New Techniques to Keep Data Clean
For many organisations, the process of validating information in databases – phone numbers, addresses, emails – has not moved on since they first began using digital marketing. Jonathan Erwin, Managing Director of internet marketing company Aspect Web Media, looks at some of the new techniques to increase database effectiveness as well as some best practice tips for email hygiene.
Despite the dramatic growth in internet marketing, many companies still use outdated tools for validating information in their databases. They still use the traditional tools like PAF validation to check postal addresses or rely on fuzzy logic and simple algorithms to check the accuracy of email addresses and phone numbers. Unsurprisingly these tools can leave you with false positive rates of up to 11% as well as other inaccuracies and omissions.
For example, we recently used our new Pure List email database screening service to clean a file containing 1.2 million active consumer email addresses. We discovered 157,373 potential threats, 24,570 known complainers and 2,602 bounces. The list was consequently reduced by 15% and this contributed to a reduction in potential deliverability issues with major ISPs such as Hotmail or Yahoo.
Clearly it’s important for companies to be confident that their databases contain a high proportion of valid email addresses. The reasons why are numerous but principally include reduced strain on IT resources such as storage and bandwidth consumption as well as costs savings from not delivering to duplicate, invalid or dangerous email addresses. Many marketing managers we speak to agree good email data hygiene makes the difference to avoiding damage to their ISP reputation and thus email delivery.
A new breed of sophisticated tools keep you safe
Traditional data hygiene tools are simply too limited in their capacity to clean data properly and have not kept pace with the growth and sophistication of the internet marketing industry. There is now a new generation of tools which not only do more they enable you to, for example, distinguish between hard and soft bounces. This means you can tell whether an email address really exists or if it is returning an automated response such as an ‘out of office’ message meaning it is still valid.
Importantly these new tools also remove threats in the email database such as serial ‘complainers’, spam traps, honeypots, seeds and click bots – so your reputation with your ISPs remains intact.
Validate before rather than after
Companies should look at the value of validating data from a data capture form (‘front end validation’) as opposed to the more traditional method of validating data once it is in the customer database (‘back end validation’).
We recently compared 500 ‘back end’ leads from a well known lead generation company employing online coregistration surveys to a similarly sized sample of ‘front end’ leads from our own coregistration survey. The back end leads yielded nine (9) customers who went on to buy from one of our clients indicating a lead to sale conversion rate of 1.8%. Whereas the front end leads yielded twenty-four (24) customers who went on to buy from the same client. With a lead to sale conversion rate of 7.6% we had effectively quadrupled the conversion rate for our client.
We note that companies often use back end validation to clean data because it is seemingly easier to collect leads from an online form this way. However, whilst implementing front end validation adds a small amount of extra cost the benefits far outweigh the costs as evidenced by the quality of leads being produced for our client.
Don’t use it? Lose it!
Missing data; stale or inactive files; enterprise silo data; inaccurate data entry – all of these “sins” can creep into a database and wear down the success of prospect and customer engagement initiatives. Regularly cleaning customer databases to root out old data is essential to retaining existing customers.
The process of appending is an effective means of removing old data. It works by comparing the information of two opt in databases to consolidate recent, up-to-date information. In other words, if the databases contain information on the same customer, it is possible to flag out of date information and replace it. Although appending is not a new concept, this technique is being employed in more advanced ways such as with the inclusion of behavioural data and is particularly effective when performed with data protection laws in mind.
Of course we shouldn’t underestimate the value of keeping in contact with the customers on your database either. It’s important to keep in touch with your lists on a regular basis – every two to four weeks at a minimum – by sending out newsletters, small surveys or topical tips. Remember, a period of inactivity could lead to opt-outs and complaints from consumers, resulting in the loss of good prospects.
Aspect Web Media launches major new email database cleansing and validation service
- Pure List removes duplicates, eliminates bounces and identifies threats
- Saves money and reduces time spent on fraudulent leads
- Research shows email marketing is the second most widely used online lead generation method, adopted by 83% of marketing managers
Norwich, UK, October 2011 – Aspect Web Media, one of the UK’s leading performance-based internet marketing specialists, has launched the UK’s first major email database screening service for digital marketers. Pure List screens email addresses, in lists ranging from hundreds to millions of accounts, to verify their validity, remove duplicates, eliminate bounces and identify threats such as spam traps. It has been launched following research by Econsultancy which shows that email marketing to in-house lists is the second most widely used online lead generation method – up from 74% in 2009 to 83% last year.
Pure List can distinguish between hard bounces where addresses no longer exist and soft bounces where there is an automated response such as an ‘out of office’ message. The service can also remove data threats such as spam traps, honeypots and seeds, as well as click bots. It is even possible to screen for known complainers. Aspect Web Media recently used the Pure List tool to clean a file containing 1.2 million active email addresses. They discovered 157,373 threats, 24,570 complainers and 2,602 bounces. The list was consequently reduced by 15 per cent thus reducing potential deliverability issues with major ISP such as Hotmail or Yahoo.
Jonathan Erwin, Managing Director of Aspect Web Media said, “Pure List ensures that companies can be confident that their database contains a high proportion of valid emails so money is not wasted delivering to duplicate, invalid or dangerous addresses. Traditional data hygiene tools have been limited in their capacity to clean data, relying on algorithms or large caches of historical data to screen databases. These tools cannot perform the comprehensive screening which customers require to maintain good ISP deliverability.”
“The advantages of regularly cleaning data with Pure List are that active email addresses can be consolidated and prioritised, whilst the stigma of sending spam emails and potential damage to the ISP reputation is avoided because there is a significant reduction in the mailing of non-existent customers,” he concluded.
Longest Ever Balance Transfer Offer Ending Soon
The battle of the credit card providers has picked up once again. Two weeks ago Barclaycard launched another record breaking offer for balance transfers. The 0% offer on balance transfers was extended to an astonishing 24-months on the Platinum credit card. This rate beats its previous offer of 20 months and the newly launched Halifax offer by a whole four months.
In addition to two year on no interest on balance transfers, the Barclaycard Platinum Visa also offers a highly competitive balance transfer fee of 3.2%, which is reduced to 2.8% after a refund. plus the card also offers £20 cashback for customers who transfer a balance of more than £3,000 directly through the Barclaycard website.
While the card is being lauded by money saving consumer sites having further cemented its already strong grasp on the top position of the credit card tables, it hasn’t escaped criticism for the exclusivity of the deal or its encouragement of so-called ‘reckless’ attitudes to spending. As with its predecessor, the Barclaycard Platinum has proved difficult to obtain for those with anything less than a very good credit score, and this has presented something of a catch 22 situation, as many individuals wishing to take advantage of this opportunity to reduce their debts are very often those whose debt has caused them to have a less than perfect credit record.
Another important question is why Barclaycard has improved its offering by such a significant amount. As reported on this blog back in March when Barclaycard launched its previous 20-month offer, lower levels of lending have led to a fierce battle among card providers competing for consumers’ business. Barclaycard has been the only card to offer the 20 month deal since it came on the market, but the recent launch of the Halifax balance transfer card matched this offer, prompting Barclaycard to secure its place in the lead with an unprecedented offer. Although the APR has risen from 17.5% to 17.9% the length of balance transfer period and the lowered fee make this card once again unrivaled in the top spot.
Aspect launches real-time statistics for credit card campaigns
The Aspect Network is delighted to announce real-time reporting for the Capital One, MBNA and Nationwide credit cards. Publishers will now be able to see all accepted credit applications as they are generated. Under the old reporting system sales were updated every 4-6 weeks.
Slow reporting is one of the biggest obstacles to success for publishers, especially those delivering large numbers of transactions. The wait for an approved transaction interferes with data analysis and slows decision making. Traditionally, the finance sector has produced the slowest reporting of approved transaction due to the time it takes to process applications.
With this in mind, Aspect has established a system with some credit card issuers that allows us to pull in live acceptance data into The Aspect Network.
The Rise of SMS Marketing
Following on from one of the points mentioned in a previous blog post about the findings of the Ad:Tech SF conference, this week I’ll look at the growth of SMS marketing and what the future holds for this fast developing area.
It is no surprise that a market as high-impact as the mobile phone sector – reportedly, the typical mobile phone user reads a new text message within 15 minutes of receiving it – is being capitalised upon by savvy marketers. We are all familiar with the buzz or beep of our mobile phones and the majority of us are quick to respond to this alert, and it is this urgency that makes the potential of this sector so apparent.
Initially SMS marketing got off to a bad start with some negative press leading to the widely held view that it was a new form of spam. Since then, however the major networks have enforced best practices for the entire mobile media industry and the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and the Mobile Marketing Association have also established guidelines to eliminate SPAM. With strict monitoring in place by the networks, SMS marketing has been able to grow rapidly and now several 100 million advertising SMS are sent out every month in Europe alone.
As mentioned last week, while smart phones have greatly increased the scope of email marketing, SMS opens up the offline market. The majority of mobile phone users carry their phones with them all the time, meaning they can be contacted wherever they are, regardless of whether they have email on their phone. This is particularly useful in terms of timing. Currently email offers can be coincided with events, such as public holidays or sporting events, but SMS goes further and allows for targeted offers at certain times of the day, so for example a coffee offer could be sent around the time of the morning commute or a dinner offer to coincide with the evening commute.
This is not to say that SMS is replacing email marketing. In fact SMS marketing works best when combined with other marketing channels for the broadest reach, making SMS marketing an ideal complement to email. To optimise SMS in this way it is best to use a two-pronged approach to mobile marketing, for example a text message is a good way to follow up an email, such as a newsletter, to which users have subscribed, as they are much more likely to receive the text before checking their emails.
Unfortunately spam is still a major issue within SMS marketing. Strict policing is required of the networks to help stamp this problem out and as the sector develops and evolves, the need for explicit policies will become greater. In short this is a promising new industry with plenty of room for growth, as long as privacy and anti-SPAM legislation can effectively police its use without hindering its progress.
