Data Appending and Marketing Success
Data appending is a process of matching your marketing data lists against another data list. More often than not, this process is undertaken against a marketing/data company’s list. This allows your company to see where your data list can be built on and enhanced. It is possible in some cases to obtain additional fields and information relevant to the records on your list. Additional contact methods and demographic information about the prospects can be added (depending on the list it is being matched with). Appending is a crucial process common for both business and consumer data lists. Furthermore, it often saves businesses from having to buy in new data.
Data appending also helps cleanse your existing data. With the GDPR coming into effect in May this year, up to date, compliant data is essential for all UK companies. There are heavy fines in place for companies that breach the regulation. Therefore, you need to ensure that all of your data is compliant before May. You will also need to demonstrate your compliance on an ongoing basis so ensure your data is managed carefully and cleansed on a regular basis. With this in mind, we have already seen an increase in demand for appending of marketing data lists.
In this post, we focus on some of the main benefits that data appending brings to your business. There is no denying that not only is it a crucial service but it also helps build and grow your data lists, helping you to achieve more successful marketing campaigns and returns.
Better Segmentation / Increased Targeting
In a previous post, we talk about segmentation in greater detail and the benefits it brings to your business. Appending additional information to a data list allows for greater segmentation. This can include; financial information, hobbies and interests, pets etc for consumer data lists. For business lists, it may be possible to append; turnover, employee numbers, number of sites etc. This is of course dependant on the list and what is available. You can also append additional contact methods. As a result, this opens up the possibility of new marketing campaigns. If you did not hold email addresses before for example, email marketing becomes an option which has the potential to yield high returns. It can also be integrated into a cross-channel campaign. The options become wider for you going forward.
The more you know about your prospects, the more targeted your marketing can be. This will therefore allow you to specifically target individuals who have more interest in your products. Your content should be engaging and of interest to the audience. This will help your marketing stand out more from your competitors. They are more likely to engage and want to find out more information. It will prevent your business marketing to businesses/consumers who will not have an interest in your business and in some cases, those that are simply not the right audience. Therefore, appending helps your marketing to not only be more effective in terms of results, but also more effective in terms of cost.
Increase the size of your data lists
All businesses in the world have a target area. This can be broad, as in UK wide, or specific, as in purely Essex. When a company undertakes a data appending service for you, they will first gain an understanding of your target area and prospects. They will then see what they have available in your target area. This is of course de-duped against your data list. They are then able to present you with a figure of the number of new, non-duplicate records that can be appended to your data list.
These records will match your targets in both the area of the prospects and also ensuring that they are the right records that will have more interest in your business.
Data appending can therefore be a quick and cost effective method to increase your data lists and therefore, your prospect lists. This allows for higher connectivity with your prospects, making the more likely to convert into sales when they are ready to buy. Data companies have specialist data experts who are able to run this process quickly, making the entire process efficient.
Multiple Records per Site
When undertaking B2B data appending, it is possible to increase the number of contacts per site. If your data has one contact per site, you may be missing a great opportunity. Having multiple contacts per site ensures that different marketing materials will go to the appropriate person, who will have the most knowledge about the product/service. For example, if you provide financial services, appending finance directors and managers to your data list will result in a more successful campaign.
These additional records will ensure that your marketing gets more exposure with multiple people in a business seeing your message. They may relay your marketing to a senior decision maker and as they have more understanding about why they need it, this can make a sale more likely.
Accuracy
Data appending, combined with data cleansing helps improve the accuracy of your data lists. Records that are incomplete/incorrect will flag up. You then have the choice of whether you would like these records corrected and built upon. This includes the address, name, telephone number, email address etc.
This process will ensure that your data is up to date and contains the correct contact methods. This makes the list more responsive and therefore, ensures you do not waste your money. Broadcasting to incomplete or incorrect records costs money which won’t see a return. In order for a campaign to perform at its highest rate, the data being used must be of the finest quality.
GDPR
GDPR is coming into force in the UK in May. This regulation concerns consumer & business data management across the whole of Europe. If you hold any EU data, you must be compliant before May. Data appending and cleansing ensures that the current data you hold is compliant and up to date. Any data you hold needs to be opted-in properly and companies will need to show their compliance to regulatory bodies. With heavy fines in place for companies that breach the regulation, GDPR compliance is essential.
You cannot afford to let your data lists sit around and go unchecked. Data becomes outdated in a very short space of time. People move house, buy a new phone, change job etc. Regular data cleansing is therefore key for GDPR compliance.
Summary
Data appending is a valuable service to any business. It allows for greater segmentation and more targeted content that will be of interest to the reader. Furthermore, there is the possibility to append contact details not previously held on the data list. This opens the door to a greater number of marketing channels which will increase your brand recognition and strength.
As data owners, Impact hold and manage a number of business and consumer data lists. Add in our in house data cleansing service, we offer a data audit service. Here we see what we are able to do to increase the accuracy and effectiveness of your data lists.
Get in touch today and one of our data experts will be happy to give you more information about this valuable service.