With budgets tightening and a recession looming, businesses today can’t afford to waste their resources on marketing that doesn’t deliver results. But that’s exactly what’s happening, according to new survey findings from RollWorks, published in Media Post.

During times like this, good marketers show their value, especially as they face tough decisions around what will stay and what will go. One thing’s clear: data is a differentiator, and those brands who prioritize it and use it right will rise to the top of their industry.

As we all navigate another year of changes, my best advice for elevating your marketing program is to focus on data quality. Along those lines, my team recently shared four fundamental truths about the current state of marketing data. Here are four ways marketers can leverage those truths to boost results this year and beyond:

1. Data Is the Fuel for Marketing Efficiency

With accurate contact information and digital insights on buying behaviors and more, marketers can increase accuracy and efficiency for all types of campaigns. In fact, data not only fuels digital marketing today but also print ads, direct mail, and other “non-digital” channels.

That’s why, even with your own first-party customer data, data quality must be prioritized. But maintaining an accurate database isn’t easy. Regular data cleansing is necessary to remove invalid or out-of-date data without eliminating high-value prospect records or running the risk of manual typos.

When campaigns have quality data at the core, it empowers you to connect and engage with the right buyers more effectively – reducing waste and increasing sales.

2. Look to Acquisition Campaigns

As the economy fluxes, it’s essential to find ways to get new customers. The study noted that organizations are now “ increasingly prioritizing customer acquisition over growing their pipeline.” Accurate third-party contact data is necessary to ensure acquisition campaigns deliver the highest ROI possible.

Email marketing is among the activities that offer the most potential gains in 2023, according to the RollWorks study. To reach the ideal prospective customers, third-party data vendors like OMI can use an organization’s current customer profiles to build an audience with similar attributes. The process can deliver a high ROI because contacts are essentially “mirroring” your current customers—that is, if the contact data you’re using is accurate.

3. Data Decay Is Rampant – What You Can Do About It

From changing jobs and new email addresses to moving or getting new digital devices, it’s estimated that B2B contact data decays 30% per year—but that number could be higher given impacts from the pandemic, the Great Resignation, and recent layoffs.

 In 2020 OMI purged over 6 million businesses and 13 million contacts (10%) from our database to address rapid data decay, and we continue to make updates. In spite of all the changes and data purges, we have also added millions of new companies and contacts. (Stay tuned, we’ll be announcing a new milestone for the size of our database soon!)

In recent years, there have also been massive changes to how we work: with more people working from home it can be harder to reach the right prospect if you’re using outdated data.

Those marketers who remain mindful of all these shifts, and take action by adjusting their data sourcing and data hygiene strategies accordingly, will be in a better position to rise above the challenges.

4. Don’t Let Poor-Quality Data Sabotage Personalization

On the flip side, poor-quality data doesn’t just waste your time and money, it can negatively impact your brand image. Marketers are increasing their personalization efforts, with 74% of the study respondents saying their marketing is now more targeted and personalized. But using inaccurate, low-quality data can undermine personalization efforts to result in the opposite effect: showing your prospects how little you actually know about them.

We all want to focus on the activities that deliver the highest ROI—no one wants to waste their own time or come in over budget. But that focus may be even more critical in the coming year as the importance of marketing results and efficiency grows. High-quality data is the only way you’ll be able to reach the right audience at the right time -- on the right channels and with the right message.

It may be the year of the rabbit, but our team at OMI views 2023 as the year of data quality. And even though budgets may be tightening, 90% of marketers in the survey are moderately to extremely optimistic. I am as well. Are you?

OMI’s high-quality B2B business contact data is used by Fortune 1000 firms and start-ups alike to drive modern digital marketing initiatives—from intent monitoring and ABM to email marketing and omnichannel campaigns utilizing display, social media and more. Reach out to our team today to learn more.