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laureng1
Level 1
May 13, 2025
Question

Select Specific Number of Contacts Per Unique Identifier

  • May 13, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 725 views

I am trying to figure out how to get more advanced with random samples in Marketo. Here's an example:

 

Sending an event invite to the state of New York. There are 100,000+ plus people in the database in New York across ~150 zip codes.

 

For the soft launch, I want to select 10 people from each zip code in the state. I can't figure out how to do this, random sample seems to only allow me select a specific % across the entire state, but gives me no flexibility on how I'd like to distribute that sample. Is there a way to accomplish this? 

 

I'm trying to apply that same logic to a product launch soft launch. I want to limit how many peopleper account get the first email but the random sample doesn't seem to allow me to distribute how I want the sample to be applied.

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2 replies

SanfordWhiteman
SanfordWhiteman
Level 10
May 13, 2025

There’s no Marketo built-in feature that can do this.

 

You can do it via a webhook-enabled service.

 

P.S. On the tech side we’d call this a random shuffle: the entire zip code cohort is internally shuffled and then you take the first 10 records from the result. Bit more complex than just generating a random number. In any case, a webhook service could do it for you, you’d just pass everyone through 2x.

beth-corby
beth-corby
Level 2
May 14, 2025

@laureng1

Marketo’s Random Sample functionality is great for broad percentage-based sampling, but doesn't support granular control like “10 per zip code." 

 

Potential Workaround Approaches:

 

Static List Pre-processing (Manual or via Smart Lists)

Create a Smart List for each zip code using the filter: Zip Code = [specific zip]. Then, randomly sample the % of people from each list and add them to a static list for the campaign. This can be VERY time-consuming, but it is effective for one-off sends or small sample groups.

 

Export, Sample, and Reimport
Export your New York database to Excel. Use Excel or a BI tool like Tableau to select 10 leads per zip code using stratified random sampling. Then reimport the selected records with a custom field such as “Invite Sample = True” and use that as your Smart List.

 

Very tedious options but unfortunately, thats what we have to work with. Using some sort of AI tool could also potentially be an option. I know tools like Mary from allGood can do this type of data stuff if you teach it to. 😁

Marketing Ops Unicorn
SanfordWhiteman
SanfordWhiteman
Level 10
May 15, 2025

Create a Smart List for each zip code using the filter: Zip Code = [specific zip]. Then, randomly sample the % of people from each list and add them to a static list for the campaign.

This is sometimes possible, but the minimum Random Sample size (in percent) is 1% and that won’t work with only one sample run. You’d have to continually whittle down the lists with Random Sample until you ended up with 10 people.

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