Successful direct marketing relies on good quality databases and mailing lists. The various forms of direct marketing like postal mail, email marketing, and telemarketing, will make an impact only if the message reaches the right target audience.
It is the quality of data that ensures your brand has an edge over its competitors. It’s the firepower that makes customer dialog possible. Without high-quality data, you cannot create fruitful marketing campaigns that help to generate leads. Leads should be people who can seal the deal for you. You are setting yourself up for disappointment if you are sending mails to time-worn email addresses.
For B2B lead generation, database procurement needs to be highly focused on the quality of prospects. Poor quality can lead to targeting the wrong people, and thus a journey toward no destination. You can make effective business marketing decisions by ensuring that your data records are clean. The veracity of the data will affect the Return on Investment (ROI) of the campaigns.
Entangled in a cobweb with data quality
Multiple stakeholders create dilemma
Generally, businesses may not have an idea of the concerned people responsible for managing data and keeping it functional in their organization. For instance, there may be quite a few people from a particular department responsible for handling the data. As a result, utter pandemonium may ensue, like crucial leads going missing or old leads clogging up the marketing efforts. All this leads to wastage of time, and therefore, poor productivity.
Locking data in silos
The gamut of data businesses gather about the preferences of customers should ideally move seamlessly across various departments in an organization. Unfortunately, many companies insulate data and keep it locked in data silos, such as a marketing-data silo or a customer-data silo. Businesses are able to gain suitable insights when data is shared in a common location, which can be accessed by all the departments.
Regular need for data cleansing
Data cleansing will make marketing campaigns effective
It is important to delete duplicates because sending a message to the same company or individual may create unnecessary issues. It will use up your resources—especially if you are sending mails or making telephone calls. This will make you look unethical, even if your campaign turns out to be successful. Moreover, once you have learnt that you have only one data record, it is advisable to check it thoroughly to avoid discrepancies like spelling errors, missing details, and wrong formatting.
Businesses should also get rid of dead leads. B2B data decays at an astronomical pace. The data records may no longer hold any value. For example, individuals change roles at work or leave the company. Sharing messages with dead leads reduces productivity besides achieving poor ROI. For email campaigns, there are high chances of hard and soft bounces, and low open rates.
A clean and hygienic B2B list usually contains 15 to 20 fields, such as: the name, title, full mailing address, email address, web address, city, SIC code, city State/province, ZIP/Postal codes, primary industry, country, NAICS, sales figures, and number of employees.
Target the right people with quality data
Quality data helps to fine-tune lead generation process
A common mistake sales organizations make is that they treat all contacts equally for their appointment setting strategy. Usually, all the managers don’t have the same buying authority. That is why it is important to connect with the top decision makers. Top decision makers play an integral role for optimized appointment setting. Businesses with good quality data will get in touch with the top decision makers right away, as one gets to explain how a desired solution makes a perfect fit for the long-term goals of the buyer’s firm. Overall, quality data helps businesses to sell higher value solutions in order to have an edge over competitors.
Segmentation of customer database
Email marketing campaigns can improve by leaps and bounds by segmenting communications
Segmentation of the customer database helps to target and focus on marketing messages that are pertinent. That said, they also bring qualified leads from campaigns.
Customers can be segmented in numerous ways. For instance, segmenting can be done on the basis of level of executives like CEO, Managing Director, President, Chief Finance Officer, Director, etc. At the same time, C-level executives also include sections of high society, such as high-spending consumers, professionals, entrepreneurs, and senior executives.
Moreover, industry-level segmentation is also an option. Finance, IT-enabled services, media, and manufacturing are a few examples. For instance, one can get in touch with the marketing heads of companies—like directors, marketing heads, GM marketing, regional sales manager, head of business development, and so on.
All in all, a segmented list results in more leads from campaigns.
Expanding on counts available for marketing effort
Involve the upper management to discuss third-party data prospects
A third-party data service can be roped in if the upper management is convinced that it will boost the company’s marketing activities and lead-generation efforts. All the pros and cons of the present marketing strategy need to be determined, and the decision taken accordingly. The management should know if inaccurate or incomplete data is making their marketing efforts less efficient. If so, then a third-party data service provider can be judiciously approached. If the party is legitimate, and has been in the industry for about 7 to 10 years, the service can be effective. If it is determined that their data fields are clean, updated, and live, then an association with them can significantly boost the chances of a successful DM campaign.
