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Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past decade, you know the importance of data. Moreover, any B2B marketing person knows that data is one of the most essential components to business growth. If you’ve been in the B2B industry, you’ve most probably experienced how crucial it is to have your database in perfect shape. Since your database consists of information related to clients, prospects, and leads, it is invaluable. Moreover, it is an incredibly powerful medium that you use to help drive sales, make informed business decisions and ultimately increase your ROI.

 

Many people assume that data maintenance is an easy task that doesn’t require intensive investment in terms of time and expertise. However, this is a gross misconception. In reality, maintaining a database is not a simple task. It requires a lot of specialized knowledge, skill, and experience.

 

In the previous article, I explained how crucial it is to maintain data relevancy, consistency, and normalization for a successful B2B business. These concepts are all part of overall data hygiene.

 

Types of B2B Database

 

As I explained earlier, data is the central focus that drives all other business operations. Additionally, the average business organization today understands the importance of data. Accordingly, data collection is actively pursued via all possible channels and forms. Unfortunately, the data received in such a manner is seldom universally organized or error-free. Information acquired in this form is usually very cluttered and riddled with discrepancies.

 

The principal issue with raw data is that it is unsorted and unformatted. Although it can be sorted and formatted to match the destination database, it is a process that demands caliber and skill to perform it. Furthermore, an ideal B2B database is one that contains efficiently sorted, complete records; formatted and highly relevant to the particular company’s profile.

 

Firstly, it is necessary to acknowledge how difficult maintaining a database can be. Efficiently nurturing a database is not an easy task. Hence, most B2B companies hire data service providers with the aim of achieving a well-maintained database. This is a smart way of going about things, especially if the company hires an able team. However, this choice proves fatal if the service provider doesn’t live up to expectations.

 

B2B Data Classification

 

B2B data can roughly be classified into the following categories-

 

B2B Lead Lists

 

B2B Email Lists

 

MQL Leads lists

 

B2B Client Lists

 

B2B Opt-in Lists

 

Most B2B companies collect data available in these five types. Usually, this data is procured either from data vendors or the organization itself manages and builds the database. Moreover, building your own B2B database is the best practice to implement. However, you would need to invest and maintain a dedicated department in your B2B company for this to happen. Although it is not impossible, this is quite a time and resource-consuming exercise.

 

Before we delve into the best solutions for your B2B Company’s ideal database, let’s look into B2B data a little more closely.

 

Types of B2B Data

 

B2B Leads List

 

B2B businesses tend to collect data about their perspective or probable clients. Normally, such data is collected in tandem with their social media engagement, referrals, and other platforms. Most of all, as the demand-and-supply chain technology has to run smoothly, there isn’t enough time to invest in it. This is one of the main reasons that most B2B companies prefer to buy their data from data vendors.

 

How To Achieve The Ideal B2B Database 1

 

 

First things first, buying data lists aren’t the worst thing on the planet for your business. However, if we talk about overall data quality, bought data is seriously lacking. Moreover, if the acquired data is not relevant and up-to-date, it doesn’t add value to the target database that is maintained by your company. As a result, it is necessary to take into account factors like the data vendor’s track record, overall data quality, etc.

 

A full-blown and rewarding B2B Database is achieved when you minutely monitor the incoming data quality. Luckily, this is not as resource-consuming as collecting and managing data can be.  

 

B2B Email List

 

Emails are the easiest contact detail to obtain. Moreover, such email communication is also known to have a significantly higher ROI than any other form of marketing communication for the B2B industry. Basically, email lists are the premium contact detail any B2B company can possess in order to get in touch with a maximum about of clients or leads.

 

How To Achieve The Ideal B2B Database 2

 

 

Emailing clients about relevant offers and services help you represent your service and product offerings. Additionally, it helps you give them complete details. Research shows that for the biggest client engagement occurs when a B2B firm deploys email marketing. Such campaigns are very lucrative. However, for the success of any email marketing effort, it is necessary to have accurate email addresses. Moreover, you need all the related details of your target audience. As is the case with B2B lead lists, the quickest get to obtain such data is to avail the services of a data vendor. Anyhow, just as it happens with B2B lead lists, even B2B email lists have a low data accuracy rate. Additionally, studies have shown that the data accuracy of such bulk data email lists is less than 70%. Many B2B marketing strategies still account for lists procured without a lot of checking and research. Unless absolutely left with no option, it is best to steer clear of such B2B email lists. 
 
 

MQL Leads List

 

MQL stands for Marketing Qualified Leads. A marketing qualified lead refers to a lead that qualifies as ‘more likely to become a paying customer of your B2B organization. This is as compared to other leads. Such qualification formulates on the basis of analyzing what web pages a person has visited. It also analyses what they have downloaded, what content they have consumed, and other engagement with your brand’s content.
 
 

How To Achieve The Ideal B2B Database 3

 

 

It goes without saying that such MQL lists are a wealth of information for any B2B company. MQLs are usually people who are just a few steps away from purchasing your products or availing your services. Once they are sufficiently nurtured and primed via relevant marketing and advertising communication, they are highly likely to become buyers. B2B businesses invest hefty amounts in buying MQL lists. The fact that leads from such databases do not require cumbersome nurturing or marketing investment in order to buy, makes such a list very valuable.

 

B2B companies buy these lists depending on the guarantees and promises put forth by data-vending firms. But when B2B companies integrate these records into their B2B database without testing, the quality of the existing database starts degrading.

 

The same phenomenon holds true even for client lists and opt-in lists that B2B firms tend to source from such data vendors. In short, if you’re serious about growing your B2B business, having a healthy database stocked with bankable, relevant leads and clients is the way to go. Compromising data quality is not an option if increased revenue is the goal.  

 

The Issue with Buying Data

 

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again, the act of buying data in bulk is not the problem. Instead, the overall quality of said data is what’s important. Most importantly, if you’re sourcing data for your B2B business from a trusted data vendor, you’re on the right track. 70% data accuracy is still a fairly good deal. After all, it is good in situations where the urgency of campaigns and saving on resources is paramount. The main problem arises when you integrate this data into your existing B2B database.
 
 
As the data obtained through data vendors are already 25%-30% inaccurate and irrelevant. This does more harm than help to your B2B database over time. As it accumulates, the remaining 70% accurate data is also prone to decay within a relatively short time span of six months.
 
 
A Forrester analysis predicts that data ages and loses relevance at a constant rate of 6%-7% per month. It is folly to continue appending a database that contains a big chunk of bought data. In such a scenario, the ideal B2B database will continue to be a dream for your organization. Your B2B database will become steadily irrelevant if thorough checks are not conducted. Such checks help to assess and repair overall data quality. Moreover, working with a low-quality database will lead to failed marketing campaigns and wasted resources.
 
 
It is necessary to be careful at every step of data quality checking before appending this data to the master database. This calls for investing in a professional service that is well-equipped to make these quality checks.
 

So, is there a solution to this ever-present data-irrelevancy issue?

 

 Why Data Accuracy Issues Exist

 

The average data vendor catering to the B2B industry operates in a particular fashion. They usually buy lead or prospect data in bulk from a bigger data host. These data hosts collect data from various trustworthy professional and social networks. Additionally, they also trace the internet for user data and behavior. The data is relevant when they collect it. But as stated by Forrester, immediately after acquiring, data starts losing relevancy.
 
 
Usually, organizations buy data from data vending firms that sell to B2B organizations. Of course, they check the data quality before delivery. However, their primary focus is to tailor the data to fit your requirements such as industry type and other aspects. Hence, the outdated data passes on to you and your B2B database. The percentage of inaccuracy may be small at this stage, but it has a snowball effect in the long run.
 
 
Over a period of time, the accumulating irrelevant data reaches damaging proportions in your B2B database. In such a scenario, it becomes important to clean, scrub, enhance and enrich the database completely.
 
 
It is a widely accepted fact that most data vending or data cleaning platforms are not completely effective investments. Not all of them can offer you perfectly relevant data. In a scenario where highly accurate data is such an integral part of your B2B operations, settling for a mediocre service provider is a folly. Moreover, it could spell doom to your organization’s revenue.
 

 

The Solution to Keeping Your B2B Database Relevant

 

The best possible solution for a relevant and up-to-date database is to buy the information that is freshly unearthed and mined based on your organization’s specific requirements. This simple step will solve the majority of your problems related to outdated data. When you buy data that is mined or cleaned using automated processes, you simply add fuel to the fire. Since automated processes cannot possibly be 100% accurate in their end result, you’re only adding to the problem of data inaccuracy.

 

A majority of data vendors, data mining services, and data cleaning companies resort to automated processes to supply you with the information you need. To counter this issue of data mined or cleaned using automated techniques, you must try Manual data cleaning, data mining, and data enrichment services. Where automated processes lack, manual technique give you the added reassurance of checks conducted using a human being’s innate logical reasoning skills.

 

There are not many firms offering these sorts of manually powered services as this process is quite cumbersome and time-consuming. With that being said, it helps you achieve improved sales and ROI and in the long run, enhances your B2B database. Your sales efforts and resources thus invested will fetch you more favorable deals when you have a highly accurate and relevant B2B database.

 

Automated Data Mining/Cleaning vs. Manual Technique

 

The automated process, as the name suggests, is performed using automated tools such as scripts and software. Any data that requires cleansing is passed through the script or software. Duplicate, irrelevant or incomplete records are then matched against a pre-set standard of records, and discrepancies are corrected. Moreover, records that aren’t completely fitting the prescribed standards are promptly purged as a result of the automated process and only data deemed relevant by the system survives at the end of the process. The same process is applicable in the case of data mining or research.

 

As you can guess, the speed of data cleaning or mining will be great while deploying automated scripts and software. However, you are sacrificing accuracy for this speediness. The fact of the matter is that automated data processes yield an accuracy of only about 65%-75% at most.

 

Why Manual Data Cleaning Is Better

 

On the contrary, the manual process includes human intervention when cleaning or mining data. Real, breathing human beings dig out relevant data information for every record in your database. Moreover. they manually research the internet and other resources to find relevant information. Additionally, every record or contact thus examined goes through a series of manual verification against trusted professional and social networks as well as trustworthy data hosts. As a matter of fact, only when all the relevant info about a record is cross-verified, the entry is appended either to your B2B database or the lead/prospect/client list.

 

This extra effort and re-checking steps ensure that data processed using manual technique has an accuracy rate as high as 98%-99%! An accurate B2B database with such a high rate of accuracy is something that many B2B companies strive for. Accordingly, the higher is the data accuracy rate; the higher will be your conversion rate as well as the more improved ROI your B2B business attains.

 

BizProspex- Your Ideal Manual Data Services Partner

 

Although manual data processing can be a lengthy and tiring process, the results speak for themselves. Not many companies are equipped with the resources required for carrying out manual data processes. At least, not in an efficient and effective manner.  

 

BizProspex is the only company providing these manual data services at very affordable rates. Moreover, it is the only company based in the USA that provides manual data mining, cleaning, and CRM cleaning services. Our services come with data accuracy rates of 98%-99%. We’ve been in this business for well over six years, and this experience has left us with the right mix of skills. This experience helps us deliver exceptional results. We have over 350 satisfied clients, many of who are return clients. BizProspex even has a full-time professional data researchers’ team consisting of 30 experts.

 

How We Are Different

 

At BizProspex we offer customized free trials for up to 100 leads. We also have to offer our B2B clients a ‘120% Money-Back Guarantee’.  Our team will refund 100% of your money if you are not satisfied with our work. Additionally, we’ll match 20% of the cost for any inconveniences or delays caused. That’s how confident we are in our ability to deliver you the data solutions you need!

 

B2BProspex is yet another venture of ours where we serve you with back office, data entry services, e-commerce support, and email list preparation. Our full suite of services is available for you to test for free. However, there is no obligation to hire us if you don’t feel satisfied with the quality of our work. You can get in touch with us if you need any assistance with your B2B data projects or back office and data entry operations.

 

If you find my article informative, do let us know by leaving a comment in the form present at the bottom of this page.

 

 

You can surely have real insight into the B2B industry and B2B best practices by visiting my previous articles listed below-

 

 

1.

Data Consistency, Relevancy, and Normalization; B2B must-haves

2.

Three of the most powerful B2B Marketing Strategies to follow in 2018

3.

Maintaining Data Hygiene for enhanced B2B Sales

4.

B2B Lead Generation guide guaranteed to yield results

5.

Why Account-Based Marketing is beneficial to your B2B business

6.

A Definitive Guide; Manual Data Cleaning, Mining & CRM Cleaning

7.

Four ways to improve your Email Marketing strategy in 2018

8.

Practical tips for SalesForce CRM cleaning

9.

How to measure ROI through Email Marketing?

10.

B2BProspex- Outsourcing; What it is and why you must use it

11.

Have a look at our team of experts and delivery centre

12.

Visit our YouTube channel for B2B informational videos

13.

Check out insight-full BizProspex’s SlideShare Account

14.

Don’t forget to visit our Quora knowledge-base for more info on B2B industry

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