In its basic form, a contact list is an address book; it contains names and addresses of people. A university may use its contact list to communicate with its alumni, while a charity may use its contact list to ask for donations. An organization’s employee contact list can be used to send company-wide newsletters, while a marketing team may use its contact list to generate leads.

Different contact lists exist for other purposes, but what sets contact lists apart and determines their value is their level of integrity. A contact list is only valuable if its data is accurate, complete, relevant, and up-to-date. It also must be rich enough to allow macro and micro-segmentation and personalization. Here’s how to create data-rich contact profiles:

Leverage multiple data sources

Whether the contact list will be used for marketing campaigns or general announcements, it’s often not enough to only have the contact’s name and email address.

Basic information does not allow for correct segmentation and runs the risk of communicating with people who have no interest in the message. For example, a company selling baby items and sending marketing emails to their entire contact list will only irritate non-parents. Sending an invitation for the finance department to the whole company only confuses the other employees. And an event for a specific graduating class shouldn’t be sent to the entire alumni list.

For contact lists to be effective, they must be rich with data. And achieving this may require multiple data sources, starting with data collected from opt-in forms. Data can also be collected from 3rd party sources and CRM data.  

Partner with a data enhancement service

To encourage opt-in, sign-up forms typically only require name and email address fields. This basic information is often enough for data enhancement solutions to locate the contact and append demographic data and social media handles.

Demographic data enriches contact profiles by providing attributes such as income, marital status, addresses, and more. Contact profiles fortified with demographic data lead to better targeting, which increases engagement.  Social media has become a leading channel for communicating with contacts. Therefore, a contact list that includes social media handles means a higher chance of delivering your message.

Having social media handles also gives organizations the ability to interact and engage with their contacts in real-time. And for sales and marketing teams, social media handles mean the ability to create personalized experiences, increase reach and visibility, and track and measure customers’ purchasing behavior.

At RunnerEDQ, our demographic data solutions tap into census information of more than 2 billion records. With a data file covering 250 million U.S. individuals, we can enrich your existing contact lists with valuable demographic data – boosting engagement, increasing deliverability, expanding reach and visibility, and improving decision-making. And with our social media append services, all we need is a list of names, addresses, and emails and we can provide social media handles – improving the way you communicate with your contacts.