In B2B marketing — data is the new creative.

Direct marketing has never been considered fashionable or sexy. Those using advertising or focusing on branding turn their nose up at a discipline that is more tactical than creative. But then the economy slows and everyone wants to track the results of their marketing spend. So direct marketing is now back in favor.

The heart and soul of effective direct marketing, of course, is and has always been data. So I was happy, yet surprised, to read an article I discovered through a link on CMO.com a day or so ago.

The article was by Michael Mancini on Nielsenwire entitled “B2B Discovers Market Segmentation.” This article reported the availability of comprehensive databases that “give marketers access to accurate and current data within a consistent framework on 13 million business establishments –critical information such as a company’s total headcount and industry classification. By appending these data to its business customer file, a company can create a robust business segmentation approach to guide prospecting, sales territory mapping, advertising and target marketing.”

It’s great advice. My surprise was that this practice was presented as new. He could be right that some B2B marketers are just discovering it. But many have been appending data from files such as these for decades to build a profile of their best customers and then going back to the database and selecting “look-alikes” to target their marketing.

Multiple sources such as D&B, InfoUSA and many others offer data that can be appended to lists to build a productive marketing model. Some data suppliers, of course, are better than others. AccuData taps multiple sources to provide businesses with the ability to append data to their customer list to build a profile. In addition to finding “look-alikes” on the outside database, marketers can bump their profile against their existing pipeline to identify those leads that are the best match.

It’s excellent advice, so I thank Michael for the reminder. Regardless of whether this capability is new or not, it’s a powerful tactic for moving the success of B2B marketing up to the next level of success. When the results come in, marketers will see why good direct marketing is always fashionable.

Monday’s pop quiz on smart data practices.

Those who have been in direct marketing for eons, as I have, know that lists/data are the most critical elements in the success of any database marketing campaign. Yet my daily mail and email consistently illustrate how many companies are not conducting even the most basic list targeting practices.

Could your company be one of the culprits that are neglecting basic database practices? Take this little quiz, and see how your practices measure up.

1. Are you renting lists or appending data to your in-house list to make sure your prospects are qualified for your offer? I get business offers online and in the mail that are clearly selling products only large firms would need or could afford. By simply appending employee size to a list (available from data solution providers such as www.AccuData.com) companies would eliminate those records that are too small to qualify.
2. Does your company or organization run its house list through NCOA at least once a year? NCOA is a National Change of Address database provided by the U.S. Post Office. The economy has made it even more important to update mailing addresses as so many companies these days are moving, merging, or closing.
3. Do you purge your response or customer file from your marketing list before mailing or emailing to prospects? I get emails inviting me to Webinars and seminars for which I have already registered. This tells me that I’ll be getting information from a company that doesn’t even follow the most basic marketing principles.

How did you do? If you are trying to save money or time by skipping any of the above practices, you are costing your company financially and strategically as well as diminishing its image.