Back in 2023, Microsoft quietly made a big move: Dynamics 365 Marketing was rebranded as Dynamics 365 Customer Insights.
If you blinked, you may have missed it. But this change was more than cosmetic — it marked the start of a major shift in how Microsoft is positioning customer experience tools across the Dynamics and Power Platform ecosystem.
So what really changed?
One Product, Two Modules
With the rename, Customer Insights now comes in two distinct modules:
- Customer Insights – Data
Formerly what we called the standalone CDP (Customer Data Platform). It focuses on unifying data from across your systems — CRM, ERP, web, and third-party sources — to create a single customer profile. - Customer Insights – Journeys
This is what used to be Dynamics 365 Marketing. But now it’s more powerful, more integrated, and, most importantly, real-time.
Why the Rename?
The rename aligns with Microsoft’s broader vision: to offer an end-to-end customer experience platform that goes beyond just marketing. The “Marketing” label was always a bit limiting — especially when you’re running citizen engagement portals, internal service alerts, or even sales follow-up journeys. It’s not always marketing. But it’s always about the customer.
What Happens to Outbound Marketing?
If you’ve been using Outbound Marketing in Dynamics 365, here’s what you need to know:
- Outbound still exists (for now), but it’s not getting new features
- Real-Time Journeys is the future
- Event-triggered journeys, dynamic segmentation, AI recommendations — they all live in the real-time world
Microsoft has already started nudging organizations to move to real-time journeys. Forms, email templates, and segments from outbound can be migrated or rebuilt — but the longer you wait, the harder it gets.
Why This Matters
The platform now supports:
- Real-time customer journeys that react instantly to behavior
- Unified analytics across touchpoints
- Native integration with Power Platform (Power Automate, Power Pages, Dataverse, etc.)
- A proper Customer Data Platform experience for organizations that are serious about personalization
Whether you’re working in public sector, healthcare, retail, or membership-based organizations — this evolution gives you more control, more insights, and better timing.