Party Identification in Salesforce Data Cloud
Party Identification is one of the most important Data Model Objects in Salesforce Data Cloud. It allows organizations to store customer identifiers from multiple source systems and use them during identity resolution and profile unification.
Why Party Identification Matters
Most organizations have customer data distributed across CRM systems, ecommerce platforms, loyalty applications, and marketing systems. Each platform generates its own identifier for the same customer.
| System | Identifier |
|---|---|
| Salesforce CRM | Contact ID |
| Marketing Cloud | Subscriber Key |
| Loyalty Platform | Membership Number |
| Ecommerce Platform | Customer ID |
Customer 360 Data Model Relationship
Individual
│
└── Party
│
├── Party Identification
│
├── Contact Point Email
│
└── Contact Point Phone
Real World Example
A customer named John Smith exists across multiple systems:
CRM Contact ID = 0035g00000ABC123 Subscriber Key = johnsmith_1001 Loyalty Member ID = GOLD789654 Customer ID = EC998877
Data Cloud stores these identifiers as separate Party Identification records while linking them to the same customer profile.
Party Identification Mapping Example
Customer_ID → Identification Number Customer Type → Identification Type Source System → Source System Party Reference → Party ID
Identity Resolution Example
Source System A Customer ID = EC998877 Email = john@example.com Source System B Subscriber Key = johnsmith_1001 Email = john@example.com Unified Customer ├── EC998877 └── johnsmith_1001
- Use meaningful identifier types.
- Capture source system details.
- Standardize identifier formats.
- Validate incoming identifiers.
- Remove duplicates before ingestion.
Video Tutorial
Conclusion
Party Identification provides the foundation for storing external customer identifiers in Salesforce Data Cloud. Proper implementation improves identity resolution accuracy and enables a reliable Customer 360 experience.