Database Building and Validation for Lead Generation are vital components in efforts to ensure that marketing campaigns deliver the right results. Poor quality or ‘dirty’ data means wasted time and money, inefficiency and slower results. Managing and updating your data accurately, regularly and legally enhances the possibility of generating profitable new business. What’s more, in today’s age of ‘Account-Based Marketing, it’s imperative to have and maintain good quality information and contact details on your most cherished prospects.
Keep it Clean
Regular database cleaning & validation are critical to drive lead generation. Accurate list gathering and data building are essential to any outbound direct marketing or telemarketing campaign. Whether you use LinkedIn for lead generation and data gathering or Google to research names and companies, good, reliable data is the platform for a successful telemarketing campaign.
Data Ages Fast
Frustratingly, data goes out of date fast. People change jobs frequently. With changes in the unemployment rate, company mergers and acquisitions and with organisations going out of business, there is an inevitability that data ages and it’s a real task to keep it clean so your Sales and Marketing teams maximise value and minimise wastage.
Aim at the Right Target
Resources are always scarce and budgets are frequently tight. Therefore, aiming at the wrong targets drains cost out of lead generation efforts faster than anything else. Yet, many executives are more concerned about developing the latest shiny marketing initiative than spending essential time, energy and funds to ensure that those activities hit the right target.,
Hence, a penny or cent invested in database management now, will almost certainly reward you with a pound, dollar or euro down the line, and more!
The Problem with Bought Lists
The challenge with off the shelf lists, which is the most common source of data, is that they are inherently out of date. Despite the best efforts of data brokers to maintain the integrity of those data sources, they are fighting a losing battle. It’s almost impossible to call every key executive in every company sufficiently frequently to prevent obsolescence for the reasons mentioned earlier. Hence, database management is a cross-company task. Every member of the sales and marketing teams is directly responsible for keeping the database clean. That’s not to mention anyone in other departments that engages with those same customers.
Accuracy is Paramount
All too frequently, when we run lead generation campaigns using client data, the data is poor. It lacks core data such as phone numbers and accurate email addresses. Often, there is rogue data in contact data fields. This means that exercises cannot function as required and results are impaired. It’s important therefore that data is at the start and at the heart of every marketing and business development activity upon which you embark. Without this, it’s certain that cost per outcome will increase and the relative number of warm leads will diminish.
Data Building is a Discipline
The above notwithstanding, most organisations need help. Despite best endeavours, it’s a mammoth task to ensure that data is in good condition and complete. By nature of the fact that people move jobs, companies launch new products, legislation changes and issues pop up in organisations that need solving, there are always new opportunities. And, new decision-makers arrive due to job changes, promotions and needs within their specific department or sphere of operation. Hence, there will always be a need for fresh data. It makes sense, therefore, to engage with specialists to validate, clean and enhance the data on a reasonably regular basis. This takes the burden off internal resource, tasked with other work, and ensures that contact details and decision-maker info is as fresh as possible.
Ultimately, database management is a joint effort. It’s a cross company task supplemented by specialist external support where needed. With that approach, there is a greater chance that database building and validation for lead generation and marketing activities will result in a stronger pipeline and better ROI.
