Whitepaper emphasizing the importance of data cleansing.

1. Keep the dirty dragon out of your Tech database
Say Yes to Data Management
A whitepaper for direct marketers By B2BDataPartners

2. Whitepaper
Table of Content
The dirty dragon in your database - An Introduction ..................................3
Data Management - A definition .................................................................3
For your Eyes Only.....................................................................................4
Customer Database ...................................................................................5
Data appending ..........................................................................................5
Essential part of Data Management..................................................................................5
Email Append Process......................................................................................................6
Why permission mail.........................................................................................................6
Algorithm...........................................................................................................................6
What Next...................................................................................................7
Data verification..........................................................................................7
How it works .....................................................................................................................7
Caution .......................................................................................................8
The dragon might be back - Summary .......................................................8
About B2BDataPartners .............................................................................8
www.b2bdatapartners.com 800-382-4081 info@b2bdatapartners.com

3. Whitepaper
THE DIRTY DRAGON IN YOUR DATABASE
- AN INTRODUCTION
The success of every direct marketing effort depends crucially on the data quality. Marketers
especially targeting technology users and IT decision makers understand very well that the
customer information stored in their database decays every month. This leaves them mining for
more and more data for their campaigns. Out of the various information stored, email addresses
are the most perishable ones and die soon. Similarly, postal addresses and phone numbers also
tend to decay soon, especially when people tend to change, sell, rent and shift to some other
houses. All this demands constant updation of your database by throwing those dirty dragons out.
This whitepaper is an attempt to provide preventive measures and steps on how to clean and
update your database and why it is important.
DATA MANAGEMENT – A DEFINITION
Data management is a process by which
a database is verified, cleansed and
updated by removing all the dirty, inactive,
dead dragons. The process demands
thorough checking of data. The major
steps include Cleaning, De-duping, Data
appending, Va l i d a t i o n , and
Segmentation. This whitepaper talks in
detail about data appending especially
email appending. Not that the other steps
are less important, they are equally
required. Considering each one of these
needs detail description, which is not in
scope of a single whitepaper.
www.b2bdatapartners.com 800-382-4081 info@b2bdatapartners.com

4. Whitepaper
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
A recent report from an analyst firm
has predicted that by 2014
companies in US will spend over
more than £1.1 billion on email
marketing.
The count for email users across US
is going to reach 1.6 billion by 2011,
as predicted by Top Email marketing
Centre.
US Data decay facts says 8,600
people move house and nearly
1400+ people die daily.
There are firms who understands the importance of data management
Email address typos and misspell are down from 5% to 3% and address errors halved from
2% to 1%.
www.b2bdatapartners.com 800-382-4081 info@b2bdatapartners.com

5. Whitepaper
CUSTOMER DATABASE
Usually a customer database has these following essential elements: Name, Postal address, email
address, phone number, fax number. Other details include SIC code, no. of employees, annual
revenue.
DATA APPENDING
Essential part of Data Management
As the name suggests, data appending is a process of adding missing contact pieces to your
customer database. It includes Phone append, fax append, email address append, postal address
append and any other details requested by the client. All these append processes require legal
compliance and a right way of doing it. For example, CAN-SPAM Act 2003 stresses on permission-
based email marketing only and considers unsolicited email campaigns as unlawful and spam. This
means while adding the email addresses of your customers/prospects, it is necessary to take their
permission by informing that they will be receiving emails from “brand name” on ‘topic’. Permission
is required not just because law says so, today’s customers are also very cautious about who and
what kind of emails are coming to their inbox. A slight doubt triggers them to report spam even for an
authentic mail.
www.b2bdatapartners.com 800-382-4081 info@b2bdatapartners.com

6. Whitepaper
Email Append Process
B2BDataPartners’ Email appending process involves the following steps.
Similarly, for other details like postal address, phone or fax number different append processes are
performed.
Why permission mail
Email addresses added to your database should not be used for unsolicited purpose. It is must to
take their permission and consent before sending promotional emails to them. Permission mail is
the first mail that goes from your side to your new prospects. Keep the message informative by
mentioning who you are; how you got the email address; how you are going to use it and what will
be the topic of your messages. Give an unsubscribe link in the mail, people who don’t want to
receive your mails can opt out. Remove or suppress the names who showed their disinterest in
your mail. Another thing is sending permission mail to your prospects gives a first-hand proof that
the addresses are valid.
Algorithm
Each data appending service provider follows an algorithm while matching File X with their in-
house append database. It is these logics that decide how better File Y is for your next campaign
with better open rate, less bounce backs and spam complaints, etc. Marketers coming to a data
appenders should enquire about the algorithm or also can mention if they have some specification
in mind.
www.b2bdatapartners.com 800-382-4081 info@b2bdatapartners.com

7. Whitepaper
WHAT'S NEXT
Most of the times, append match rates are between 14 and 21%. Sometimes it can be higher than
this or can be lower as well. The match rate depends on many factors like how old is File X, when
was the last time you updated the postal addresses. It also depends upon the industry your target
prospects/customers belong to. Once the appending is done, permission mail send and opt out
requests processed by removing their names, the file (File Y) is ready for your campaigns.
DATA VERIFICATION
Another very important part of data management is data validation. You have compiled your list
from different source and have all the details like postal address, email address, SIC code, phone
and fax number etc. You, however, are not very sure how authentic is your data. Opt for data
validation. Another reason to go for this is your previous campaign responses were bad and
brought spam complaints, etc. Running a campaign with dirty dragons sitting inside it is a big
mistake. Data verification ensures that the contact records in your database are correct, fresh and
active.
How it works
B2BDataPartners follows 2 methods to verify and validate your data.
Email Verification – The Automatic Method
We send out email messages to all the contacts in the database, giving them 2 options:
Opt-in and agree to receive relevant emails in future
Opt-out and disagree to receive further emails
Telephone Verification – The Manual Method
We engage more than 200 telecommunication professionals to call up each contact on the list,
giving them 2 options:
Opt-in and agree to receive relevant calls in future
Opt-out and join the Do Not Call list
www.b2bdatapartners.com 800-382-4081 info@b2bdatapartners.com

8. Whitepaper
CAUTION
In online marketing, obviously you don’t prefer to walk behind your competitors. There are certain
times, however, you have to slow down your speed. Sending mails to new prospects is one such
occasion. After data management your list not only is accurate but grows also. Your email
messages should be different for the new appended prospects than the regular ones. These new
recipients are not used to your emails. To gain their attention and make yourself more trustworthy
and valuable, provide details like who you are, how your services can help them, how you get their
email addresses. Keeping such minor things in mind while sending a campaign helps a lot in
boosting the campaign response.
THE DRAGON MIGHT BE BACK – CONCLUSION
Often marketers assume that data management is a one-time job, which is not. Research shows 6-
7% of data decays every month, especially Technology lists. The dirty dragon appears time and
again and you have to be upfront to kill the dragons with data management. It is always advisable to
go for data cleansing and verification every month.
About B2BDataPartners
B2Bdatapartners is a business cycle management company with clients across the world.
B2Bdatapartners have transformed the way businesses work with cutting-edge technology and
business management skills. We pride at offering customized solutions based on the clients’
requirements and business scope.
B2Bdatapartners offers services that will help clients with their complete business cycle. This
includes sales, marketing and customer service. For a business to work smoothly all the three
wings have to work hand in hand. This is what B2Bdatapartners seek to do. With our services and
applications, we help our clients bring all their business processes together and make their jobs
easier.
www.b2bdatapartners.com 800-382-4081 info@b2bdatapartners.com