What is data hygiene, and why it's important for creators
In business, data reigns supreme.
With the high stakes that are dependent to data it's clear why clean, good data is crucial for the success of a company. Inaccurate data - known as dirty data - could result in unsuccessful businesses.
Thankfully, there's a solution to this problem - data hygiene.
In this piece this article, we'll look at the storage of data, what data hygiene is , and why it's important. Additionally, you'll learn about the best data hygiene methods to make sure you're keeping your data squeaky clean and your business flourishing.
What kind of databases are used to store information?
- Contact information
- Demographic information
- Email marketing engagement
- Purchases you made in the past of your goods or products or
- Details on their requirements that are relevant to your services and products
Larger companies may make use of a larger analytical and business intelligence database for accessing even more data aspects about their businesses. A clothing store could record its products' sales according to SKUs or a flight company would record data on their flights, or a software as service provider would keep records regarding how clients use different parts of their software. In some cases, the data becomes extremely detailed as well, and there are entire groups of large corporations that maintain databases and analyze the data.
The importance of data hygiene is equal in both cases. However, since we're focused on creators in this blog, we'll focus primarily on data collected through the CRM.
What is data hygiene?
Data hygiene refers to the ongoing, continuous procedure that ensures the integrity of data. It means that you're taking care to ensure that it's correct, consistent, and reliable. Clean data can prevent companies, like your own, from having issues caused from unclean information.
What does it mean to dirty data? Data is deemed dirty when it has one or more of the following features:
- Information that is duplicated
- Incomplete (think the contact fields are not filled in)
- Invalide
- Incorrectly input
- Typos, misspellings as well as multiple spelling variations
The main point is that dirty data is incorrect.
The most frightening aspect of filthy data is that it's way too easy to introduce mistakes into the data you store. Whether you input data incorrectly, don't update it regularly or accidentally make a alteration while upgrading your system, problems are possible to introduce anywhere in the processes.
What is the reason data hygiene is crucial?
We'll now look into how dirty data can be detrimental to your company. These are just a few of the reasons why keeping good data is so important.
- It's a waste of money and time.
Dirty data will be costly. In the U.S. alone, businesses lose roughly $3.1 trillion annually due to poor data management.
The issue isn't just that money gets wasted, but also time. An Study by LeadJen study found that sales staff wasted an average of 27% of their potential selling time utilizing dirty facts. The wrong phone number or calling the wrong person is not enjoyable for any person.
However, as we have learned, time equals money , so relying on wrong data is the most sure way to lose out on revenues.
- Emails and other marketing efforts won't be properly tailored.
If your database isn't kept up with the latest information or has been erroneously updated it could be sending prospects emails or content that doesn't correspond with their current position on the buying process.
These types of missteps could tarnish both your customer relationship and brand reputation. The result is an absolute double-whammy.
What's worse - missteps similar to these can cause an increase in frequency of emails being re-subscribed to. Unsubscribes, spam complaints, and hard bounces are a real possibility when you don't tailor your content to your audience's needs. All too quickly you'll start to see your email list dwindling.
- You won't have clear insight into your sales funnel.
If you don't regularly monitor and maintain your database, you'll be unable to gain information about the effectiveness of the sales funnel. Due to this, you'll be unable to respond to questions such as:
- What are the number of leads that are qualified there?
- Which leads are you supposed to remove from your sales funnel?
- How much is your churn?
Finding the right answer to questions like these will help you determine where you need to invest sales and marketing efforts. Perhaps you'll develop OKRs (objectives as well as key results) from your own data!
Dirty data defense: data hygiene best practices
As you can see, bad information can be, downright devastating to your business. But, never fear the best practices for data hygiene are here. No matter if your company is day or years old the best practices for data hygiene are applicable at any time within the history of your company. We'll get started!
- Begin by conducting the audit.
A thorough audit can provide you with an overview of your data's overall image. This helps determine what indicators are helpful and also what data can be less beneficial than it is. With an audit that you can answer questions like "Which metrics are required in order to make a decision?" as well as "Which aspects are in the most need of improvement?".
Essentially, the audit should find out where issues are occurring in your data collection , and the standardization.
- Assess and improve techniques for data collection.
After the audit, or during it is a great moment to examine at every source and method through which information enters the systems.
Another consideration is how to make data entry as simple as possible. Automation tools don't just cut down on mistakes in the data entry process, they free up time for other tasks that are more crucial - such as creating your next viral TikTok (kidding or do we? ).
- Pay attention to the small details.
In our daily lives, we try not to be concerned about small details - this doesn't ring true with information. Little errors in data could quickly add up to big issues - like creating a marketing strategy based on flawed information. Yikes!
In data collection, ensure that you're following the followingthings:
- Standardizing mailing addresses
- Verifying email addresses
- Common abbreviations, numbers and common abbreviations
When you are aware of the tiny details, you'll be able to identify larger and significant errors. If you spot a couple of both, you may realize that it's time to incorporate more standard operating procedures, or even simple procedures for gathering and entering information.
- Establish a continuous cleaning process for data.
We're sorry to disappoint you it, but your data-hygiene journey doesn't end even after you've completed the first cleanse. This is a continuous procedure that requires the commitment of a person and their determination. Be aware that dirty data can be easily introduced into your system - therefore you need to keep an eye on it with a keen eye.
An excellent way to keep dirt-laden data out of your system is to implement continuous maintenance and consistency procedures. We have a list of processes we recommend implementing:
- Data entry standardization. Every single data item in your system should be manually entered in a consistent way (especially when manually entered).
- The handling of data errors. Make rules (even even if they're only for you) with clear guidelines for how errors will be managed. In other words, how can correct duplicate or incorrect entries?
- Avoiding the creation of dirty data in the initial place. This could include adding important fields to your forms to collect data and eliminating non-essential fields. You can also conduct an annual data audit to ensure that no dirty data is getting back into your company - by using an outdated lead generation form for example.
Data hygiene is the most crucial aspect
Data alone isn't enough to grow your business or direct sales and marketing efforts.
To avoid losing revenue, time, and customers, and even jeopardizing your brand's reputation Data must be complete and error-free. Maintaining your data with hygiene practices ensures you have relevant information that you can use confidently!
At , we believe on the value of data, and not only for big multi-person corporations, but for our favorite type of business - those run by single, passionate entrepreneurs. Let us know what you think!