It would be easy on marketers if customer data were eternal. Everyone would stick with a single email address, work for the same firm, and live in the same home for life. Once you got that data, it was yours to keep, and you’d always know where to find your audience. The reality is, of course, vastly different; people are more mobile than ever, and their data is more fluid. To get a clear picture of your customers, you must track changes and update data constantly, or you could lose your market.
Data enhancement helps you keep up with your customers and leads, updating information as they move, switch companies, or earn promotions. Here’s what you need to collect and maintain accurate customer data, which in turn will send your conversion rates soaring.
Complete Customer Records
Having a few pieces of information about your leads is good; having complete records that allow you to reach them via multiple channels is far better. You can’t sell to customers if you don’t know who they are or where to find them, so gathering as complete a set of data as possible is paramount for growing conversions. Enrichment via data append services can take the information you already know, match it against a master database, and fill in the blanks for you. By getting a more complete picture of your leads, you’re able to serve their needs better too, so data enhancement is a win-win for you and your customers.
Accurate Information
Bad data is potentially worse than no data at all because it can lower your trust rating with ISPs and lower email deliverability rates. That spells disaster for email marketing campaigns. Data append services also include merge/purge and other data hygiene processes that clean away inaccurate information and update old data. Keep up with everywhere your customer base goes with regular updates, and you’re assured of accurate data with every mailing.
Integration
Are your sales and marketing efforts a coordinated bucket brigade that carefully hands each lead down the line in a swift ballet of motion, or would you describe them as something less organized? Seamless integration between sales and marketing activities starts with pooling data. Your sales team should have access to what your marketing team knows about a lead before connecting with him or her, and your marketing team must be able to learn what sales has discovered about a customer. Don’t waste your time making your personnel on either side of the fence do their own digging for information. Automated data enhancement processes put everyone on the same page.
Discovery
Who are the decision-makers, and can you spot them right away? With data enhancement, you can. Make sure you’re talking to the people who have the power to make the decisions for their organizations, and you’ll see results in your sales figures. As with any other data, information about decision-makers changes over time as people get promoted into positions of authority or companies expand into new markets.
Data enhancement translates directly into more sales opportunities, yet it’s one of the most overlooked aspects of marketing. Don’t be stuck in the past with your data; upgrade your data enrichment process and be as agile as your audience.
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