Time to spring clean your marketing database

Email marketing is an effective tool, but your efforts are only as good as the quality of your marketing database. Sending newsletters and emails to those who don't want them, or to dead email accounts is a waste of time and resources that can lead to further problems down the line.

One of the biggest downsides of sending emails with a scattergun approach is that it provides inaccurate data. If you're basing decisions on how people respond to your emails but you're emailing dead accounts, then your actions aren't going to be the best options.

Clean up your database

You should remove duplicate email addresses for the same person. Often you'll find that people have signed up more than once, particularly when they've moved job or have multiple email addresses.  Clean up the ones that have had regular bounces, often it is just because it is just missing a few charachters like .com or missing a '.'.

What information are you collecting?

It’s a good idea to check the data sources that are giving you email addresses. You may find you're checking old sources that aren't used any more, that some sources are bringing in different information, or that there are obvious places, like social media sites or a new micro-site, where you're not getting sign-ups. Once you've identified where there are problems, you can start to make things better.For example, you couldbe bringing in information that you can use to help personalise emails.

On the other hand, you may be bringing in data that is cluttering up your system. Removing this unused data not only makes your database more streamlined, it also means you can make your forms smaller, which ultimately makes the sign-up process easier and increases the conversion rates.

Organising your contacts for more personalised email campaigns

With your data well organised,it can be really useful to look at ways to structure your mailing lists. While there are times you may want to blast everyone you know, there are other emails that are better suited for a certain demographic – perhaps a split between existing and potential customers. If you make smaller mailing groups, you can personalise emails even more, which is likely to increase your success rate.

With a tidier database and a smarter sign-up process you’re likely to see a better response rate and more people joining your list than ever before. Regular database checks and clean ups are recommended for best results.