Poor data management.
I was reading the results of a survey of 500 senior marketers on the use of data within marketing.
The results were disturbing
- 74% of those asked acknowledge they have organisational blind spots with their data which hamper their marketing activity.
- 61% don’t feel equipped to get the most out of the data they use for their marketing.
And poor quality data had caused
- Inaccurate targeting (30%)
- Lost customers (29%)
- Lost leads (28%)
- Wasted marketing costs (28%), and
- Reduced productivity (27%).
As the saying goes “Garbage in, Garbage out!”
It is therefore not surprising that if you work with poor-quality data, you will not achieve your marketing goals.
And using poor-quality data is an easy way to get the ICO’s attention.
An effective marketing campaign starts with good quality data. the prize draws and giveaways are just the decoration.
So, you can see that making sure you properly check the data you acquire for your next campaign is the best it can be – quality, not quantity – should be your number 1 priority.
This means proper due diligence, asking questions such as
- when was it collected,
- how was it collected,
- who collected it,
- what were individuals told their data was to be used for,
You need a set of questions to ask the supplier of the data and don’t be afraid of asking for proof. As the marketing sender, you will be responsible if there is a complaint.
So, if you want to make sure you are asking the right questions and the data you buy is good quality…