Categories: Marketing,
Once upon a time, there was a handy tool called Jigsaw. It helped salespeople collect data on potential customers. Then came Salesforce, and the two combined to create what’s now known as Data.com.
Data.com thrived for nearly a decade, offering businesses a solution to finding potential leads to which to market. This chapter is now coming to a close, leaving companies scrambling to find a valid Data.com replacement.
Sound familiar? Then you too may be wondering what’s next.
Many companies are taking this opportunity to turn to data enrichment tools, which are the evolution of customer data management.
Why Is Data Enrichment So Important?
Organizations believe that 33 percent of their prospect and customer data is inaccurate. That’s a large number that can have a significant impact on your ROI.
We also find that nearly 50 percent of organizations blame human error for data accuracies. Tools like Data.com relied on votes from users to determine the correctness of their data. That was a big mistake.
When you’re forced to use inaccurate data in your email campaigns, you risk high bounce rates and low open rates, and you can forget about boosting your conversions.
Bad data hurts your business revenue and the relationships you have with customers. Nearly 90 percent of C-level executives agree that inaccurate data ruins their ability to offer an excellent customer experience.
With data enrichment tools, you can automate data updates and eliminate human error issues. The platform searches for current information on contacts and cross-references it via different online channels (social media, websites, etc.).
What Are the Benefits of Data Enrichment Tools?
As you’re shopping around for a Data.com alternative, you’ll come across customer data platforms. These offer a range of features and services, which include updating your data.
Here’s a rundown of the other benefits the right customer data platform offers.
Get Better Insights from Your Own Database
When you have clean data in your own business systems, leaders can make more informed decisions. This is possible when you’re using a data enrichment tool. It not only cleans the data in your database, but it also helps make sense of it all. You can generate reports and other insights that can make marketing and business decisions easier.
Let’s say, for example, you decide to use a data enrichment tool and signature scraper technology. This will help you to identify and automate the collection of emails. You no longer have to rely on people to add and update information. Your sales and marketing teams can then use this information to grow their campaign reach.
Improve the Accuracy and Completeness of Your Data
The purpose of your CRM is to collect accurate and complete data. If your data’s missing information or contains outdated details, then it interrupts the efficiency of your campaigns. According to Gartner, 30 percent of data becomes outdated within a year. So having a tool that continuously updates information for CRM contacts is critical.
Data enrichment tools will correct misspellings, missing information (numbers, addresses, emails, names), and eliminate duplicates. In this way, you get a clean database that’s more reliable and effective.
Save Time and Money
When you rely on your staff to add and update contact information in your CRM, you’re wasting precious hours (and money). Stats show CRM users are spending 5.5 hours per week on CRM activities and contacts.
That’s not an efficient way for them to spend their time. In turn, this is costing companies $13,200/year per CRM user. It’s like having a gas-guzzling SUV when you can have a gas-saving sedan; it doesn’t make sense to continue using it when there are better options.
Upgrading to a Data.com Alternative Was Inevitable
Even if Data.com decided to keep its virtual doors open, businesses would still have to find a replacement. Why?
Because its methods are outdated, costly, and inefficient. You have a platform that collects data from unreliable sources (users) and no way to clean it up. On top of that, the tool wasn’t automated, making it inefficient to use.
This left companies with inaccurate information, which led to ineffective campaigns. High bounce rates, undeliverable emails, and low open-rates was the norm.
With data enrichment tools, you eliminate all of these issues, and you get the chance to automate the cleaning of your data over the long-term.
Finding the Perfect Data.com Replacement
You’re at the crossroads of selecting a new customer data platform for your business. Which should you choose?
The best recommendation is one that offers data enrichment capabilities. Leadspace is one Data.com alternative that’s helping businesses to improve their data and insights (and bottom line).
Curious to see if it’s right for you? Find your perfect Data.com replacement: Replacing Data.com – How You Can Thrive in a Brave New World.
