What I learned while working with Adobe Orchestrated Campaign

ADOBE ORCHESTRATED CAMPAIGNSADOBE JOURNEY OPTIMIZER (AJO)

Pradeep Jaiswal

4/14/20265 min read

Features working with limitations

1) Filter Logic Non-Persistence: Filter criteria defined during the Build Audience step are not persisted or available for reuse in subsequent Enrichment activities.

Filters in Build audience

Adobe Orchestrated Campaign(OC) aka Campaign Orchestration (CO) or Orchestrated Campaign Module (OCM) is recently launched tool by Adobe under Experience Marketing Cloud.

This post isn’t about the powerful capabilities of Adobe Orchestration; no one can pitch those better than the sales team. In my view, OCM is a premature product born from the marriage of Adobe Journey Optimizer (AJO) and Adobe Campaign (AC).

While working with OCM, I’ve encountered several challenges and limitations that aren’t fully documented in the Adobe Experience League. My goal isn’t to vent, but rather to share these findings so others in the community can navigate their own implementations more effectively.

4) Node Preview Instability: The preview functionality between nodes frequently fails with non-descriptive “something went wrong” or “table has changed” errors, hindering data validation.

Target Dimension configuration

2) Filter Definition Visibility: There is no centralized repository or UI view to inspect existing filter definitions without initiating an “overwrite filters” action within the Build Audience node.

3) Target Dimension Immutability: Profile Target Dimensions are foundational, immutable objects; once configured, they cannot be edited or deleted within the UI.

5) Enrichment Anchoring: Enrichment is anchored to the targeting dimension but can pull fields from any properly linked relational entity and NOT from XDM profile.

6) Aggregate Function Availability: Aggregate functions are currently available in Enrichment activities but not within the Build Audience step.

7) Audience Enrichment: OCM audiences used in Journeys do not carry their enrichment attributes into the journey flow.

8) URL char limitation: Survey and review links can be max 250 characters in relational table.

9) Profile Attribute Access: Real Time Customer Profile attributes are only accessible when a campaign starts with a Read Audience.

Curvy lines in AJO canvas

Features present in AJO but missing in OCM

10) Canvas Path Rigidity: Unlike the AJO Journey canvas, the connecting paths between orchestration nodes are linear and rigid, preventing manual adjustment (up/down/left/right) to optimize screen space or visual flow.

11) Global Exit Criteria Absence: The orchestration engine lacks a global campaign-level setting to restrict profile exit behavior

12) External Connectivity Limitations: Custom Actions for messaging external third-party endpoints are not currently supported within the OC framework.

13) Mid-Campaign Profile Updates: There is no native activity available to update profile attributes dynamically during campaign execution.

Custom Action in AJO

Update profile activity in AJO

14) Build Audience Profile Access: Real-Time Customer Profile attributes cannot be queried directly within the Build Audience step; they are only accessible if an audience is pre-created and utilized via a Read Audience start node.

15) FAC Direct Access Constraints: Federated Audience Composition (FAC) attributes are inaccessible in the Build Audience step unless the audience is first published to the Audience Portal and ingested via a Read Audience node.

16) Execution Reporting Gaps: Orchestrated campaigns do not generate standard journey step events dataset.

17) STO Support: Send Time Optimization (STO) is currently absent in orchestrated execution.

18) Offer Decisioning Support: Native integration with Offer Decisioning capabilities is not currently supported.

19) Mid Campaign Opt in Updates: Consent opt in status is a static snapshot taken at the start and does not update mid execution.

20) Canvas Profile Counts: Counts displayed on the orchestration canvas represent total records rather than unique profiles.
Features present in AEP (XDM) but missing in OCM

Features present in AEP (XDM) but missing in OCM

21) Static Audience Snapshots: Saved audiences function as static snapshots requiring full re-evaluation; they lack method to identify incremental entries, exits.

22) Relational Data UI Visibility: Relational store attributes and cross-table relationships are not reflected in the standard Profile UI, preventing a unified “360 view” of a specific profile’s relational records.

profile view

Other Challenges

23) Test Data Injection Constraints: The test profile creation wizard lacks placeholders or functional hooks to update or populate corresponding test data within relational tables via CSV upload.

Columns in CSV file template

I am a huge advocate for Adobe’s ecosystem, largely because of how rapidly their products evolve with every release. In fact, the pace of innovation is often so fast it’s a challenge to keep up with every new feature. I am confident that many of the limitations identified here are already on the roadmap and will be addressed in future iterations of Orchestrated Campaign

24) Profile Cloning : There is no free auto clone feature for xdm profiles into relational stores; data must be ingested twice or derived via Query Service.

25) Journey Data Usage: Relational tables are designed for OC only and cannot be directly consumed by AJO Journeys.

26) Relational Segmentation Toggle: The “Enable for Segmentation” toggle on relational schemas has no current significance.

Read part 2 of this series here : Navigating the Uncharted Waters of Adobe Orchestrated Campaigns: Limitations and Workarounds

At Shiftlytic, we specialize in Adobe Journey Optimizer (AJO) architecture, helping global brands navigate the complexities of email campaign.

Contact us today to schedule one free consultation and ensure your AJO Email strategy is accurate, scalable, and fully optimized. Let’s turn your global customer data into a competitive advantage together.

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