When it comes to data, too many companies are still paddling around in the kiddie pool. They have the isolated pieces of information they collect directly from their leads and customers, but they aren’t seeing the wider picture with their data. They haven’t yet dipped a toe in the ocean of information that’s available about their prospects.
It’s understandable why they haven’t; that much data is daunting. How will they navigate so much information? How will they cope with rising tides of data as the Internet of Things brings even more knowledge into their database? It’s hard to know where to start – or at least, it is for those who don’t use data enhancement to bring sales and marketing data into alignment and set a unified course to their goals.
Too Much Information?
Your leads are more than just individuals; they’re also whole libraries of data, and each lead is only part of an even larger data set. Making sense of that much information is a job for a MARKETING AI®. Without marketing automation technology aligned with human insight, you couldn’t begin to manage it. Fortunately, marketing tech is up to the task of handling big data and making sense of it all.
When it comes to data, more isn’t necessarily better. Better is better. Data quality matters, so sorting valuable information from outmoded data is vital. Data hygiene and data enhancement processes cut out the noise that interferes with the validity of incoming information. Resolving duplicate records into a single account, purging outdated information, and regularly updating files let your marketing automation system work only with valid data. Trimming away invalid data leaves you with substantive information that then forms the basis for smarter decision-making.
Sink or Swim
Businesses that don’t want to sink under waves of irrelevant or invalid data need a strategy for managing it well, and they need to apply this strategy across all departments. Your data enhancement consultant needs to understand how to handle big data while also seeing how your sales and marketing teams interact with it. Having the right tools is only part of the equation; you also need your personnel on board.
Surface-level observations of data tell an incomplete story, especially when your sales and marketing teams may be seeing information from different viewpoints. To navigate oceans of big data effectively, you need a wider, more strategic view that encompasses your whole organization.
For example, if your marketing team’s collecting demographic data while your sales team’s more concerned with keeping contact information current, you may not be seeing how these data sets interrelate. How do data fields intersect? What can behavioral data tell you about your market? What are the unique buying signals your leads send, and how can you incorporate that into better sales/marketing alignment? Answering these questions with your marketing automation manager will give you the navigational tools you need to set sail toward your goals.
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