Data cleansing: what is it and why do I need it?

Are you baffled by the phrase ‘data cleansing’? How can something on a computer be ‘cleansed’?

Well, put your feather duster away as data cleansing targets inaccurate, poor quality and duplicate data present in databases (such as your marketing mailing list) and corrects or removes this data – hence after the process, the data is cleansed.

What makes inaccurate data?

Usually it’s human error. So when someone inputs details on to the CRM system, they could accidently misspell a name, or maybe the address that they have been given isn’t the same as what is registered with PAF. For example, someone may call their house ‘Windsor Place’, when really it’s just registered as number 10. Also, changed addresses and phone numbers can really throw the accuracy of a database and lead to poor quality data.

Why should I cleanse my data?

Well aside from improving the quality and accuracy of data, cleansed data results in improved marketing communication. It can be targeted marketing, personalised conversations and mean less costs and increased revenue. Please remind me why you wouldn’t cleanse your database?

Furthermore, data enhancement is associated with data cleansing. Data enhancement is all about adding to a customer profile and filling in all the gaps. Gaps mean that you could actually be missing out on customers as well as including customers who don’t meet your criteria. So by enhancing and enriching your database, you are then able to fill in all the gaps that might have been missed during the sales call. This means that you can paint a better picture of each individual customer and can therefore send them personalised communications.

So all in all, data cleansing is pretty neat as it not only tidies everything up but it helps you move forward with your marketing too.

Our data cleansing services could be just what you need!