so you can easily recognise it later. Eg. ** Lab User 01 / Olivia **- **Interested in Credit Cards 18-24.  **

For the evaluation method, change this to **Edge.  **This means the audience will qualify in real-time as the events are received into adobe's edge servers from the website. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/kp56byRNWsPFUcM9sl3dg_image.png)

Click on **Publish **to create the audience. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/H939pzBBAYjxIBVFVTXA1_image.png)

:::hint{type="success"}
You've created an audience that can be used to personalize the experience on the website in real-time!
:::

## 2.3 View a sequential audience

We also want to retarget customers on Social channels when they start the credit card application process but don't complete it, for this we can use Adobe's sequential segmentation logic which allows you to understand where customers are at within a specific process or journey.

From the **Audiences -> Browse **screen, use the filter options to find Audiences tagged with "credit-cards".   You can use tags to group audiences using keywords, this can, for example, help to identify which audiences belong to specific product groups or business units.  

Click to open the **Started credit card application but didn't submit **audience.  

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/vKTJ0oizb56whEWDWtkPe_image.png)

In the overview screen you can see a description of the audience logic, the current audience count along with the destinations that the audience has been activated to. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/t5FAVLK7kKwaZz00p-PXq_image.png)

Click to **Edit audience.   **In the audience builder you can see that two events have been chained together in a sequence, first the application start event followed by an application submit event.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/SMOLoVplYXTVJ4nacvtBy_image.png)

Click on the **Start **event to see the additional rules being applied to that event.    Here we're filtering the application start to forms with **Credit Card Application **in the name.  

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/vi052nP1H-jOmccPTdwvh_image.png)

Click on the **Submit **event.   The red line shows that we are ***excluding ***this event, to find people who did NOT complete this action. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/dshmgRkvARz2vHYZRyx2C_image.png)

For this audience we've limited it to events that occured in the last month, but you could go even further to restrict the length of time between events as well.   Click the clock icon between the events to see the options.  

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/KcQbBzq9YrhzfvqRal7sw_image.png)

With sequential processing power we can create complex segmentation that follows customer behaviours, this kind of logic often requires advanced SQL skills to create in more traditional marketing tools.  

Click on **Cancel **to return to the Audiences screen.  

:::hint{type="success"}
You've seen a sequential audience that can be used to retarget consumers across paid, social and direct channels. 
:::

## 2.4 Activate audiences

Once an audience is created, regardless of where the audience originates from we can activate them using RTCDP's Destination catalog.   

Click on **Destinations** under the **Connections** menu on the left hand navigation, then move to the **Catalog **tab. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/RWIk6C_QXp41XpTILHbLi_image.png)

The catalog lists all of the available destination connectors, additional connectors can be created by partners using our Destination SDK.   You can browse the list to see if the destinations your business uses are available. 

Move now to the **Browse** tab, this shows the destination flows which have already been configured in this instance.  

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/4XRdfF4lT4eQKR6N1WJFm_image.png)

We want to use Adobe Target to personalize the landing page for customers coming from our paid media ads.   

You can see Adobe Target is already connected.  Click on the 3 dots next to the destination name and select to **Activate Audiences. **

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/bCbqCB-ZWrgLp1AiIBh0B_image.png)

Look for the audience you created in Step 2.2, and** select it** and click **Next.**

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/UPkGW0CkWGVGtpcv3L1S8_image.png)

The mapping step allows you to share profile attributes from Adobe RTCDP to Adobe Target for personalisation within your Target experiences.    This is optional though, there is no need to update anything on this screen, just click **Next**

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/TYFXA4J8lzYud-rb3mjHk_image.png)

Review the activation details and click **Finish **to connect your audience with Adobe Target.  

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/Y08h1GihE-jaeQKVb2lHW_image.png)

:::hint{type="warning"}
In order to ensure consistency, destinations cannot be updated concurrently.   If you encounter an error on the final step of the activation workflow this is likely the cause due to so many lab participants completing the same action, you can ignore this error or try the exercise again in a few moments.     
:::

Once your segment is successfully activated, click the product switcher to open Adobe Target.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/3iQm2HEt5ThZ2Amwagp0C_image.png)

Switch to the **Audiences** tab in Target and filter to view **Adobe Experience Platform **audiences.  You'll see your audience is available natively and ready to be used within a personalisation activity.  

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/L6B_WMFEb1ByvK0DvhRxD_image.png)

:::hint{type="success"}
This completes the exercise on Activation since we've already activated the retargeting audience to Meta.   If you want to see that flow you can read through the guide below, all of the destinations follow the same step by step wizard for activation. 
:::

Next we'll activate the **Retargeting Audience** to Meta. 

Return to** Experience Platform** and navigate to **Audiences**.  Find your audience and click on the 3 dots next to it.   You have the option here to **Activate to destination.  **This is a just a different way to initiate the activation flow.  

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/7CEV30h7BSe9AE3TB13YN_image.png)

Select the **Facebook** destination and click **Next**

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/l57MBsrpEUhm3peWawUFv_image.png)

The mapping step controls how we reconcile profiles between Adobe and Meta.   This is configured the first time you activate an audience and does not need to be updated each time.   We are reconciling on Hashed Email and Hashed Phone number for the best chance at matching.   Click **Next**

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/W6e8HIbHbXsCKRpzyKPpf_image.png)

There is one extra step that is required by Meta, and that is to declare whether the **Origin of audience **is first party coming directly from your customers or partner data or both.   Select that the audience has come **directly from customers **and click **Next**

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/I7VLKW6E9aNkao6MW7jr-_image.png)

Review the details of your activation and click **Finish **to create the equivalent audience within the facebook business account as a custom audience.  

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/8T-EmvRAYpxsuYpTNZqgJ_image.png)

Your audience will appear in Meta Ads Manager within their Audiences list.   Data will start flowing into this audience in streaming fashion, starting with a backfill of existing profiles and then any new profiles as they qualify.  

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/8VUX6k2vtPYqld4d_20Uu_image.png)

## 2.5 AI Assistant 

In this exercise you'll discover how AI Assistant in Adobe Experience Platform can revolutionize your data analysis workflows and boost team productivity by streamlining complex tasks.   

In Adobe Experience Platform, locate the AI Assistant panel on the right side of the screen. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/E56c6bsawqTGviWklvWWH_image.png)

If prompted, review and accept the Beta Agreement to enable AI Assistant. 

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/X-1wF0HLUQAOwIXgz0Zm3_image.png)

Once enabled, AI Assistant will be available for use across Adobe Experience Platform and Platform-based apps like Adobe Journey Optimizer, Adobe Customer Journey Analytics, and Adobe Real-time Customer Data Platform.

Click on the lightbulb in the top right to open the discovery panel, here you'll find some suggestions for the types of prompts by category that AI Assistant can help you with.  

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/ca00GTn7xYVLTtgig_8QO_image.png)

Navigate to **Pointed Learning** and click on the prompt: **How is the identity graph built.  **

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/p_RPeYldSFFHgx5Ig2nMT_image.png)

The prompt will automatically populate in the text input box of AI Assistant, **press enter **to execute the query and view AI Assistant's response.  

::Image[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/prXxYtvb1e6UvCA3ztxl9_image.png" size="80" width="512" height="829" position="center" showCaption="false"}

To verify the response provided you can review the **Sources **that are listed below the response.   

::Image[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/QnYehL4USZkYU8Oe1mFtU_image.png" size="80" width="515" height="828" position="center" showCaption="false"}

AI Assistant is also able to help with Operational Insights based on what is configured within your sandbox.  In the AI Assistant input field, begin typing “**What do you know about audience +**”, the + will open the object selector.   

::Image[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/bNpYxDspI3X5aS3sc81v-_image.png" size="80" width="505" height="284" position="center" showCaption="false"}

Start typing **Has** and you'll see the objects list update as you type.   Select **Has Active Car Policy **audience from the drop down. 

::Image[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/t61gAGxJ3Osy9z9dQotLc_image.png" size="80" width="540" height="799" position="center" showCaption="false"}

Once AI Assistant provides a response, take note of the structured output, which consists of three key sections: 

- Actual response and data – The primary insights retrieved from Adobe Experience Platform. 
- How AI Assistant interpreted your question – Explanation of AI Assistant’s reasoning. 
- How the answer was derived – The logic and steps behind the response.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/boxdeIw4EL-Q9OABJMRj2_image.png)

Click on “**Show Source**” within AI Assistant’s response.  Select “**View Source Query**” to open the SQL query that was used to retrieve the response.   Here you can review the query, which includes comments explaining each step, to verify how AI Assistant arrived at its answer.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/27BM5Fz-jyuRNYd0HL8q__image.png)

We can use AI Assistant to understand the overlap between audiences.   Ask AI Assistant: **What is the profile overlap between audience "Has Lapsed Car Policy" and "Has Mobile App"?**

::Image[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/XbnC3dkUJJuavLhDbl9CJ_image.png" size="80" width="547" height="807" position="center" showCaption="false"}

Here’s how to interpret these values. 3.85% of Has Lapsed Car Policy audience has an overlap with 16.67% of Has Mobile App. The total number of profiles common between both of them is 1.

We can now start to use AI Assistant for audience discovery, for example we can check data distribution of profiles.   Ask AI Assistant: **What are the top 5 cities where my profiles live? **

::Image[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/gOBgFUiE0JgStA4DbFNl9_image.png" size="80" width="520" height="732" position="center" showCaption="false"}

Now ask AI Assistant: **How many profiles live in Sydney are over 35 and have an email address?**

::Image[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/Yy18F_esVz2ws0TbO3K2o_image.png" size="80" width="529" height="738" position="center" showCaption="false"}

:::hint{type="success"}
We hope you've enjoyed this sneak peak into some of the profile and audience analysis capabilities coming to AI Assistant in the near future!    
:::

## Summary

Congratulations, you've completed the Introduction to Adobe Experience Platform  exercise!   

You have successfully: 

1. Used the fast moving data that's been ingested into Adobe Experience platform to create a real-time segment 
2. Viewed how we can create complex audiences using sequential segmentation to understand where a customer is within a series of actions. 
3. Activated and audience to Adobe Target for on-site personalisation and optimisation use cases and seen how we can activate audiences to Meta using hashed first party identifiers.  
4. Leveraged AI Assitant to help discover and validate audiences.  Helping you make faster, data-driven marketing decisions with ease.

:::hint{type="info"}
If you still have time available, try the Journeys and Content exercise next!   
:::