The importance of good data can’t be overstated

Partner Content

Good data seals deals. Tells you who to target. Why? When. Where, and how. It's the seed that, if nurtured properly, turns leads into customers.  

But good data isn’t just insights, it’s a constellation of signals you can follow to conversion. Well, as long as the data is clean. Dodgy data does the opposite. Like a bad date, it will lead you on. Waste your time. Stand you up. Even, leave you with the bill.  

The devil, as the saying goes, is very much in the detail when it comes to data. Get it right — ROI. Get it wrong. The return is reversed. All the time and money spent — is yours. That’s probably why 70% of marketers report their biggest marketing automation challenge today is data quality. 

Now automation, that’s a must: Scale. Speed. Precision…conversion. Like the Tube when it’s working right. Data is the timetable. Automation the service. Platform. Stop. Destination. Buyers’ journey complete. But, when the timetable is off, so is the service.  

However, if you’re needing to clean data, that’s a job that’s never complete. And, instead of cashing cheques, you’re making them. Over and over again. Spending time and money, and not making any. Now, we’re not saying don’t check your data, because dodgy data a deal does not make. There’s just a much better way to do it.   

Complicated problems need specialised tools to solve them. And perhaps that’s another potential problem in a financially fraught marketplace, as there’s always another piece of the tech-stack puzzle being rolled out. Manual work is laborious. Kills speed to lead times. Leaves marketers checking basic details, when they could be reeling in clients with bespoke campaigns that will deliver real returns.  

But how does good data go bad?  

Every marketing team perfects their processes to ensure efficiency, and the best buying experience for end users. Assembles a tech stack to ensure a smooth pipeline across the entire process, from initial touchpoint to, hopefully, sale. 

But, despite best efforts, that data can get dirty along the way as it moves between account-based marketing (ABM), demand-generation activations and your CRM.  

For example, when marketers get spreadsheets of leads from third-party publishers, they’re often manually scrubbed and imported into CRM and Marketing Automation Platform (MAP).   

So you could end up with lists containing inaccurate lead information, duplicate data and even unqualified leads. So, in reality, there’s nothing clean about those leads. You’re getting both good and bad data. And you’re paying for all of it.  

Data Governance and Compliance Can Ruin Everything  

Wasting time is one expense marketers can’t afford, but breaching GDPR can have catastrophic consequences. Marketers need to be certain their data is clean and up-to-date, otherwise they’re playing Russian roulette.  

The General Data Protection Regulation is the toughest privacy and security law in the world and restricts marketers’ ability to communicate with leads. If they haven’t opted in, you can’t engage with them. It’s that simple.  

So, having an easy way to gain that permission — without putting anyone off — and being able to demonstrate it via an audit trail - is essential.  

How DAP Connects the Dots and Makes All Those Problems Disappear  

The Integrate Demand Acceleration Platform (DAP) can solve both those problems. It ensures data quality. Sorts compliance. And it’s the ultimate conductor, connecting channels, processes and tools to create an efficient demand engine. 

A DAP: 

• Streamlines and standardises data formats, making it easy to digest and action 

• Discovers and removes duplicate data 
• Rejects unqualified leads, sending them back to publishers for correction 
• Ensures you only receive opted-in data to safeguard you from compliance fines and litigation  

With clean, and compliant data at the ready, you can quickly identify which accounts are in market, and use it to initiate real-time engagement with people already engaging with your content.  

Real-Time Marketing With Real, Measurable Returns 

More than ever, timing is key in marketing, as buyers have outgrown our systems and aren’t waiting for anything, or anyone. And by synchronising your entire system — MAP connects to DAP, which receives, cleans, and feeds the best data to your CRM — you can be at the right place at the right time. Put that killer content, surround ad, or an email, in front of a prospect at the exact moment they need it. Maybe before they’ve even thought about it.  

And it doesn’t end there. Next, you can start to:  

• Understand which accounts are engaging with your content 
• Fully define your buyer groups and personas 
• Trace the success of different forms of content, channels, and touches with different personas and audiences 

Having access to accurate, up-to-date data allows marketers to connect with leads with more precision. To catch them on the channels where they want to be met; with the content and contact methods they prefer. In short, DAP, accelerates the process. Helps you personalise it. Gives buyers, not what they’re expecting, but demanding. It allows marketers to speak their language, buys good-faith, returns on investment.  

Where Does DAP Fit In Your Tech Stack? 

An always-on database strategy involves data quality, technology tools, and an emphasis on meeting your buyer in the right channels, and also, compatibility. The last thing you need is another piece of tech that doesn’t connect with the rest of your set.  

DAP works with your other martech tools, to streamline the delivery of leads between your MAP and CRM:  

• Ingesting and standardising leads 

• Ensuring data is clean and compliant 
• Allowing you to action display ads, event registration, and content syndication 

To summarise: Manual work is a waste of time and money. Opens the door to compliance problems. Data can go bad from your ABM to your MAP to your CRM, compounding all. DAP solves all that and connects all the systems together. Ensures you target the right buyers and accounts, makes real-time adjustments, and measures success across demand channels. So you’ll work better. Smarter. And have the receipts to prove it. And because it automatically rejects unqualified and duplicated leads from your publishers when running content syndication, you’ll make savings before you even get started, rather than lagging behind. 

So, if you're struggling with data quality, and compliance, and fighting a losing battle with budget, this could be the silver bullet.  

This isn’t about spending money to make money; it’s investing in saving time. Improving, streamlining, safeguarding and connecting systems; giving the buyer what they want, when and where they want it. Having oversight of all the variables and eliminating all the problems. It’s about ensuring ROI. To see what DAP can do for your marketing efforts, book a demo today.