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4.24. Data Management 101
Updated 03.02.19
If you're new to the data list management concept, this page is for you! The golden rule of eMarketing is this: Good eMarketing Cannot Happen Without Good Contact Data. This is our mantra. Join us in repeating it until it is committed to your memory like a beautiful brain tattoo.
We want to make managing your data as easy and efficient as possible. The pointers below will help you target your messages and provide some suggestions for keeping your data up-to-date.
1. Your data is the most important aspect of your eMarketing program (refer to mantra above). If
your data is old, obsolete or incorrect, your eMarketing efforts will yield poor to negative results.
Take some time BEFORE adding or importing contacts to review your data carefully. We mean
with a fine-toothed comb. Make sure it's correct and up-to-date. Make sure it's in the correct
case. ALL UPPER CASE and all lower case can really turn off recipients. Make sure addresses
are complete and correct, and email addresses at least look correct (have a dot something,
have the @ sign, have no spaces, etc.). You can create the most beautiful messages in the
world, but if they offend or don't even reach your contacts, you're working against yourself.
2. Click here to view the import fields in NewPanda. While you're going through your records,
you can do any tweaking needed to get it into compatible fields for your NewPanda tools.
You can even download a handy spreadsheet to view the columns, or use it to enter your
data before importing it.
3. In most cases, you don't need a separate NewPanda account for each email list you work with.
Now, if you are managing data and/or sending eMessages on behalf of several (or many) clients,
that's a different story. But if you aren't, you just need to target your different demographic
or geographic groups with appropriate content for each. NewPanda's Groups feature to create
and manage the groups to which you communicate. When creating your messages, you can
(and should) customize your message to the appropriate group(s) for higher response rates and
lower unsubscribe rates.
OK! Now that your data is beautiful and happy and safely nestled in your NewPanda app...
4. Contacts can belong to some groups, all groups, or no groups. Be sure to check out our page on
Creating and Managing Groups. There's even a handy Group Brainstorming worksheet you can
download.
5. If a contact belongs to multiple Groups selected for a single message, our system will make sure
that each email address only gets one copy of that message, so you don't have to worry!
6. NewPanda automatically processes the Unsubscribe requests generated when recipients click
the Unsubscribe links in each eMessage you send through NewPanda. In compliance with the
Federal CAN-SPAM Act, if a consumer clicks an Unsubscribe link from one of your NewPanda
messages, we're required to remove that email address from your list of "emailable" contacts.
Please note that if one of your contacts REPLIES to your message (or contacts you in some
other way) asking you to remove them, you will need to manage that manually.
7. If an email address "soft bounces" too many times (for things like emailbox full or email account
temporarily uavailable), we'll eventually remove that email address from our "send" list, too, to
keep our SPAM reports in-line with all the powers that be.
8. Track your Results for each message you send. We provide important information about who
opened, didn't open, or didn't receive your message. Bounce information will often (but not
always) let you know why a specific message couldn't be delivered. If the contact's email account
is no longer valid, what a great "excuse" to call your contact for an updated email address, or snail-
mail them if you prefer. Be sure to update your NewPanda database with the new email address
and/or remove the obsolete one. Consider creating a SnailMail Group or Groups, and using our
handy Mailing Label feature for contacts that prefer to be contacted via good old "US Mail" or for
times when you have physical materials to send.
9. Consider sometimes or always including a sentence or paragraph in your eMessages asking your
recipients to respond with up-to-date name, address, telephone, marketing preferences or
other personal information you track for each. Merge Tags can be incorporated to display the
information you currently have on file, to make it easier for your recipients. Or, perhaps you
already have a vehicle to keep contact information up-to-date. Either way, be sure to update
your NewPanda data regularly to keep it in tip-top shape.
10. Remember that data hygiene is an ongoing process; it never ends. Research indicates that the
average email database deteriorates up to 22.5 per per year! Make it a habit to check your
email bounces, and to update your data when a contact notifies you of a change, on a regular
basis. We like to use this analogy: Data hygiene is like dental hygiene. The more often
you do it, the less painful it is. The benefits far outweigh the effort!