Pitfalls to avoid in database marketing
Being aware of the pitfalls of database marketing means one can avoid some of them. Database marketing can be utilized to deliver personalized experiences and to increase the reach of a business. A recent report revealed that one in five businesses lose customers and revenue due to incomplete and inaccurate data. For successful marketing execution, accurate consumer data is essential. The pitfalls that marketers should overcome are enumerated below.
1) Failure to gather enough information – It is important to be sure about what the needs of a company are and to have a good idea about what those needs may be in the future. A system should be developed that can integrate all the varied needs of a company into an efficient database.
2) Sloppy maintenance – The information that is pulled from a database will lose its value quickly if it’s incorrectly entered or sloppily maintained. Teams could be set up internally to regularly handle checking through CRM data. A wide variety of tools can also be used to maintain CRM’s health. These tools help flag multiple data quality issues. Some additional pitfalls are data fields that are too small. Data that are not maintained in separate fields could pose a problem later. Some businesses have opted to outsource the work of cleansing data. Offshore teams are able to deliver high-quality leads to replace old connections, and to sift through CRM data to find inaccuracies and duplicates.
3) Avoid entry of duplicate leads – To maintain the integrity of data, it is a good idea to reduce duplicate records in the system. Some customer engagement apps like Dynamics 365 Sales and Dynamics 365 Marketing include default duplicate detection rules for accounts, contacts, and leads. Some CRM systems like Zoho provide tools that help users deal with duplicate records as well as avoid them in the first place.
4) Assume everybody has one unique email address – It is common for databases to assume that one email address equals one person, but in reality many people have multiple emails and some share a single email address. It can be annoying for customers to receive the same message more than once, so it is good practice to get to grips with multiple emails and to organize communication accordingly.
5) Missing out on relevant data – For database marketing strategies to work, relevant, accurate, and updated customer information is needed. Accurate customer information helps create customized content and offers that help retains current customers while acquiring new ones. Missing out on relevant data leads to wastage of time and money. The most common types of data which prove to be useful are personal data, behavioral data, and transactional data. It would be wise to start collecting data during every point of interaction customers make with a business.
