Why A Dirty Database Could Get You Into Trouble - And What You Can Do About It

In case you’re interested...

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Let’s dive in….

You wouldn’t tolerate a mess like this on your desk, would you?

(Photo by Rob Bye on Unsplash) 

So why do so many business owners seem to find it acceptable that one of the key aspects of their business is in a similar mess?

(Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash)

A “dirty” database doesn’t mean you spilt a cup of coffee over your keyboard (though if you’re like me, you’ve probably done that a few times).

It means that it contains inaccuracies, inconsistencies, or unverified information. And it could get you into trouble with your marketing campaigns, unless you work on it…

Databases - a boring but critical element of your business

The subject of database maintenance makes some people’s eyes glaze over. Isn’t it one of those boring topics for tech geeks?

In actual fact, your database is the spine of your business; and, unless you put time and effort into creating, growing, and maintaining it, your results could suffer.

You already know that we recommend using LinkedIn as the starting platform in the longer sales journey. You gather leads and prospects here. But, in previous articles, we also talk about the importance of downloading your LinkedIn database. This allows you to work with it more effectively in marketing campaigns.

But the database story doesn’t end with simply downloading your raw data. It needs a little attention - and this is the part that many business owners miss.

(Photo by The Creative Exchange on Unsplash)

If the data has been accumulated over a number of years, it’s likely that there are thousands of contacts with all sorts of inconsistencies and inaccuracies in their details. You have probably never “vetted” this information.

You may never even have contacted some of these people while other connections you’ll be in regular contact with.

Some connections may have changed their contact details; others may have gone out of business or changed their business; some will be existing customers and others have never heard of you.

Put some attention into cleaning up the obvious errors before you run any marketing campaigns. It doesn’t need to be perfect but you do need to protect your reputation.

Your sending reputation

?(Photo by Franck V. on Unsplash)

Some marketers suggest that the right inbound marketing programs will sort out the ‘wheat’ from the ‘chaff’ in your database; send out the emails and see what sticks, what gets responded to, and what doesn’t get through.

This ignores a key consideration: sending reputation.

A business with good open rates and click-through rates generally has a good reputation with the major email marketing platforms: it’s seen as managing its email marketing well and following the right strategy.

A business that receives a lot of spam complaints, sends to many unknown users, and achieves poor open rates, may be flagged by the platform and probably needs to work on its database maintenance.

Database segmentation

As mentioned, your LinkedIn database is raw data. Most of the contacts on there have not been qualified. You may know in your own mind where 30 or 40 percent of them fit into your sales funnel - but what about the others?

Mass-sending emails out to a hotchpotch of prospects without vetting the information and qualifying their interest is asking for trouble. Remember, irrelevant emails are spam: no more, no less.

(Photo by Aviv Ben Or on Unsplash)

Loosely segment your database with what you know: start with their existing status (e.g. customer/cold prospect/warmer prospect, etc.). Gathering information such as age, location, and gender, should not create too many problems - and this can be added.

Then, on the basis of the results you receive from your marketing campaigns, re-tag your database and keep it up to date, remembering that new ‘dirty’ data will be added every day if you are gathering leads through LinkedIn.

Consider it an ongoing process of cleaning and improvement.

This will help you further segment your database based on factors such as buying habits, product preferences, etc. In turn, you increase the relevancy of your campaigns.

Ongoing cleaning

The data you get from LinkedIn is a wonderful starting point for your sales and marketing strategy.

But your success in the long run will depend on what you do with this data.

Successful organisations maintain their databases and perform ongoing ‘cleaning’ that increases the accuracy of the data because they know that it’s the backbone of their business.

P.s. Whenever you’re ready… here are 3 ways I can help you grow your business with LinkedIn

1. Join the Influencer Boardroom and connect with other advisors and consultants who are scaling too: It’s our new Facebook community where smart advisors and consultants learn to generate more purpose, profit and power. - Click Here

2. Join Our Implementation Program and be a Case Study: I’m putting together a new consulting case study group inside The Influencer Project this month… stay tuned for details. If you’d like to work with me on your client-getting and business growth plans using LinkedIn… just send me a message and put “Case Study” in it and I’ll get you more info.

3. Work with me and my team privately: If you’d like to work directly with me and my team to take you from 6 to 7 figures and level things up… just send me a message and put “Private” in the first line… tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details.