Email address, family or individual? What matters most in your database?

But what is this one talking about? Another niche thing that nobody is interested in!

Hey there! Two seconds... you wouldn't believe it, but it's a question which is often asked and which is unfortunately too quickly decided.

Who is concerned by this issue?

Potentially everyone, but it comes to the surface at specific times in the life of a database :

1. When a actor mainly offline starts to communicate by email
2. When a actor mainly online opens "on the street" sales points
3. On the occasion of CRM database fusion (for example to group several brands within a large group).

These are steps in the life of a database that make you think about type of granularity required.

Yes, but what is the problem?

Again it can be multiple:

1. The email addresses are not unique ! While the granularity is oriented on the individual, it was allowed for several members of the same family to have the same email address.
   Result: You risk sending the same email several times to the same address.
2. The email addresses are linked to families and not to single individuals. This is the case, for example, if each member of a family is entitled to a loyalty card...
3. The email addresses are the main key ! Phew! You may never have to ask yourself this question ... unless you start offering a loyalty card ... or start addressing people who may not have an email address ...
4. And still other more complicated situations, notably mixes of the first three.

The ideal solution?

There really isn't one, even if we tend towards granularity: 1 person = 1 email address.

But to correct some existing situations (there are sometimes databases where some individuals have three known email addresses, and sometimes more) you will have to be cunning.

Sometimes this is a great opportunity to gauge subscriber engagement and start over.

Starting over

Starting from scratch making the decision to lose potential is something very difficult to get a marketer to acceptbut it is sometimes a very good opportunity to do increase in a significant way the performance of a database email marketing.

It is also an opportunity to recontact all members of the database (or at least those that do not meet the new criteria) to ask them to re-engage or disengage of your database.

Surround yourself well

The CRM databases ... not really for amateurs 😉 (even if they often do remarkable work with limited means). If many actors still manage to get by with a spreadsheet or a flat database, one should not imagine being able to do miracles with these two models.

Some email routers have understood this well and offer tools in their suites that are increasingly similar to a CRM database. It is also increasingly possible to connect with 100% online CRM tools such as Salesforce.

But when issues still more complex deduplication, family grouping, cross management of physical sales outlets, online sales, call centers, etc... things are still getting more complicated. It's probably time to trust a solution or a specialized partner.

Conclusion

The future holds many more surprises for you in terms of granularity management contact points in your database. The social networks for example, are increasingly appearing in CRM databases. It is therefore important to take decisions in relation to your own business. And the chosen solution will have to be in relation with the technical means you have or else you will have to change technology.

Trust your partners (routers, etc.), your DBA, external specialists who could help you on the subject and especially the feedback you have from your customers !

Don't trust the conventional wisdom you might have on the subject. Take the time to analyze your data and your marketing/sales objectives.