How to clean up your Marketo database

There is no denying it, data management in today’s world of digital and data driven marketing is one of the hardest and for some the most boring tasks. If you don’t have a dedicated data manager you’ll often find this task being shoved to the bottom of the marketing priority list, until… someone starts the dreaded database cleanse project.

Don’t go cleansing to try and change it

The biggest mistake we see as Marketo consultants is that clients outsource the data cleanse activity to a “data house” whose responsibility it is to fill in the gaps, remove the bad data and then sell some more names in at the same time. Thus cleansing and expanding the database.

#Fail. Why? Because that data as soon as it is exported and sent to your company is immediately out of date. Combined with adding into the Marketo database or CRM and it’s already dirtied as soon as it’s released into the wild.

That is why marketers must use data management best practices and switch to always on data management processes that will reduce poor data and boost campaign results.

Gartner® cautions Marketo users on data management

Marketo data management made the top 3 of the caution list in Gartner’s latest Magic Quadrant for CRM Lead Management when comparing Adobe Marketo Engage against other platforms by stating:

Data management: Several reference customers cited lack of flexibility in Marketo Engage’s data models, particularly for complex-enterprise use cases. They also noted challenges with CRM integrations, reflected in below-average satisfaction scores for this capability.

So how do you improve Marketo data management?

The first step in every data cleaning project is understanding the volume of data in the Marketo database and what are the different states that it is in.

JTF Marketing developed a proprietary data hygiene report that connects with Marketo and gives you a live view of your Marketo database and the data quality.

Claim your report

The impact of bad data quality in Marketo

Poor data quality doesn’t only cost your money, but it’s one of the top reasons marketing automation campaigns fail. Here are just a few reasons why you should focus on your data quality in Marketo:

  • Duplicate records resulting in split customer tracking
  • Bounced or invalid records
  • High unsubscribe rates
  • Poor segmentation and targeting
  • Useless lead scoring due to missing data points

Reduce your Marketo licence fee

Cost is also an important factor when thinking about your Marketo data management strategy, all marketing automation platforms use per contact pricing models meaning even if you switch from Marketo you’ll still have the same pain point.

Claim your free data hygiene report from JTF Marketing to find out how we could improve your data quality, reduce cost and importantly boost results of your marketing campaigns.

Get your Marketo data report

Discover how ShipServ reduced their Marketo database by 52%

With an impending renewal JTF Marketing helped ShipServ reduce their overall database size improving data quality and hygiene.

View case study

Duplicate management in Marketo

Even if you’re confident you’ve got your Marketo database in pretty good condition, it’s always worth a third party view, but one challenge that can’t be automated using Marketo is duplicate leads.

The impact of duplicates on your enterprise data is not only due to human error but also list imports from marketing activities, and increasingly poor CRM maintenance or back end system integrations.

We’ve developed a mass deduplication tool which can be set to run once, or our preferred path enable always-on. Thus helping you with your data governance and data quality processes. Best of all we can clean up both Marketo and your SFDC CRM if connected. Microsoft dynamics is coming soon!