You’ve been working hard to grow your customer and potential customer database, which is the core of your marketing endeavors in sending email newsletters, mailer coupons, and other promotional and informational items.
Alas, errors, mistakes, and duplicate entries can cause wasted time and money when it comes to sending out your promotional material. In fact, business contact databases that are not checked regularly may have 30% or more errors or more. That can add up to a lot of poorly spent marketing dollars!
At least once a year, you should spend the time to clean and thoroughly check your contact database so the information is up to date and current. Here are a few tips to help ensure the quality of your database:
Run Easy-To-Scan Reports
Use your report creation abilities to run and print your database records in a format that is easy to check. For instance, a report sorted alphabetically by customer name makes it easy to spot errors. Exporting your data into Excel is a great option for easy sorting, formatting, and printing.
Check for Duplicates
One of the most notorious database problems is duplicate entries. Create a report of your database records in alphabetical order and scan line by line, as well as page by page. Look for duplicate names that may erroneously be listed on your database. When you find duplicates, combine and consolidate data if necessary and remove all extraneous records.
Check Email Format
Also check the format of each database email record to ensure it is in the correct format and does not have any misspellings. For instance, emails should be in a [email protected] format. Remember some domains may be a .net, .org, or .edu. Double check the spellings of known formats. For instance, if you see an email spelled: [email protected], you probably are safe removing the extra “a” from the address.
Information in Wrong Field
Check your lists to spot information in an incorrect field. For instance, you don’t want an email in a telephone field. Mark these errors for immediate correction.
By taking the time to clean up your contact database, you can save on your marketing costs and ensure your investment gives you the highest return.