In an era where data is a valuable resource for businesses, maintaining good database hygiene is not only a matter of compliance but a crucial part of growing your business.
Proper data hygiene practices can help in multiple ways.
By comparison, poor data practices can lead to several issues and inefficiencies. Identifying the causes of poor data hygiene and implementing best practices will help keep your database clean.
Poor data quality can hurt your decision-making and efficiency. Dirty data emerges from many sources, such as data entry errors, inconsistent formatting, or merging multiple data sources.
Dirty data could include poorly formatted contact details, fake email addresses, spam or misspelt input fields.
Human error is an unavoidable factor in any process. Despite your best efforts, data entry mistakes can happen, leading to duplicate records, incorrect data, and inconsistencies across your system.
Developing a data quality plan to minimise these errors and ensure that your information remains reliable is essential.
Data decay is the gradual decline in the accuracy of your data over time.
As contacts change jobs and businesses evolve, the information in your database may become outdated. Incomplete records and unengaged contacts can also contribute to data decay and weaken your customer relationship management systems (CRM).
A common issue I have experienced in my career is the challenge of integrating multiple CRMs. If each department uses a different system, you rely on APIs or (shudder) manual data transfer to maintain accuracy.
If one system has outdated or missing information, you are unlikely to achieve a single source of truth.
Managing multiple systems can be achievable with a robust data strategy and pipeline to transfer data. However, if you are a smaller business low on resources, I recommend using a single consolidated CRM like HubSpot.
(Heads up - we are a HubSpot affiliate. If you upgrade and make a purchase through this link, we will receive a commission).
Inefficient data management can be costly, especially for B2B companies.
Maintaining proper database hygiene practices is crucial. Keeping your data accurate, clean, and up-to-date ensures effective lead tracking, campaign performance, and personalisation.
Here are some practices to help you improve database hygiene:
Several constraints might impede your database hygiene efforts. You can address these by:
To improve targeting and organisation-wide data handling, consider the following:
Remember, good database hygiene goes a long way in ensuring your campaigns' success and improving your organisation's overall performance. By incorporating these best practices, you'll have a solid foundation for improved database hygiene in your organisation.
To maintain data hygiene:
Need some advice on data quality and growth strategy? Get in touch with our team for a strategic audit tailored to your needs.
Data hygiene is crucial because it helps maintain the integrity and accuracy of your database. It involves cleaning the collected data by removing duplicate entries or standardising naming conventions. Good data hygiene ensures the reliability of your data, leading to better decision-making and more successful marketing efforts.
Various services are available to help maintain your data hygiene. They include data cleansing tools, validation services, and enrichment providers. These services can identify and correct errors, verify contact information, and enhance missing or outdated data to improve overall data quality.
A data hygienist is responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of the database. They review and manage data, correct errors, remove duplicates, standardise formats, and ensure data quality. Additionally, they monitor data governance policies and practices to guarantee ongoing data hygiene.
Database sanitation involves cleaning and organising your database, resulting in improved data hygiene. It can lead to:
There are several tools available to help ensure data integrity, including:
Using these tools, you can maintain accurate and reliable data in your database, ensuring effective business operations and decision-making