Data Cleansing within Excel
Submitted: 10 March 2008
Imagine the scenario... Your latest product is about to be launched, a national direct mail campaign is ready to go, marketing leaflets and letters have been painstakingly designed, the copy has been written, proof-read and finally approved by the Marketing Communications Director.
Just before you mail-merge your database, personalise your letters and envelopes, you realise that your data is not up to scratch! There are incomplete addresses and postcodes, TPS and MPS flags are almost definitely out-of-date and there is a significant chance that you have Goneaway, Deceased and duplicated records.
If only there was a “magic button” on your MS Excel software which you could press and - before you send out thousands of DM packs – would cleanse and enhance your database. And what about those essential telephone numbers for a follow-up campaign once the mail-shot has gone? How handy would it be to be able to do this without spending big money and without involving the "forever busy" IT team?
Well, this solution is now available from Data8, using the Integr8 platform and with postcode recognition as a reference point. The system then searches for the latest data held for each record and fills in the rest of the address details correctly and all within a few seconds.
The new instant data cleansing application is specifically designed for non-technical people who require a permanent solution to their data cleansing requirements. Using web-services, the technical experts at Data8 will help you integrate the new application within Microsoft Excel. The process is very simple and does not require any programming capability or IT knowledge from the client. All the clients end up with is a “hot key”, in essence an extra button on their toolbar, entitled “cleanse data”. They click on it and hey presto within minutes customer data is cleansed and enhanced, MPS and TPS compliance is ensured and last but not least valuable marketing budget is saved by radically reducing "undelivered/returned" mail packs.
"This is every Marketing Manager’s dream" says Antony Allen, Managing Director at Data8 Ltd. "We can add real value to our customers’ DM campaigns; save them time, money and making sure they are compliant with the DMA guidelines and the Preference Services".
The latest innovation from the Integr8 product family installs in seconds automatically over the internet. It is also extremely easy to use with just one new button on the toolbar. It also provides peace of mind in getting all the very best industry data sources along with ensuring that the most up-to-date updates have been applied without the need to install from CD-Roms at regular intervals.
"Our new application is for anyone who works with marketing databases. There is no pre-requisite for programming or advanced IT skills; clients use their existing database system and all the data cleansing is done in the background using web-services. Technophobes are actually welcome with this one..." Antony Allen concludes.
You can find out more about the Integr8 Excel Data Cleansing product online or call Data8 on 0151 355 4555.