The simplest way to define the import­ance of build­ing a data­base is that it’s free; it’s valu­able and can build a cus­tomer base! If you have an ongo­ing com­mit­ment to build and mon­itor your data­base, it becomes such a valu­able mar­ket­ing tool, when using the deliv­ery meth­ods that are avail­able (such as Mailchimp).

Here is why we say it’s vital to focus on your database.

1) It’s simple to set-​up

The easi­est method is to set-​up via Excel, it is not a soph­ist­ic­ated tool, but can pro­duce res­ults when used cor­rectly. For instance, trans­fer­ring Excel to an online format is a simple process.

2) You can grow your business

Whether it’s pro­mot­ing your brand, show­cas­ing a product, using for sales pro­mo­tions and loy­alty pro­grammes, the whole object­ive is to grow your busi­ness. The inform­a­tion you col­late (by ask­ing other busi­nesses you meet that it’s ok to ‘add you to our data­base’), helps cap­ture poten­tial customers.

3) Turn pro­spects into customers

If you can build a dia­logue and be vis­ible in what you do and keep people informed, this is so much more effect­ive than sit­ting quietly and no one know­ing how you can help. For instance, intro­duce a com­pet­i­tion that offers some­thing of value to cap­ture detail.

4) Help for­mu­late campaigns

Accord­ing to Jay Lev­in­son (author of Guer­illa Mar­ket­ing), the sci­ence of using data­bases for dir­ect mail fol­lows a 60–30-10 rule. Jay states,

5) Optim­ise your net­work­ing methods

Noth­ing is bet­ter than com­ple­ment­ing your social media activ­ity and net­work­ing event con­nec­tions by util­ising your data­base as a fol­low on and keep a dia­logue continuous.

6) A good source to meas­ure your campaigns

Using your data­base and tar­get­ing via cam­paigns, lets you mon­itor and determ­ine the level of suc­cess. For instance, we used to send out web­mails that high­lighted what we did each month with a min­imum response. When we decided to give some­thing back in terms of our guides, this res­ul­ted in a sharp increase of emails opened.

If you’re not already doing it, or you have a pile of busi­ness cards in the corner, just sit­ting there, take action. It’s all about build­ing a com­munity and hav­ing a voice that is con­tinu­ally heard and recognised.

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