Why Mandatory Data Mappings Are the Key to Identity Resolution in Salesforce Data 360

Understanding Mandatory Mappings in Data 360

What Are Mandatory Mappings?

Mandatory mappings are the foundational links between your system data and Salesforce’s standard object model. They define how identifiers, names, contact information, and addresses are structured so Data 360 can recognize when two records belong to the same person.

Without these mappings, Data 360 cannot perform identity stitching, leaving your customer view incomplete.

Mapping Relationships Explained

When creating mappings, you’ll encounter different relationship types:

• 1:1 (One-to-One): A single DLO field maps directly to a single DMO field.
  • Example: An Individual ID in your source system maps to the Individual object in Data 360.
• 1:N (One-to-Many): A single DLO field maps into multiple DMO fields.
  
  • Example: One Individual can be tied to multiple addresses.
• N:1 (Many-to-One): Multiple DLO fields map into a single DMO field.
  
  • Example: Mobile Phone and Home Phone may both map into the Contact Point Phone object.
• N:N (Many-to-Many): Multiple DLOs connect to multiple DMOs.
  
  • Example: Contact Point Social can map across multiple systems and IDs.

Visual Guide

The diagram below shows how Party Identification, Individual, and Contact Point objects work together through mandatory mappings:

Detailed Required Mappings for Data 360

Below are the required objects, fields, and relationship types as defined by Salesforce’s documentation. These are mandatory for enabling identity resolution and saving mappings. Salesforce

How These Required Mappings Appear in Practice (with Relationship Types)

Using your diagram plus the Salesforce required mappings, here is a more fully mapped-out view:

• Individual ↔ Party Identification:

  • One Individual may have many Party Identifications (1:N) — e.g. multiple ID types (passport, driver’s license, customer ID).

  • Conversely, each Party Identification record maps to exactly one Individual (N:1).

• Individual ↔ Contact Point Email / Phone / Address / Social/App:

  • Individual to Email: 1:N — each individual may have one or multiple emails.

  • Individual to Phone: 1:N — multiple phone numbers per individual.

  • Individual to Address: 1:N — multiple addresses (home, work, billing, etc.).

  • Individual to Social/App: 1:N or N:N depending on whether multiple social/app IDs are associated, possibly across multiple sources.

• Party Identification ↔ Individual: N:1 as noted above.

• Contact Point objects (Email, Phone, Address, Social/App) often include a Party reference so you can trace back which Party/Person they belong to.

• Additionally, some mappings may be Many:Many (N:N) in scenarios where multiple DLOs or multiple external systems feed into the same Contact Point or Social/App object type. For example, two systems both provide a phone number for the same person — you need to manage deduplication or merges.
  
  

Why These Specific Mappings & Relationship Types Are Required

Based on Salesforce’s Data Mapping Requirements article:

• The Primary Key field in Profile / Other category DMOs is mandatory. Without it, you can’t save the mapping. Salesforce
• All required identity-related fields must be mapped (IDs, name, contact points). If any required identity field is missing, identity resolution may not function properly. Salesforce
• Mapping must respect field semantics: e.g. mapping phone → phone, email → email. You can’t map the wrong type.

Expanded Example: Mapping Workflow

Here’s a step-by-step example combining what we know now, showing exactly what fields get mapped, and their relationship types.

1. Source DLO: CRM_Customer
   

   • Fields: Customer_ID, First_Name, Last_Name, Home_Phone, Work_Email, Address_Line1, City, Postal_Code, Country, Social_ID

2. Map to DMOs:
   

3. Party Identification mapping:
   

   • If source has Passport_Number or National_ID fields, map to Party Identification ID, Identification Number, Identification Type.

   • Relationship: individual has 1 many identifications → 1:N.

Implications If Required Mappings Are Missing or Incorrect

• Mapping definitions can’t be saved if primary key in DMOs isn’t mapped. (You’ll get errors/warnings in Data 360.) Salesforce
• Identity resolution will miss or fail to match records if key fields (IDs, emails, phone, address) are not mapped.
• Downstream features relying on identity — deduplication, personalization, segmentation — degrade in performance.
• Source data may not join correctly, leading to orphans (records without party) or mismatched Parties.