Data decay challenges hit business prospects and the brand credibility of B2B data aggregators. Bad or dirty data costs the U.S. $3 Trillion Per Year. 3% of data decay around the globe every month and in the case of exclusive B2B data, the decay is estimated to be 70.3% per year. But why does B2B data decay?

Going by some glaring statistics reported by Dun &

Bradstreet; every 30 minutes, 120 business addresses and 75 phone numbers

change, 20 CEOs leave their jobs, and 30 new businesses are formed. Inefficient

data decay management converts good and performing data into dirty data

impacting your client’s ability to effectively engage with current and

potential customers.

Impact of data decay on B2B database

Dirty data manifests in multiple ways including inaccurate data,

duplicate entries, missing information, non-standardized and non-normalized

data, inconsistent data, outdated data, etc. It negatively impacts the quality

of sellable data, making end-to-end data hygiene solutions a prime necessity

for B2B data aggregators.

1. Misleading databases

Inaccurate and incorrect data leads to wrong targeting,

ineffective campaigns, and finally hits organization revenue of clients using

your database. Research has shown that 60% of consumers intentionally provide

incorrect information. 

Further B2B contact data like phone numbers, addresses, company

relocation, emails, employee roles, etc. change rapidly adding to the issue of

data decay. Data decay will affect your client’s ability to market their

products or services. Since the entire revenue of B2B company depends on the

quality of sellable data, any inaccuracy in data will lead to dissatisfied

clients.

2. Progressive increase in bad-data

Data decay if not checked keeps adding to inaccuracy, hitting

your credibility and reputation as a B2B data aggregator. Inability to keep

track of changes in current data can adversely impact all other data entering

your database. Using wrong or unauthentic data sources for pre-scheduled

auto-updates means wrong data updated.

If you sell outdated data, your client’s overall sales and

marketing performance will go down, negatively impacting their business growth

and revenue. Inability to keep up with constant changes in the database can be

detrimental to the business growth impacting your ROI.

3. Increases database maintenance cost

Gartner states that the monthly financial loss caused by data

decay is whooping $9.7 million. Inability to control data decay increases the

database maintenance cost. 

The cost of preventing bad data from entering your B2B database

is $1 while the cost of correcting current data problems is $10. To fix data

decay, as a B2B data aggregator you will require smart tools and data

specialists to create a database that sells. 

4. Database is not referentially integrated

Data integration is the process of connecting disparate data

points to derive valuable and actionable information. B2B data aggregators

integrate it to give a comprehensive view to help their clients take effective

data-driven decisions. Aggregators across the globe collect huge volumes of

data but 55% of data they collect goes unused. 

Low-quality redundant data, duplicates, unformatted data, lack

of real-time updates, etc. imbalance the entire data integration process making

data not usable. It is critical to managing data decay for accurate integration

of data into your system to make it sellable; and of course, useful to your

clients. 

5. Slows data retrieval

Data retrieval is critical for data management and requires

equal attention. Unattended retrieval issues can create number of additional

challenges with your database. Poor quality data slows down the process and

costs your client valuable resources and revenue loss. 

Since B2B data aggregator's customer satisfaction is directly

linked to the performance of the database they sell; it is the most effective

customer service tool. Take control of your data hygiene so that you optimize

the maximum out of your database.

How can aggregators fix data decay issues?

Bad data if left unchecked can lead to complex problems. Fixing

data decay has no one-time solution. It is an ongoing process requiring a

holistic solution. We list the top 5 ways to fix the problem of data

decay. 

1. Regularly audit b2b database
2. Enrichment of contact data
3. Data validation for accuracy
4. Real-time database update
5. Cleansing for data quality

Inconsistencies, errors, format mismatches, duplicates, or

redundancy are the main causes of data decay. Data aggregators not equipped at

keeping data updated and accurate may lose clients, and brand credibility

too. 

Find out more about 5 ways to fix data decay challenges to address

data decay, and ensure it sells like hotcake driving revenue for data

aggregators and their clients.