Difference between profiles and events in the Customer Data Platform (CDP)

Goal

The goal of this article is to explain the difference between profiles and events.

Who can it help?

- CM.com employee
- Customer

Events

Events are data points out which a profile is build up. Each event is a different data point that was sent by one of the data sources.

Events can be found by clicking on a profile or in "Event insights".

Examples of events are: a pre-registration, webshop order, email opened or email clicked.

Profiles

A profile is always build up out of one or multiple events that have a key property in common. When your email address is your key property, all events with the same email will be bundled in one profile.

Profiles can be found in "Profile insights".

For example: you first register on the website via a pre-registration. A profile will be created, containing one event. Later, you buy a ticket via CM.com Ticketing, and the data is automatically stored in the CDP. The ticket data will enrich the existing profile because the key property, in this case email address, is equal across both events.

Video

Below you can find a video on the differences between Profiles and Events in Mobile Marketing Cloud.