Top 10 Data Enrichment Solutions by Use Case
‘Data enrichment’ is a common industry term that describes the practice of appending new information to records in an existing data set to increase the overall value of the data. The new information thus appended may directly pertain to the object the record describes (for example, a new address or date of birth), it may be metadata, or it may be information inferred via analysis.
‘Data enrichment’ is therefore a broad term, and covers a very wide variety of use cases. While specific products do exist within the industry, these occur mostly where a organisation or agency enjoys privileged access to certain data sources — for example, the Australian Death Check is made possible because state and territory registers of births, deaths and marriages collaborate to make it so. More generally, however, different types of enrichment solutions are better defined as processes rather than products.
The framing of enrichment as ‘processes’ also highlights the often-ongoing nature of data enrichment. If new data is added to the data set, it may demand the same enrichment as the existing data. Furthermore, if enrichment data describes something static, like a date of birth, it will not degrade; however, if it describes any characteristic that changes over time, such as a phone number, it is very likely to degrade. Enrichment, therefore, can often be a repeated or continual process rather than a one-time purchase.
The following list discusses the 10 most popular enrichment solutions and under what circumstances they are used for greatest impact.
10 of the most popular data enrichments, by use case:
1. Deceased Status
What is it? In short, appending deceased status to a contact record tells us if the contact has passed away. There are several ways to check whether the contacts in a database are deceased, including tactics like scraping and matching obituaries or calling members to update contact information. In Australia, the most reliable method is via the Australian Death Check, which is the only official source of death data for our country.
Use case: Despite the grim subject matter, deceased flagging is incredibly useful to businesses and non-profits alike. Organisations can use the data to prevent fraud, meet regulatory obligations for the treatment of deceased estates, offer condolences or reduce waste in marketing and fundraising campaigns.
2. Addresses
What is it? Partial or outdated addresses prevent organisations from getting in touch with members, donors, alumni or customers. Matching old or partial addresses to current and accurate ones, by means of solutions like Australia Post’s National Change of Address service, allows address data to be corrected and appended to contact records.
Use case: When an organisation has lost contact with its subscribers, receives significant amounts of RTS mail, or plans for a large direct mail campaign, it’s smart to verify and enrich addresses. It reduces waste, lifts ROI on DM campaigns, and makes the uncontactable contactable again.
3. Phone and Email Validation
What is it? This process checks whether or not telephone numbers and email inboxes are real, connected, or (in the case of emails) known spam traps. Records within a data set are flagged accordingly, so organisations can make informed choices about how to communicate with them.
Use case: Making calls and sending emails has a measurable cost per unit, so flagging phone and email records for validity is typically used to reduce waste in customer communications. In the case of email validation, sending to many fake or defunct email inboxes can negatively affect an organisation’s sender reputation, which can reduce its ability to communicate over the long term. Email validation is a way to prevent that.
4. Business Data
What is it? This is information that relates specifically to businesses. Business data includes details like ABN, ANZSIC industry codes, number of employees, current undertakings, technographics, annual turnover or location data.
Use case: Appending business information to a record can be of immense value to a B2B sales team, who can use such information to profile, segment, and more granularly target their business accounts.
5. Income Modelling
What is it? Income modelling uses data about a contact to place that contact within a probable income bracket. It tells the organisation how affluent its contacts likely are.
Use case: Income modelling is often used by alumnus or charitable organisations to support fundraising activities. It helps fundraisers determine which accounts are more likely to have the means to offer support to their cause, and it allows them to tailor communications accordingly.
6. Duplicate Identification
What is it? This is a process in which duplicate records within the same data set are identified, matched and flagged.
Use case: Identifying duplicates is the first step in the process of getting rid of them, of course, but this isn’t always the only reason an organisation might wish to have duplicate records flagged. It can also be a part of the forensic analysis necessary to track down the source of duplicated records. This can become particularly relevant in complex data structures with many data feeds, or for recent acquisitions.
7. Supporter Acquisition & List Purchase
What is it? These are two terms that mean very similar things, but they apply to different industries. In both cases, this is the process of purchasing carefully-sourced contact information that permits an organisation to contact new potential donors or customers.
Use case: New contacts means new people who may want to support a cause or make a purchase — it’s that simple. These lists would typically be tailored based on contact characteristics to promote the greatest possibility of successful engagement, and reputable brokers can provide prompt assurance of their data sources as well as adherence to Australia’s privacy laws.
8. Job Title & Industry
What is it? This process appends information about a person’s job and industry to a contact record.
Use case: Enriching contact data with information about seniority, decision-making power and granular industry details tells sales and marketing professionals how best to personalise communications with that contact. By communicating with them in a more relevant context, these teams can improve the likelihood of conversion.
9. Ideal Customer Profile
What is it? This is a process in which existing contact data is aggregated, analysed for common and outlier characteristics, and segmented into different customer profiles. The profile information is appended to the contact records. This process is also called, simply, ‘customer profiling.’
Use case: This tells the organisation what characteristics its highest-value customers have in common. By seeking out customers with those characteristics and addressing their needs, the organisation can direct its resources in a more targeted way and lift its return on investment.
10. Delivery Point Identifiers (DPIDs)
What is it? Delivery point identifiers, or DPIDs, are a particular reference number used by Australia Post. Each valid delivery point is assigned a unique identifier, and using these IDs is a more efficient way for the postal service to process and deliver direct mail.
Use case: Australia Post provides discounted rates for direct mail sends that use DPID barcodes. The larger the mail out, more valuable this enrichment process becomes.
Data enrichment is a valuable tool in the toolbox of data asset owners, but without careful consideration of the specific use case, it can hard to know what information will provide the most impact — and it can be hard to even know what processes are possible! If you need help discovering the potential of your data, the DCA Data Services team is only a phone call away.
