Blocking field Updates - Deep Dive

[Brian_Law_MKTO]

You can use block field updates to keep Marketo from overwriting or updating key information. It is not possible to make a Marketo field which is editable read only. You can only block field updates to the field. I recommending blocking updates for all list imports (Trusted and Untrusted) since users typically don’t know the difference between the two types. You can always unblock updates temporarily.

I recommend blocking field updates for any values you don't want ever want to change such as fields you are using to capture Original or First field values.

Examples:

• Original or First Lead Source (Custom SFDC or Marketo only field)
• Original Source Type and Original Source Info
• Any fields labeled “Original”

If your sales team is sensitive about their data, you can use block updates to keep from overwriting a first name or phone number when a form is submitted.

There are some fields which you can’t block updates since these fields aren’t editable like Full Name, Created and Updated.

In my testing, blocking field updates for list imports does work for boolean/check box fields. I tested both the unsubscribed and a custom field for list imports and manual updates.

	Unsubscribed	Unsubscribed	Unsubscribed	Custom Boolean Field	Custom Boolean Field	Custom Boolean Field
Original Value	TRUE	TRUE	FALSE	TRUE	TRUE	FALSE
List Import Value	FALSE		TRUE	FALSE		TRUE
Results	Stayed True	Stayed True	Stayed False	Stayed True	Stayed True	Stayed False

Note: During my testing I noticed that if you don't have field updates blocked for a boolean field Marketo and if you imported a "Null/empty" value the value won't change from True to False. In the past, the value would change from True to False if you imported a list with empty values for a boolean field. Thus, it no longer appears to be an issue.

Admin rights are required to block updates to a field. Instructions can be found here http://docs.marketo.com/display/public/DOCS/Block+Updates+to+a+Field including the different input sources (e.g data value change, salesforce sync, list imports, etc).

Here are some resources for learning about the Marketo integration with SFDC.