glossary

Data Enhancement is the process of adding data elements to existing database records. Data enhancement methods involve identifying incomplete data records and appending with geolocation-based, social, or firmographic information. A data enhancement process takes existing data and matches it against a larger database to append necessary information. Data enhancement processes are utilized to gain a better understanding of customer data and demographics in order to build a better marketing profile.

Data Enrichment is defined as improving a data source by adding data records, filling in empty records or expanding metadata. Data Enrichment can be conducted by acquiring data from third-party data sellers, collecting more information from existing channels, or aggregating public information. There are various forms of data enrichment, with two notable forms being demographic and geographic enrichment. Demographic enrichment involves appending additional data such as marital status or income level, while geographic enrichment involves adding information related to location or residence.

Data Matching is the process of comparing two or more datasets to identify links. The purpose of a data matching exercise can be for de-duplication of data, but it is often for appending or aggregating data sources to enrich the overall data collection. Data matching execution is centered around one or multiple unique identifiers, where the identifiers are matched and counted to determine the number of linkages or overall probability of a match. Once a link is found, records are consolidated, de-duplicated, or secured, based on the purpose of the exercise.

 Data Mining is a process used to extract useful information from raw data. Companies employing data mining strategies use software to sort through large data sets to identify meaningful patterns or trends. Data mining begins with the collection and storing of data, where companies acquire or extract large datasets and store in a database. Data is then evaluated and organized based on the structure and purpose, and then processed to identify trends.

Data remediation is the process of cleaning and organizing data to achieve better utility. This usually begins with a search and detection process where inaccurate records, duplicates, records with missing metadata and other trends are identified. The “dirty” data is then removed or modified with batch updates, scripts, or even manual intervention. Data remediation can be needed due to a variety of factors, including human errors, poor data input validations, reporting flaws, system updates or business changes.

Delivery Point Validation is a service that exists for the purpose of validating addresses for shipping or payment processing and supplementing the provided address with additional information. Similar to address verification, DPV ensures an address is correct by matching it against a database. In addition, DPV cleans and standardizes addresses by adding region-specific fields and supplemental data like geocodes.

Email appending is a strategy used by marketers in which customer data is cross-referenced with a vendor database to obtain an email address. This email address is then generally used for the purpose of growing a subscriber list and/or sending marketing messages. For example, a marketer that possesses information including first name, last name and ZIP Code may sync this information with a vendor to query and return an associated email address for that person.

For more information on how append services can enhance your data, contact one of our data experts.

An email database is a repository of the names and email addresses of a company’s prospects and existing customers. Email databases are compiled in numerous ways, often by collecting email addresses of potential customers that express interest in a product online or subscribe to email updates. Building an email database is an essential component to an online marketing strategy, as it is a way to connect and establish relationships with potential and existing customers.

An email list is a list of the names and email addresses of a company’s prospects and existing customers. Synonymous with email databases, email lists are built by collecting email addresses of prospects that subscribe to email updates or express interest in a product or service. An email list represents an audience interested in a company’s service or products and is an essential component to an online marketing strategy.

Email Identification is a technique used by online marketers to track user actions and preferences. Email addresses can be used as a unique identifier for an individual and are often hashed to safely store the information in a database while preserving its use as an identifier. Email identification is used by marketers to understand user actions throughout a site and even across devices, making it more effective in some cases than internet cookies or other browser storage methods.

Email Verification is a service used to determine whether a provided email is a legitimate email address. Email Verification services identify illegitimate email addresses, misspelled emails, and spam traps to address problematic addresses before they are flagged by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). 

Email Verification is an important step in maintaining a clean email list, as it ensures the addresses in an email list are legitimate and protects the sender from a damaged reputation with Internet Service Providers and Email Service Providers.

Firmographics are identifying characteristics of companies, organizations and entities. Similar to how demographic data represents the attributes regarding individuals, firmographic data details characteristics of organizations and business entities.

Firmographic data is used to segment and analyze organizations. Some common examples of firmographic attributes are company size, location, ownership structure, financials and industry. Some firmographic attributes, such as location, are interchangeable with geographic attributes.

Geodemographics, or Geodemographic Segmentation, is a classification technique that evaluates individuals based on their respective group associations and geographic locations. It is considered a combination of demographics, geographics and sociology. Geodemography is used in marketing to analyze a geographical area and understand the demographic characteristics of the within that area, such as determining how the preferences or choices of individuals vary across groups or locations and can be a predictor of characteristics such as income.

A House File is a list of contact information for all prospects and customers of an organization.  An organization’s House File is considered an important asset for the purposes of marketing, and it includes the contacts acquired both independently and through paid sources. It is crucial for marketers to maintain their house file, as it can be the primary source of new business opportunities and customer acquisitions.

A hashed email is a regular email address that's been encoded using a cryptographic hashing function. This process creates an obfuscated string of characters, aka hash, to now represent the email. 

The hashing process changes an email address to a random code which can be used as an anonymous customer identifier. This code is privacy safe and cannot be traced back to the customer's original email address.

Identity Resolution is the process of building a more detailed profile of a consumer’s unique identity for the purposes of marketing or tailoring a user experience. Identity resolution works by aggregating and reconciling available data points of a consumer from first and third-party sources throughout an interaction on an application or website and building an identity graph of individualized information. Identity resolution reconciles data such as browser type and settings, IP location, and site interactions.

Every Market Media’s proprietary matching logic, Linkkey, pairs consumer (B2C) and business (B2B) information to conduct identity resolution services for customers. 

Common use cases for this includes data onboarding, recruiting offers, reactivation, data validation and enrichment.

Informational Marketing is the concept of educating a target audience about a product or service as a form of marketing strategy. Instead of simply advertising a product or service, informational marketing describes its features, benefits, comparisons to competitors, pricing, or informs the audience on a topic closely related to the marketed services. Informational marketing can be conveyed in multiple tones and through any channel. It is often leveraged through blogs, video, e-books and brochures.

Lead Generation is the process of initiating or capturing interest of a product or service for a future sale or conversion. A lead is anyone who has indicated interest in the product or service. Leads can be generated in multiple ways, often from marketing, directly from a product, sales representatives, or service teams. Once a lead is defined, it is often named a “qualified lead” and associated to the way in which it was generated. Some examples are Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL), Sales Qualified Leads (SQL), and Product Qualified Leads (PQL).

Lead Generation is conducted differently through the separate avenues. For example, a marketing lead may be generated via an ad or form on a landing page and a product lead generation may be through an upgrade from a free to premium subscription.

Lifetime Value is an estimate of the projected revenue a customer will generate during the lifetime of the customer engagement with a product or service. LTV is a crucial metric for companies to track as it represents the total monetary value of a customer and provides a baseline upper limit for customer acquisition costs. Lifetime Value is calculated as the present value of future cash flows associated with a particular customer account.

Lift represents an increase in revenue or sales as the result of an advertising or marketing campaign. Lift analysis is the act of comparing revenue changes and drawing direct associations to marketing spend to determine how much lift is associated with a promotion. Lift can be calculated in a number of ways, such as revenue, units sold, or net new contracts, and it varies by promotional spend and industry.

A list broker is an agent who provides email and contact lists for those that wish to engage in email marketing, marketing via direct mail, or telemarketing. List brokers provide contact information such as email addresses, name, and physical address. Similar to real estate agents, list brokers find contact lists that fit the description of a buyer’s requirements from various vendors, and they handle the negotiation and pricing.