Four Tips to Improve Your Lead Generation Data

Marketing and lead generation generate large volumes of data. Leads are what businesses are always after in order to grow their customer base and build brand recognition. Thus, the lead generation databases of these companies are filled with valuable information about these prospects. However, not all of this data is as useful or actionable as one would want it to be. Therefore, it is worth knowing what to do with one’s current data and how to improve it, turning it into an asset of great value for the firm. 

What is lead generation data?

Before improving lead generation data, we have to know exactly what it is. As many in various fields of business know, lead generation refers to the process of identifying potential customers and getting their contact information. After this basic job is done, leads can further be worked on, and the data on them managed and analyzed. Finally, of course, the leads are contacted in order to see if they can be turned into customers.

All these pieces of information about the prospects make up lead generation data. Leads are in themselves basically nothing else but data. It is the demographic or firmographic information and contact details of the potential customer. Here is a fuller outline of what types of information can be considered lead generation data.

• Full name of the person of interest.
• In B2C marketing, demographic data, such as age, education, and job title
• In B2B marketing, firmographic data, like field or industry, revenue, and size.
• Contact information, like telephone number, e-mail, and social media profile.
• Website of the company.
• Job titles and contact details of the relevant decision-makers.

These are the main subcategories of lead generation data. However, what exactly will be considered relevant for lead generation might differ depending on how the particular firm specifies it. For some companies, only the contact data may be enough to have a lead. For others, valuable lead generation data will have to include the hobbies and skills of the person or financial and management data for B2B firms.

However, the fundamentals always remain the same. To have a lead, you will usually have to know who they are, at least at the basic level and how to reach them.

4 Tips for Improvement

Whatever your idea of lead generation data is, one thing is clear – there is always room for improvement. Any kind of alternative data is only valuable if it is handled and used properly. Thus, here are a few simple tips to make sure that you get the most out of your lead generation data.

1. Quality always goes first. The volume of the data you have in your lead generation databases does not matter that much. In fact, it can even turn against you if you are storing tons of low-quality information. Therefore, you are better off always prioritizing data quality. Make sure that your data comes from reliable sources and is looked after by professional data experts. This will all pay off in the end.
2. Use the tools for data management. Lead generation as a process is quite complex when a lot of data is involved. Now there are loads of useful tools that can be used to make it easier. Managing lead generation data with these tools will help you get the most out of it.
3. Constantly enrich your data. Data enrichment using reputable third-party sources is crucial in ensuring that your data is still relevant and valuable. This is even more important with lead generation data, as it is the backbone of the business.
4. Rank your leads and get more data accordingly. Lead scoring and ranking can help to improve the effectiveness of turning leads into customers. And as your leads climb up the ladder in their potential value to your firm, your lead generation data should reflect that. It might be inefficient to acquire more data on every lead that you have. When you concentrate on the more valuable leads, however, getting more information about them is an easily achievable priority.

These four simple ways to boost the value of your lead generation data will also relieve the stress on both your marketing and sales teams and your lead generation databases. Concentrating on the usefulness of data is the way to make the most out of what you have or can get.