How often do you clean your contacts database?

[JorieMunroe]

We’re in a data-driven era, where datasets are shared between marketing, sales, and customer service teams to increase organizational effectiveness and facilitate alignment. When you have high levels of inconsistent data, it’s not just one team taking the hit. It’s everyone. The entire company. The fallout from that bad data extends to every corner of your business that the data touches. With that in mind, how often do you currently audit and clean your contacts database? Once a month? Every quarter? Once a year? What does the process look like? Share your thoughts and current schedule.

[CUrsery]

Actually, I clean daily - every time I look at a contact's info, I make sure that info is up to date.  But, I also set aside time, weekly and monthly to do full check of the database.

[MWilson2]

Every 4-6 months seems like the sweet spot. 

[ShreyanshFCMO]

Hi @JorieMunroe 

I manage clients' portals and differs for each client. In general, I follow 
- Basic cleaning ( Unsubscribe, Bounce etc) - Every 15 days
- Deep Cleaning ( W/f, email ids ect) - Monthly.
I use tools like Coglide to clean contacts.

[TeeDeeDubya]

For me, it's like cleaning my house.  The longer we let it go, the harder it becomes, but it varies by how much mess a person (or team) can put up with.  Clutter drives me batty.  We clean ours quarterly as a general rule, but I have been known to go into a hyperfocus work mode in the past and do a little cleaning here and there.

[MMangala]

Hi! I just started working at an agency, so this is a great question. It looks like we take care of this on a yearly basis for our clients. It's definitely important for our sales and marketing alignment that we cultivate with each client.

[SRada]

Hi Jorie,

To be honest I don't have any idea how often I should clean our contacts database. I am still in the learning period and the SEO niche is a new field for me. But in my own opinion, cleaning the database every 6 months is necessary. This will make the list fresh and cut off the time and expenses spent on an unqualified lead.

[CSwinkels]

Once a quarter. 
However sometimes there are events when a big amount of contacts is added to the database and then it might be more often.

[GColl2]

every 4-6 months

[KSimpson0]

Quarterly clean up is ideal

[IRyan]

This is such an essential process. Contact review allows for proficient marketing results. 

[NAranguren]

Hello! Every 3 months

[jliucoop]

We are constantly monitoring data health, but do a check every quarter.

[UtsaviPandya]

Hi, I believe that the contact database must be cleaned regularly in pre-decided time intervals so as to make sure that we are utilizing the resources in the best possible ways. This can ensure that the time and money efforts are utilized towards the right audience and thereby making higher conversion rates and saving our bucks. 

[JuliaLindemon]

Quarterly at least!

[NGantzhorn]

Quarterly is ideal, however, we clean our database annually.  

[AParakh]

Every fortnight

[Rituparna]

I think quarterly is a good idea.. I am cleaning up data currently in my org and setting up an Erp so I see its importance. 

[Chaudhary]

Biannualy

[HAdesayo]

It should be done monthly

[bsorden]

We are cleaning out quarterly. 

[MLitwa]

Keeping a clean database is a big pet peeve of mine. After all, your reporting and goal setting can only be as good as your data.  If you don't have reliable data it's hard to know how you are really performing and whether the goals you set are realistic.  I try to audit a little bit every day to try and make it more of a habit.