Since the advent of the internet and computers, it has become easier than ever to get in touch with prospects. Before this technology became widely available, the common strategy was to take a list of numbers from a phone book like the Yellow Pages. If you don’t remember the Yellow Pages, then I’m really showing my age here and I’m not even that old. Nowadays, companies are trying to benefit from marketing data instead. Marketing data can come in a variety of different formats. Regularly, it comes as a spreadsheet and the customer will integrate the spreadsheet into their CRM system.
It’s not enough to know that your business can benefit from marketing data. You need to know why your company is going to benefit from marketing data. Why would you buy a product or service without knowing exactly how it will benefit you? Some companies don’t really make use of marketing data. One of the main reasons for this is that these companies rely on other marketing methods to get customers. This could be through word-of-mouth and referrals for instance. If you prospect the good ol’ fashioned way, then you’re more likely to benefit from marketing data.
What is Marketing Data?
This is a very important question to ask. Because there are so many different types of data out there and you don’t want to get confused. In this context, marketing data is information on businesses or consumers that allow companies to rapidly get in contact with them. Once contact has been established with the prospect, then the agent will attempt to sway them to their offering. Even more confusing is the fact that marketing data can be further segmented into different categories. You need to be wary of which category you’re using when prospecting, for data protection and legislative reasons. You can find an example of how such data may look below.
B2B
B2B marketing data is marketing data that holds information on other businesses. This category of data is exceedingly common and comes in a variety of different forms. There is also a wealth of various industry-specific B2B Marketing Data. The benefit from this marketing data is that companies in those specific industries can target based on their key factors. Standard B2B marketing data will likely include the full business information, DM contact details and other key facts about the business.
In the below bullet points, you can see some examples of the most commonly used industry-specific data. This list is by no means exhaustive, although as stated, these are some of the most common data types that are used by other businesses.
- Business Energy Renewal Data
- B2B Telecoms Renewal Data
- Business Insurance Renewal Data
- B2B Merchant Services Data.
B2C
Business-To-Consumer Marketing Data is much more bountiful in volume than B2B Marketing Data and this is because there are so many more people in the world than there are businesses. B2C Marketing data is likely to hold information on an individual and this data is likely to be personally identifiable. This means that companies using B2C Marketing Data have to be much more careful about how they source and process their data. Failure to do so can lead to steep regulatory penalties in some parts of the world, particularly in Europe with the GDPR. In this instance, it pays to be careful and ensure your data is from a reputable source.
Email Marketing Data
True to the name of this type of data, Email Marketing Data focuses on the provision of emails. This is so that businesses can send out email campaigns to both businesses and consumers. Unfortunately, when it comes to Email Marketing Data, compliance becomes a lot more complicated. You have to give each prospect an easy way to opt-out of communications and you have to make sure that you’re legally allowed to process the email addresses. This is because the emails are incredibly likely to hold personal information. When you’re looking for a supplier for Email Marketing Data, it pays to do your due diligence.
Telemarketing Data
Similarly, with Email Marketing Data, Telemarketing Data is very true to its name. This is because the data will typically contain information on businesses or consumers, along with their telephone numbers. The agents will then feed this data into their CRM and will call the prospects to attempt to sell to them. When calling Telemarketing Data, you want to make sure that your source regularly checks their data against the TPS and CTPS registers. These registers are for people who have opted out of all marketing calls. Calling people on these registers frequently can land you in some hot water.
Businesses Can Benefit From Marketing Data By Targeting Customers
A big way that businesses benefit from marketing data is due to the fact that it can be used to help target customers. Think about it. When you buy a list of marketing data, you should be able to filter it by a number of different categories. This makes it much easier for you to actually target the customers you want to speak to. Buying data without tailoring it to your needs is no different than opening the Yellow Pages and calling from a random page. Down below are some examples of the ways in which you can filter down your data to be better for your requirements.
- Business Sector (SIC Codes)
- Geographical Location.
- Company Turnover.
- Industry-Specific Information.
- Existing Customer Supplier.
- Customer Contract End Date.
Results From Marketing Data Are Measurable
Let’s say that you buy a set of marketing data and you finish calling/emailing through it. By keeping notes of how your sales team has performed across the dataset, it’s easy to measure performance. For instance, you will be able to see which agents have been making the most calls, which ones have been generating the most sales and so on. Another key element is that you will be able to get a measure of the quality of the data itself. This means that if you have any incorrect records, you can easily go back to your supplier and ask for a replacement. Be wary of who you deal with though, as some companies will, unfortunately, ghost you when you bring this up. Trust me, I’ve been there.
A Benefit From Marketing Data Is That Good Suppliers Will Treat You Well
When you have a good supplier of marketing data that treats you well, it’s a dream. We know this at Driven Media Solutions and that’s why the marketing lists that we provide are of some of the highest quality in our industry. It’s not enough to just have good quality though, as some records will always be incorrect. It’s about how your supplier handles your problems and any issues that define whether they are good. For instance, so long as we receive a full report, we always replace any incorrect data for free on a customer’s order. Additionally, we always ensure that our clients get exactly what they ask for and only sell them legitimate data.
Conclusion
In closing, it can be seen that multiple different industries can benefit from marketing data. One of the reasons for this is that marketing data is incredibly versatile and can be used to target numerous customer profiles. The only issues are that you need to make sure your supplier is compliant and trustworthy to avoid any nasty issues. If you go with a data supplier that works hard for you and supplies legal data, then you’ll have no issues whatsoever. You should also be sure to keep track of how your data is performing, this way you’ll know if your supplier is giving you a good product.
You also need to make sure that you’re buying the right data for your needs. For instance, if you’re running an energy campaign, why would you buy regular raw data? Sure, it’s going to be cheaper, but having energy-specific information can help you to target the right customers. Compliance with local data protection laws and the data protection laws in the countries of the data subjects need to be considered. You need to be especially careful if you’re making use of personal information, as opposed to raw business information as you may come into legal stumbling blocks.