B2B marketers are failing to tackle the growing issue of erroneous or inaccurate email data, according to new research by B2B Marketing in association with QAS. The survey showed that, whilst 99 per cent of respondents regard email data as either ‘critical’ or ‘very important’, less than a quarter of respondents believe their email data to be ‘excellent’ or ‘good’, and 77 per cent said they had no idea how much inaccurate data was costing them per year.
The research, which was carried out through email in April to B2B Marketing’s database of 20,000 practitioners, underlined the importance of email as a marketing channel, with 50 per cent of respondents reporting that at least half of their marketing activity relies on the channel. However, it also underlined the mismatch between the perceived importance of the channel and money invested in it, with a similar figure (52 per cent) only spending a quarter of their budget on email activity.
Online collection is key
The collection of email data was a key issue the survey sought to clarify. Results showed a variety of collection techniques are employed (see Figure 1) – although collection online is overwhelmingly the most popular, used by 95 per cent of respondents.
The volume of data collected currently remains relatively small, with 57 per cent of respondents collecting 100 leads per month or less. Alarmingly, one in ten respondents has no idea how much data they collect online.
The quality of such data is variable, according to the research, with only 13 per cent describing it as 100 per cent accurate, whilst a similar figure describe data collected online as being at least 75 per cent inaccurate.
Failure to price email data
More worrying still, the majority of marketers (70 per cent) have no idea of the value of this data to their business. This is despite the fact that 40 per cent regard online data collection as a key performance indicator, and suggests that many firms may be either failing to acknowledge a primary means of reporting success, or failing to deliver against this objective in reality.
More encouragingly, when asked why they don’t put a price on email data, one third of respondents said this issue was currently being examined, suggesting that at the very least, it is an issue that is on their radar. Of the remainder, the majority believed this task would be ‘too difficult’.
Third party data lacks accuracy
The research also identified third parties as a popular resource for acquiring new email data, as 65 per cent of respondents use them. However, it went on to identify that such lists were far from immune to quality issues, with one fifth describing this data as ‘poor’ or ‘terrible’. Clearly, such lists are not a significantly better option than data collected by the brands themselves – particularly when the restrictions of data protection and the refusal of many list owners to allow access to the data is considered.
Screen test for accuracy
Given the concerns with accuracy of email marketing data demonstrated by this survey, it is surprising that only 40 per cent currently screen or validate their email data before using it for marketing purposes. This suggests that a significant amount of email marketing messages are undeliverable, or are seen as spam, which at best reduces the effectiveness of marketing activity and skews key statistics such as open rates. At worst, it actively damages brands.
Finally, the research demonstrated that the need for accurate email marketing data is unlikely to diminish in future, with 81 per cent expecting it to increase in importance, whilst only six per cent expect it will decrease. Despite all the challenges faced by email as a B2B marketing channel, its inexorable rise continues, but without accurate data, many brands will find their marketing effort is wasted.
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