Issue #37

Issue 37 of D365 Marketing Weekly

I have said it several times before that there is a TON of content in a newsletter… but this time, I definitely mean it. ❤️ Every where I looked this week there was something new for me to share with you all. So I hope you enjoy this issue because it is PACKED.

Before we move to the content, I am VERY excited to share that I have introduced referral swag. I know many of you share the newsletter with others, so as a thank you, I have built out a series of milestones that you can work towards to get little thank you gifts. If you are logged in to the site, or reviewing via your email, you should see a little subscriber section right at the bottom of the newsletter that shows you the number of referrals you have, and how many you need to get to the next milestone along with your own unique referral link you can share with others.

As always, if you spot anything you think would be worth a mention, just let me know by emailing [email protected]. Always good to know of others posting about D365 Marketing or if you see anything else other marketers should know about.

Now let’s get on with the newsletter!

The following relate to news and articles about Dynamics 365 Marketing

The Switch to Realtime Marketing - Part 1

KELLY SIMPSON

You’ve heard it many times from me, Outbound is no more. Have you started making ‘the switch’? In this post from Kelly, she asks some great questions and gives you some good answers to go along with them! Could be a good initial first step if you still haven’t started moving to Realtime. Take a look!

Segments in Customer Insights - Journeys: multi-hop, custom tables, N:N and 1:N relationships

AMEY HOLDEN

In this post from Amey, she clears some of the smoke surrounding segments in Realtime Marketing and uncovers some fantastic tips about multi-hops, custom tables, many to many and one to many relationships. If you are trying to build segments that are not quite as simple as just using attributes directly from a Lead or Contact, this one is for you!

Capture Lead Channel Traffic Source Without UTM Parameters

MEGAN V. WALKER

If you use Google Analytics, you should be familiar with channels. As defined by Google, channels are rule-based definitions of your website’s traffic sources that let you monitor the performance of all of the channels sending traffic to your website. Someone might come to your website, but not via a link including UTM Parameters which can be used to uncover more information about how they found your site. Understanding the method or ‘channel’ used is important to know where your marketing budget has actually been spent on something helping generate new Leads. In this post, I will provide a way in which to gather that information to pass through via a submitted Realtime Marketing form and using browser session storage so you can start tracking your Lead Channels.

Brand profiles: Define styles

PAULINE KOLDE

An interesting post from Pauline where she focuses on one of the new features added to Brand Profiles. It’s been around for a bit, but now you can add and define styles for your emails that are linked to brand profiles. So this combines quite a few things which is good to see, things being expanded and linked together more. Take a look and see what Pauline found out!

What is the version of my Customer Insights – Journeys environment?

MARCO VAN DER HEYDEN

This is a quick one from Marco but definitely valuable for sharing! If you are ever unsure what version of D365 Marketing (Customer Insights - Journeys) you are on, Marco has outlined the steps to take to check. If you aren’t sure, go ahead and take a look!

AI Unleashed: Crafting Personalized Marketing Journeys with Microsoft Copilot

ROBBERT JACOBS

This is a good LinkedIn article from Robbert focused on data-driven personalisation using Copilot in Customer Insights (D365 Marketing to those who refuse to let go 😉). I like that he goes even further doing some experimenting with Power Automate and Copilot Studio. Love to see the art of the possible!

Transition to real time journeys – the time is now

MICROSOFT - VINAY DEO

Vinay is a Principal Product Manager, and someone I’m lucky to have had several chats with. He’s a great guy, and I found a blog he wrote that was published on the Microsoft blog site last week. Similar to Kelly’s post, Vinay is focused on that transition that needs to be made from Outbound to Realtime. There are links to some great documentation, and also includes some of the things coming in the next release wave! Well worth checking out.

Customer Insights Pricing Reminder

MICROSOFT

This information isn’t new, and is more of a reminder, but if you haven’t already discussed with the partner you purchases your licenses from, it’s something to raise with them so both you and they understand your options. Your license agreement might be up for renewal soon so be sure you know how Customer Insights is licensed as it is different from how you were paying for D365 Marketing.

If there are any upcoming events relating to Marketing, they will go here!

Customer Insights - Moving from Outbound to Realtime Marketing

POWER TIPS VIDEO SERIES

Last week I had the pleasure of chatting with three wonderful people in the community all about moving from Outbound to Realtime on their YouTube series, Power Tips. Thanks to Heidi Neuhauser, Kylie Kiser and Malcolm McAuley for inviting me to join them! You can watch the recording here.

Birmingham D365 & Power Platform User Group

DYNAMICS 365 & POWER PLATFORM UK USER GROUP

I mentioned this one quite a few times previously for those in the UK to save the date, but the user group event on 28th February in London is now open for RSVP’s. This is one of my favourite to attend and I will be there. Go ahead and register today so you don’t miss out!

Navigating the Future: Microsoft 365 Copilot Webinar

BCN GROUP

One Microsoft Partner is really embracing Copilot and has several white papers, blogs and resources on the subject. If you want to find out more and watch some live demos that explain the Copilot ecosystem and takes a deep dive in to the features and capabilities of Microsoft 365 Copilot, take a look at this webinar. It’s on 8th February from 11 AM to 12 PM UK time.

How to Setup, Apply Marketing Copilot to Tailor Email Insights

DYNAMICS COMMUNITIES - HEIDI NEUHAUSER

Another onDemand recording, where you can watch Heidi review some of the Copilot features in D365 Marketing. She shows using it to tailor email insights, using it in a Journey, and turning it on from the settings area. A good one to check out!

Other Marketing content you might find useful

A Secret (& Simple!) Blogging Tactic for your content strategy in 2024

ITPR - DAVID BEESLEY

I’ve added this one because it’s something I am REALLY BAD at… and that’s re-using old blogs. Finding those that have value that with just a little updating can be pushed back out again and find a whole new audience. Another great one from ITPR written by their Managing Director David Beesley. Something I think we can all implement as a good blogging tactic this year!

Why Are My Emails Going To Junk?

MEGAN V. WALKER

If you have been subscribed to this newsletter and marketing in general, you will be aware of the change Google & Yahoo have coming next month. Microsoft will be making adjustments in D365 Marketing to accommodate, but there are still things you can be doing as an organisation to make sure things are checked and ready to go. Make sure all of your DNS records are up to date. To understand why that’s important, I want to link to a post I wrote back in 2020 that explains what all the different records are for and why they are important. Hope it helps!