Custom Field deduplicate

[RaguPrashanth]

Hi All,

We are trying to save unique values in Brand Preference field in Marketo.

Here’s a brief explanation of the current setup and test results:

• Each form submission uses a hidden Brand field with values like AA or BB.
• A trigger campaign updates the Brand Preference field using the Brand value. (Screen Shot Attached)

Test Results:

1st Form Submission (Brand = AA)  

Record values:

Email : Test@test.com

Brand = AA, Brand Preference = AA

2nd Form Submission (Brand = BB)

Record values:

Email : Test@test.com

Brand = BB, Brand Preference = BB:: AA

3rd Form Submission (Brand = BB) again

Record values: 

Email: Test@test.com

Brand = BB, Brand Preference = BB :: BB :: AA

The trigger campaign appends Brand values to Brand Preference appending with duplicates.

Is there any way to prevent duplicate values in Brand Preference?

Regards,

Ragu

[Chandan1]

I was thinking of a simpler workaround using a flow step condition.
Instead of using "is not empty", we can use "does not contain" on the Brand Preference field, assuming we already have a defined list of Brand values.

This allows us to check whether the submitted Brand already exists in the Brand Preference field.
If it does, the campaign will skip updating or appending the value, helping us prevent duplicate entries.
Thanks,

[SanfordWhiteman]

Yes, if you have a fixed list it’s obviously possible. I think we’re talking about automatic duplicate detection regardless of the value to be upserted.

[RaguPrashanth]

Hi Sanford,

Please share any examples or reference.

[SanfordWhiteman]

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Is there any way to prevent duplicate values in Brand Preference?

Only by passing the values to a webhook-compatible service. We do that to clean up multivalued field.

But this is also a good case for using Custom Objects instead of a flat field. Then the CO is deduped on the Brand and you don’t have to worry about cleanup.

[RaguPrashanth]

Hi Sanford,

Thanks for the reply.

Please share any reference link for implementing deduplication of custom field values using Custom Objects (CO).

Regards,

Ragu

[SanfordWhiteman]

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Please share any reference link for implementing deduplication of custom field values using Custom Objects (CO).

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Well, every Custom Object has 1, 2, or 3 dedupe fields. So if you set the Brand as the only dedupe field then it’ll always merge into an existing CO record.

(Of course I’m leaving out how you manage the COs — that’s another question!)