How to Spot “Data-Padding” & Save your Marketing Dollars

Every day, marketers get roped into data-buys padded with information they don’t need or cannot use because the data:

1). Pertains to relatives (often distant relatives) of the target individuals
2). Is DNC or DND — (not legal to contact via phone)
3). Contains deceased folks’ info
4). Is simply invalid or very outdated
5). Is part of some subscription package where you pay for more data than you can use
6). Has confusing & unclear pricing

Let’s highlight some common red-flags to look for when shopping for data, & at the end give practical tips to avoid them.

Red Flag #1 — Relative’s Information:

This isn’t always a red-flag in itself. But when data-sellers tell you they have 5–10+ phone numbers or emails per person, that often means the seller is padding the list with info pertaining to relatives of your target individuals.

More data doesn’t mean more value — it costs marketing dollars to dial-out to multiple phone numbers, virtually all of which do not reach your target.

Here at Datazapp, our philosophy is “Quality over Quantity” — we supply the 1 best cell phone or Email for your target contact.

Red Flag #2 — DNC & DND Info:

Data-sellers aren’t always up-front about the data they’re selling you. If your campaign requires you avoid DoNotCall & other DND contacts — make sure your data vendor is aware of this & isn’t padding your orders with un-usable data.

A vendor may boast a certain pricing rate per contact — but this rate may effectively be twice the cost if half of the info is not legal for you to use.

Red Flag #3 — Deceased Info:

If you test a sample or order of data & find more than a very small percentage of info pertains to deceased individuals, it’s recommended you look elsewhere for data.

Deceased data is often viewed as the “canary in the coal mine” for outdated info. It shows that the vendor is not keeping their records up-to-date and indicates other data-attrition issues are likely present.

Red Flag #4 — Invalid or Out-dated Info:

It’s impossible to maintain a perfectly up-to-date database, and lower-cost data vendors should be given grace. But if 30% or more of your data is behind the times — it’s time to look at other options.

Emails that bounce & phones that are disconnected are other examples of filler data that is worse than worthless, it actually costs you the marketer to use them.

Datazapp offers a complimentary hard-bounce scrub on all our Emails, so deliverability is a non-issue on orders of any size.

Red Flag #5 — Required Subscription-Packages:

If a data vendor does not have a pay-as-you-go option & requires you lock yourself into a lengthy contract — run for the hills. Chances are, the vendor knows the data is sub-par and does not want their customers to realize this before getting roped into a contract.

Same goes for any vendor who refuses to share data samples. This is a bad sign if you plan to order a large amount of data at once.

Red Flag #6 — Confusing & Not-Transparent Pricing:

If you’ve asked for pricing & instead get replies urging you to set sales appointments, you get different answers from different representatives, or the pricing scheme is confusing — beware.

We believe pricing should be straightforward, transparent & standardized.

Some vendors employ a sneaky “sunk-cost” sales tactic where they eat-up so much of your time in sales meetings & email threads that when they finally reveal their inflated pricing, you feel the only way to redeem the time you’ve spent is to do business with them.

Come See the Difference:

Experience transparency, efficiency, & straight-forward customer service with Datazapp. In the last 10+ years, we’ve built a reputation of no-nonsense problem-solving solutions.

Create a Datazapp account here to browse our listings & get real, actionable data at a fair price.