Change the Way You Think About Good Data

Author: John Williams

Whether it be healthcare, education, travel, finance, banking, or absolutely any industry, good contact data is the silent backseat driver empowering countless businesses to reap a high ROI on their targeted marketing efforts. Organizations that understand the value of good marketing data and know-how to put it use will continue to win the patronage of their customers.

What is Good Data?

Not all data is relevant and usable. For it to result in the desired outcomes, contact data needs to be timely updated, accurate, and complete – the three cornerstones of quality data. Bad data, which does not adhere to the aforementioned qualities, may lead to ill-conceived business strategies and missed opportunities.

Reliable custom data companies like LakeB2B build contact databases that contain age markers along with other relevant information such as names, phone numbers, email addresses, etc. We consistently ensure data hygiene by getting rid of redundant and duplicate records, thus providing uniformity to data. Part of this database can then be used by a business that is looking to market to a specific set of people or a niche industry. We constantly re-work our database to keep it fresh and updated; this paves the way for high-quality data.

Businesses must be wary of bad data not only because it harms their marketing efforts, but it also converts to huge monetary losses if left unchecked. An estimate made by IBM in 2016 pegged bad data related losses at $3.1 trillion in the U.S. alone. An article published in the MIT Sloane Management Review in 2017 by Thomas Redman (data quality consultant) estimated that dealing with the correction of bad data costs organizations 15% to 20% annually.

Why Do Businesses Need (Good) Data?

Before reading any further, one must understand that contact data is not a magical crystal ball that knows it all and helps determine the future; it helps make educated guesses at best. Data is the key difference between working hard and working smart. Why is good data so crucial to an organization’s success?

• Good data helps make better-informed decisions
• Good contact data enables a business to reach the right prospects
• It helps to better manage marketing efforts and elevates general marketing to targeted marketing
• It facilitates engagement with the brand

Good data management is accomplished by keeping databases updated and accurate. This is a rigorous and demanding task for any organization. A business in need of targeted marketing data must engage the services of an established data provider to achieve multi-channel campaign efficiency. With clean and updated custom data, a business can drive superior results through precision-targeted campaigns focused on its core customer personas.

Once you’ve chosen the right custom data provider, ask them some key questions about how they maintain hygiene and integrity.

Asking Your Database Provider the Right Questions

Ask your database service provider for the step-by-step approach they follow, from data collection to data cleansing, appending and validating. Judge the clarity with which the data management process is explained to you.

Following are some key questions you must ask –

1. How much data comes from a single source? Stay away from data that is mostly coming from a single source as there is no way to verify it. Data should have multiple sources to validate a record

2. How often is the existing data and the new data verified and enhanced? Incorrect and incomplete contact details are the first roadblock in the way of achieving good data hygiene. Additionally, email or phone records need to be verified to ensure that there is a person or a business behind a record

3. How often is the existing data cleansed? Outdated information will have you missing out on promising leads and prospects

4. How many people are in the team and what are the methodologies employed by them to collect data?

5. How recent is the data and how regularly are data updates performed?

6. How well is the data protected?

7. Is the data sold privately or through a public data exchange? Data sold on public data exchanges may become ineffective due to over-usage. Don’t use data that has been sold too many times to several competitors selling the same product set. Look persistently for data that is novel and privately bought

Apart from these questions, also request a data sample to self-check the quality of the database provider. The best strategy to employ here would be to request them to provide you with the data of a ZIP code that you are familiar with. By doing so you can check the data sample for businesses or contacts that exist but the dataset has missed out on or are in the data sample but have gone out of business.

Performing these robustness checks and setting expectations before going into business with a data provider is of utmost importance. Next time you think about data, think about good data and go out of your way to get it. Good data lays the groundwork for a solid foundation that your business needs.

Concluding Thoughts

It is abundantly clear how businesses can save money and function more effectively by harnessing good data practices. Half the battle is won by identifying good data from the bad and that is also half the challenge.

Marketing efforts can be made successful only by utilizing personalized data that can help businesses reach relevant prospects quickly. If you are unable to harness data as a tool, you are likely looking at bad leads, missed opportunities, and prospects that never respond. Eventually, a business making use of bad marketing data will have competitors soon overwhelm it.