Custom Object Smart list not returning correct results

[maddie_vararu_n]

Hi everyone,

I have a custom object for our webinar platform (webinar.net). I'm syncing data to custom fields within Marketo, but they also insist on using a custom object as well. I figured using the custom object might be slightly better to some extent, so I wanted to test out the results and I'm seeing something that doesn't look quite right in Marketo.

For background - Registrations to the event happen through a Marketo form, and are then sent via Webhook to the platform. Registrations can also happen on the webinar platform, but in that case, people don't tend to be synced back to Marketo if they don't already exist. After the webinar is concluded, a sync is pushed back into Marketo with the attendance data. I have Most Recent Webinar, Attendance Status, and what we consider MQL answers being sent back to Marketo to update their status to Requested Follow-up.

In Marketo I have

• Total members - 1912
• Registered - 1339
• Attended - 496
• Requested Follow-up - 77 (a person can become Requested follow-up before the webinar which is why I expect to have more than in the platform)

In the webinar platform I have:

• Total members - 1794
• Registered - 1245
• Attended - 549
• Requested follow-up - 15

Things I checked:

1. I created a Smart list using Has Custom Object = TRUE. According to the webinar platform, it has successfully synced over 1794 people (Import succeeded, 1794 records imported (1794 members)). In the smart list, I have 896 people.
2. I created a Smart list using Most Recent Webinar = Webinar Title from the platform - 1794 - this would indicate that everyone in the platform has been synced over to Marketo.
3. Kept Most Recent Webinar = Webinar Title from the platform & Has Custom Object  = FALSE - 898 people
4. Spot checked people in Step 3 and all had the Custom object information.
5. Created a Smart list using Has Custom Object = TRUE + Constraint on the Poll question IS NOT EMPTY - expected 15 people, only 6 qualified. Checked the other 9 and all have the Custom object and the Poll field is not empty.

I'm not sure why the results are so inconsistent when Marketo seems to have the data available. There are some issues with not everyone who is in Marketo is also in the webinar platform, but that's a problem for another day. 

Do you have any suggestions on whether I'm doing something wrong in my troubleshooting or if this is expected behaviour and the custom object cannot be relied upon?

Many thanks for your help.

Kind regards,

Maddie

[Darshil_Shah1]

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For background - Registrations to the event happen through a Marketo form, and are then sent via Webhook to the platform. Registrations can also happen on the webinar platform, but in that case, people don't tend to be synced back to Marketo if they don't already exist. After the webinar is concluded, a sync is pushed back into Marketo with the attendance data. I have Most Recent Webinar, Attendance Status, and what we consider MQL answers being sent back to Marketo to update their status to Requested Follow-up.

Do you create the CO record for the people registered via the webinar platform when you push them to Marketo post-event? If not, then this is an inconsistent process, in my opinion, where you'd end up with CO records for some people (the ones registered via Marketo) and no CO records for the rest (the ones registered via the webinar platform).

Also, let's back up a bit, shouldn't the count of people match b/w Marketo and the Webinar platform? AFAICT, you're syncing the person data eventually (during registration/post-event). 

896 with CO = True and 898 records with CO record = False add up to 1,794 people which tallies with the number of people you see in the Webinar platform. You should see why Marketo shows an additional 118 members (1912-1794) - maybe spot-check these 118 members. It could be the case (and assuming that you've already synced members from Webinar to Marketo given that the event is completed), that 896 people registered from Marketo and 898 people were registered from your webinar platform, and in case you aren't creating the CO records for the latter, you'd not see them pulling up in the smart list with Has CO = True.