Ask any marketer versed in the use of data and they'll all tell you the same thing -- bad data is bad news for marketing campaigns.
Poor quality data wastes campaign investment, has the potential to damage the brand, annoys consumers and can have unfathomed implications in ongoing CRM strategies -- another barrier to achieving the much lauded ‘single customer view'.
With the greatest respect, marketers are beginning to sound like the proverbial ‘record on repeat'. These observations are all absolutely right, and even I am guilty of making them publically, time and time again.
But isn't it time we stopped talking and started doing something about it? If we're ever going to win the war against dirty data we need to roll up our sleeves, get our hands dirty, and for want of a better analogy, embrace a wartime mentality.
Crucially, instead of bemoaning an unstable economy, marketers should use this time of financial and economic pressure as a catalyst to improving the way they work with data.
Yes, the credit crunch and its wider financial ramifications will no doubt continue to have an impact on the marketing community, but the side effect of this pressure -- namely that every discipline is being challenged to justify invested budget -- is a good thing.
Justification for investing in data-driven marketing comes from the ability to demonstrate the quality and validity of the data being used. To continue to secure marketing investment, we need to examine and markedly improve the way we source and maintain contact data.
Remember that data is an investment just like any other -- trying to cut corners, or ignoring issues like quality and duplication, is a false economy in the long run.
Above all it's vital that marketers use this time to truly innovate and improve the way data is managed and used. Time, and money, invested now will not only improve data's standing in the short term, but will enable brands to reap the rewards in the long term -- especially once the economic outlook begins to improve.
Frances Wallinger is managing director at Alchemetrics.