Multiple Brands/Websites - Setup of Marketo / Munchkin Tracking

[AshleighMo]

Hi! Looking for some insights and knowledge on multiple websites & Munchkin Tracking. I have only ever worked with multiple brands/products being in their own instance or Partition of Marketo. I recently joined a company that is undergoing some major migrations. First, migrated to Marketo. Secondly, about to bring in 5 other brands into that same marketo instance. Currently the set up is really aimed toward only one brand. It appears that the plan is to just bring in the new brands and differentiate them based on the naming convention (I don't approve of this way of working). 

Would this even work in terms of munchkin tracking? Can you use the same munchkin code across multiple sites? (These are not multi language sites, they are entirely different companies that the main company owns).  I know we need to get different CNames set up for each brand but i'm concerned about the tracking to so many sites.

I have read through some different scenarios here on Marketo Nation but haven't found this example specifically. I also reviewed the munchkin code knowledge doc on Adobe site but that only says NOT to use multiple munchkin codes on 1 site. Nothing about 1 munchkin code on multiple sites. Thanks for any feedback!

[derelict_wombat · Accepted solution]

Hi @AshleighMo - yes is it possible to put munchkin tracking on multiple sites.  Assuming you are using the same instance of Marketo for each of these this should be as simple as just deploying the munchkin script to each site.  We do this today and there isn't any issues with it. 

[SanfordWhiteman]

There's no technical problem deploying Munchkin to as many domains as you want, as @derelict_wombat says.

The problem with using different private domains (example.com, example2.net, example3.info are different private domains) is the Munchkin cookie will never be shared across those domains. This means the same person can be anonymous on one site and known on another.

If you can avoid this, i.e. by using a single domain and differentiating by path, you should. Cookies are flighty enough as it is.

[AshleighMo]

So I don't know that we could use a single domain at least not anytime in the near future. It is different companies all acquired by a parent company. Each company operates on their own with their own services/products and their own site. So the domains are entirely different. In an effort to become more aligned across the business, the team is trying to migrate all of the brands into 1 instance of marketo. No partitions, no workspaces, nothing. Just everything together, the only differentiator between brands is the Naming convention for programs. 

In terms of implications, this just means that if Company A has a known contact and that contact crosses over to Company B's site, that will not track in their activity record since they are not known? Or am I misunderstanding the cross-tracking issue? And is there a workaround for this? I assume a lot of dev work?

[SanfordWhiteman]

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...this just means that if Company A has a known contact and that contact crosses over to Company B's site, that will not track in their activity record since they are not known? Or am I misunderstanding the cross-tracking issue?

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That’s correct.

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And is there a workaround for this? I assume a lot of dev work?

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Yes, there are technical tactics that let you preserve a person’s association (known-ness) from Company A to Company B under certain circumstances.

One example: for every link from Company A to Company B (and vice versa) you include the cookie value in the query string of the link, then use that cookie on the other site in place of the auto-generated, anonymous cookie.

Another example: in some browsers (e.g. not Safari) you can migrate the cookie from Company A to to Company B without the end user having to navigate from one to the other.

Yes, these require an experienced developer, but may be worth it for your case.