Why is Everyone Talking About Dynamics 365 Customer Insights?

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights has rapidly become one of the most talked-about tools in the marketing automation landscape. So, why is everyone suddenly buzzing about it? Microsoft has transformed the way businesses manage customer engagement by combining powerful data-driven insights, real-time marketing capabilities, and AI-powered automation, all under a single unified platform. This innovation aims to solve the key challenges faced by marketing and sales teams, providing a cohesive experience that is driving industry conversations. 

The Evolution of Dynamics 365 Customer Insights 

This article is aimed at marketing professionals, sales leaders, business decision-makers, IT professionals, and current Dynamics 365 users. Each of these groups faces unique challenges, such as aligning marketing and sales data, integrating AI tools, and making data-driven decisions that improve customer engagement. By addressing these specific needs, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys provides a unified approach that meets the requirements of growth-focused companies. 

In September 2023, Microsoft rebranded its marketing automation tool, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing, to Dynamics 365 Customer Insights-Journeys. With this change, Dynamics 365 Marketing, which previously included Outbound Marketing and Real-Time Marketing, has shifted its focus entirely to real-time capabilities. Real-Time Marketing evolved into Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys, while Outbound Marketing will be deprecated by June 30, 2025. To clarify, D365 Customer Insights can still be used for outbound marketing using more modern features. It is just the application that is being deprecated.  

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys now encompasses all the tools businesses need for real-time, data-driven marketing engagement, including email, SMS, and other channels. This evolution meets the growing demand for integrated and effective marketing automation, while also responding to rising customer expectations for personalized and timely engagement. The unified platform helps marketing professionals enhance outreach without the complexity of managing disconnected tools. 

D365 Customer Insights Availability, Capacity & Licensing 

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights can be purchased through Enterprise Agreement (EA), Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), and Web Direct channels, making it accessible to a wide range of businesses. The updated offering is available across major geographies, including the United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Asia Pacific, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe, France, Switzerland, Japan, and India. However, certain regions, such as Germany, Korea, and South Africa, still have access to standalone licensing until their next contract renewal cycle. As of now, the updated product offering is not yet available for US GCC, DoD, GCC High, or other sovereign clouds but may be at a future time. 

The new Dynamics 365 Customer Insights offering is licensed on a prepaid capacity model, where capacity is pooled at the tenant level.

There are two primary capacity units:

1. People Interacted, which powers Customer Insights - Journeys

People Interacted represents individuals who are actively engaged through marketing interactions, including contacts, leads, or accounts interacted with via outbound or inbound channels such as emails, SMS, or forms. 

2. People Unified, which powers Customer Insights - Data

People Unified refers to uniquely recognized customer profiles that are created through the unification of data from various sources. The base license includes a capacity of 100,000 People Unified, which can be increased if needed. 

All customers must start with a base license priced at $1,700 per tenant per month (or $1,000 for existing Dynamics 365 customers). Customers can purchase additional capacity for either People Unified or People Interacted as needed, offering flexibility in scaling according to business requirements. This flexible model allows organizations to scale their marketing automation efforts while ensuring cost efficiency. Changes to capacity can be made during subscription anniversaries, allowing for adjustments that align with business growth. 

Integration with Dynamics 365 Sales | A Game-Changer for Marketers & Sellers 

One of the greatest advantages, and a reason why everyone is talking about Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Journeys, is its smooth integration with Dynamics 365 Sales. By operating on a single database, this solution eliminates the need for complex integrations that often lead to data inconsistencies, security concerns, and high implementation costs. With real-time data available across both sales and marketing, teams can make informed decisions faster, react to customer behaviors immediately, and work together more effectively. 

This shared database also means fewer data silos, allowing sales representatives to take advantage of marketing insights instantly. This is particularly valuable for sales leaders and decision-makers who are focused on improving efficiency and driving cohesive customer experiences. Real-time marketing insights ensure that sales teams can tailor their strategies based on the most current customer interactions, resulting in a more personalized and effective approach to customer engagement. 

AI-Powered Automation with Microsoft Copilot 

Microsoft has incorporated its AI tool, Copilot, into Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Journeys, making it easier than ever to create complex marketing journeys. Using natural language commands, marketers can build sophisticated customer journeys in seconds—something that used to take hours of manual work. 

For example, you could say: 'Create a journey that sends an email to my gold-level customers. If they respond within five days, create a lead for the sales team. If they do not respond, send a follow-up email.' Copilot will handle the rest. This functionality significantly lowers the barrier to leveraging AI in marketing, helping marketers quickly set up and optimize campaigns. 

The integration of Microsoft Copilot has made Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Journeys one of the leading tools in the marketing automation world. By simplifying processes with conversational commands, it allows businesses to focus less on execution and more on strategy, making it an essential tool for growth-focused marketing teams. 

Product & Functionality Changes That Are Driving the D365 Customer Insights Hype 

The consolidation of Dynamics 365 Marketing and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights into a single offering has not led to any changes in product functionality. Microsoft continues to invest in capabilities that enable insights-driven marketing and tighter integration of customer data. The unified offering includes both Customer Insights Journeys and Customer Insights - Data, allowing users to benefit from both real-time and segment-based marketing capabilities. Customers can leverage powerful features, such as real-time customer journey orchestration, to deliver highly personalized marketing experiences. 

Microsoft has shifted its focus from outbound marketing to real-time marketing, reflecting the growing adoption and strong results driven by real-time customer engagement. Real-time marketing offers distinct capabilities, including lead scoring and form creation, which were previously part of outbound marketing but have now been revamped to improve productivity. 

The Transition from Outbound to Real-Time Marketing 

With the new Dynamics 365 Customer Insights offering, Microsoft has made a strategic shift towards a real-time marketing-only experience. This change is driven by the strong adoption of real-time marketing and the increasing demand for more personalized, timely interactions at every customer touchpoint. Real-time marketing enables marketers to effectively orchestrate customer journeys, ensuring that interactions are based on current behaviors and needs. It also enhances productivity by optimizing workflows and making marketing processes more agile. Outbound marketing capabilities are being gradually deprecated, but existing customers still have the option to access outbound features for a limited time. 

Microsoft's Roadmap for Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Journeys 

It is clear that Microsoft is investing heavily in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Journeys. According to the Release Wave 2 roadmap, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Journeys is set to receive the highest number of updates over the next six months. Many of these updates focus on enhancing the event management capabilities that were initially part of the deprecated Outbound Marketing tool. 

Microsoft has moved event management capabilities into Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Journeys and is expanding their functionality to make event management more robust and deeply integrated. One of the upcoming features is the ability to have a dedicated portal for managing events. This feature will make organizing and executing events simpler, providing marketers with tools to handle registrations, engagement, and communications all within the D365 Customer Insights ecosystem. 

Microsoft is also continuing to improve the customer journey creation process, adding features that make it easier for marketers to design effective journeys that resonate with their audiences. However, marketers may face challenges in ensuring that AI-generated content aligns with brand guidelines and maintains a personal touch, which requires ongoing oversight and refinement. This constant innovation is part of Microsoft's broader strategy to ensure that Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Journeys remains at the forefront of marketing automation solutions. 

Administrator Guidance & Impact of New Features 

For IT administrators and application administrators, managing new features effectively is crucial to ensuring a smooth transition and successful onboarding of new capabilities. Dynamics 365 Customer Insights introduces user impacting features that are enabled automatically. These features should be reviewed by administrators as part of their release change management efforts to mitigate any disruptions to the user experience. Additionally, the release wave includes features that must be enabled or configured by admins, makers, or business analysts to be fully available. Application administrators are encouraged to familiarize themselves with these new features to ensure proper configuration and usage.