Customer has mobile number only, no email ID

[sdarak09]

I have a question on Marketo and would like your expert opinion on the same -
We have only mobile number of the customers and would like to use Marketo for SMS, whatsapp, push and in-app. We do not want to capture email ID of the customer, and work with mobile number only?

What are the challenges in this case? Can I make mobile no. as primary ID for dedupe? Will it work in similar way like email ID?  How can we circumvent the email ID requirement of Marketo to deduplicate customer records? Any issues which you foresee? Your insights will be really helpful for us to make the prospect aware of the limitation and issues they can encounter

[Michael_Florin]

Cruel thought here: Do you use Marketo only for SMS & Co.? Then it's most likely not the right tool.

[SanfordWhiteman]

I agree with Michael, let's start with that question before we start talking about how to lookup on Phone fields.

[sdarak09]

Hi Michael,

Initially we want to start with using it for SMS and mobile app, but will move towards email and other channel eventually. We have a very small customer base and not very high throughput requirement. 

[SanfordWhiteman]

If Marketo still fits your budget, that makes sense. But not using the platform — at least in part — for email is uncommon!

Frankly the easiest way to get what you need is to store the mobile number in the Email Address field as well as in the standard Mobile Phone. Then also have a field like Email Address Category that holds either “Email” or “SMS” to tell you which type of data you’re currently storing.