How good is your database?

In the third instalment of our Inbox Unlocked series, our digital marketing manager Jayne shares her advice on keeping your email database in tip-top condition.

The success of an email marketing campaign lies as much in the people it’s sent to as the email that’s sent. Databases require the same amount of attention as beautifully crafted, thoroughly tested emails. So how do you build up a useable database and what do you need to do to keep it in pristine condition?

## What data should I collect?

The art of data collection is knowing how much you can ask for in return for the service you’ll provide.

The average e-newsletter subscription form usually only asks for a name and email address. But if you’re providing a key piece of information, a service or an incentive then you may be able to trade for a bit more data.

Ultimately, you only want to keep data that’s going to be useful to you and that doesn’t seem too intrusive to the people you’re collecting from. For example, it’s fairly standard practice in the retail industry to send customers birthday offers or messages. As a B2B company though, it might seem odd to ask customers for their date of birth. Not only would this put off customers, it would also end up with you storing data that you’re not going to use. This could be considered a little creepy…

It’s also worthwhile thinking how you’re going to use the data you’ve collected – not just for next month’s newsletter, but for the next big campaign. It’s no use having a field in your form for ‘full name’ if you then have to manually split it out if you want to do some first name personalisation. Or discovering six months down the line that you’ve actually forgotten to make the ‘name’ field on your form mandatory.

## How to collect data

On that note, there are four easy steps to make sure you’re collecting the right data, and are doing so in line with data regulations.

**1.Get the form right**
Make sure you’re asking for a proportionate amount of information and ask for it at a point in time when you know people will be receptive and interested in your services or products. You should also sell your company and the benefits of why people should subscribe to your database. Importantly, set out how often you’re contacting people and what they should expect to receive. And make sure that consent is explicit – confusing messages with boxes to tick in order to not be added to a database will be outlawed under the GDPR 2018.

**2.Authenticate**
Two step verification of an email address is pretty commonplace these days, with most email software offering it. It goes something like this – someone fills out your form, they’re told they’ll get an email to confirm their email address, they verify their email address by clicking a button and then they’re added to the list. This means that you instantly know whether someone has entered a valid active email address, and bad data never actually makes it as far as your database. Wave goodbye to hard bounces.

**3.Say hello**
Once your new subscriber has successfully signed up to your database, a welcome email is your big chance to make a first impression. Welcome emails are **four times more likely to be opened and receive five times more clicks** than other types of emails. So make the most of them. Ask people to whitelist you, incentivise it or even ask for some more data. For example, simply asking which areas of your business the person is most interested in can give you some handy data for sending more targeted emails further down the line.

**4.Live up to your promises**
It may sound simple, but it’s important to keep your side of the bargain, and only contact your subscribers with relevant information according to the schedule they were expecting. **57% of people will mark your emails as spam if they receive them too frequently or they have irrelevant content.**

## Rejuvenating your database
Data decays at a whopping 35% a year. Have you noticed more bounces from your email campaigns recently? Are people not clicking on your emails anymore? It’s likely that your database has decayed.

Databases decay for a whole host of reasons. People move jobs, change names, get new email addresses. Or they just lose interest in your company and what you’re trying to tell them. But all is not lost; you can rejuvenate that data.

**1.Spring clean –** First up, have a clear out. Remove any email addresses from your database that are consistently bouncing. Chances are that email address just doesn’t exist anymore.

**2.Update your list –** If you’re working within a B2B market, take those bounces and try to identify whether that person is still in their role. If they’re not, who is? Do some digging on LinkedIn, in trade press or the company website. Then reach out to them and see if they’d be interested in hearing from you. Make sure you do this on an individual basis though – never just add people to your database in the hope that they’re interested. They must be given a choice.

**3.Re-engage your subscribers –** Run a campaign to identify who in your database is still interested in you. Identify the people who are not engaging very much (who aren’t opening or clicking on your emails, for example) and ask them whether they’d still like to hear from you. Make it clear what they can expect to receive and how it will benefit them. Then take them at their word. If they say yes, great, you have an engaged subscriber. If they say no, respect it, and take them out. And if they say nothing, take them out too. If they’re not engaging, they’re not interested, so don’t waste your sender reputation on them. If they suddenly decide they like you after all, they’ll re-subscribe.

The result of this is likely to be a much smaller database (a scary prospect!) but one where every single person in it wants to hear from you. That’s a much more potent tool to market with.

**4.Seek out new data –** finally, find ways of gaining new subscribers. Add or refresh the sign-up form on your website. Produce a piece of hugely desirable content which people will be willing to part with their email address to gain. Go back to researching on LinkedIn and around the web, and make an approach. But whatever you do, don’t buy data!

If your email database needs a new lease of life, you want help re-engaging your contacts or growing your list – we can help. Just drop a line to (email: user@example.com text: hello@superdream.co.uk) or call 01527 573 770.