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While our main objective was to ensure that our database was as clean as possible (to continue to market to Hospitality & Meetings Industry professionals, as well as Association executives), we recognized that this was a prime opportunity to track metrics and see how our database measured up compared to other data cleansing campaigns.
We selected records we had not connected with in 2011. These included contacts from independent hotels, chain hotels, Convention & Visitor Bureau’s), the Meetings Industry (Audio-Visual Suppliers, 3rd Party Planners), and Professional & Trade Associations.
A total of 603 calls were placed to update 420 records, averaging at 1.44 calls placed to complete 1 record (strictly data cleansing). The results were as follows:
- 276 of the contacts were still with the organization, and updated their information (65% of the total completions).
- There were 55 new contacts who had replaced people who we had on file (13% of the total completions).
- 71 contacts were terminated for various reasons (mainly, the contact was no longer there, but we also found a few who were no longer interested in continuing a business relationship) – representing 17% of the total completions.
- We were unable to connect with the remaining 18 records (5% of the total completions). We are keeping these records on file, and will attempt to update the information at a later date.
The database, once completed, shows that 95% of the contacts we had on file were updated over various results, and we can now proceed with actionable marketing efforts in from our CRM to the right people.
This ratio is much higher than what we typically see statistically (our typical aver is between 60-70% for client projects), however, we clean our database at least once per year, which is why the ratio is higher.
Our goal was to clean up as much as we could in order to create an appropriate marketing approach to re-engage these prospects.
Making an annual data cleansing exercise part of a marketing plan is an excellent way to ensure you keep costs down, and your marketing activities as effective as possible!
