With the growth of the Internet, marketing has become a digitally heavy enterprise. While building a brand online is an essential part of growth and recognition, traditional marketing methods are still as important as ever. These channels work together to cover the scope of your target audience, increase touchpoints, and improve conversion rates. However, in order to get the most out of print and digital tactics, you need a cohesive, relevant set of marketing data. This includes important details about your target audience, such as demographics, age, location, and more. Here, we’ll consider some of the best practices for keeping your marketing data relevant and why it’s important.

1. Update Contact Lists Regularly

Mailing lists need to be updated regularly to avoid wasted time and effort. With close to ¼ of mailing addresses being changed each year, you could be missing out on a substantial amount of your targeted messaging. The longer you go between updating lists, the more likely you are to be targeting the wrong people. Try to update your address list for direct mailing campaigns at least once a year.

2. Invest in Data Tracking

Even if someone’s address stays the same over the years, it’s unlikely that they will too. People change with time, it’s a part of life. Whether members of your target audience are getting married, having children, or simply growing older, milestones can change their demographic preferences for products and services. Make sure that you’re tracking these types of changes and investing in your audience research to ensure your marketing efforts are appropriately targeted. To address changes amongst your audience, use personalization like purchasing history, names, birthdays, or milestones.

3. Create Segments

Since you’ll likely have various groups of demographics amongst your target audience, it’s important to create segments to target each one individually. This can help you address different needs or concerns of different customers, which adds relevance and value to your messaging. When you keep your marketing data up to date, segments will give you the chance to prove that you’re committed to your audience and invested in their changing concerns.

4. Integrate Marketing Channels

Finally, make sure that you’re integrating different marketing channels to utilize a cohesive strategy. This means keeping your marketing data relevant with not only physical addresses, but emails and social media as well. This gives you a chance to increase touchpoints and foster a deeper level of value for your customers. When your marketing data is old or inaccurate, your customers will notice and will likely see it as a lack of commitment or concern from your company.

To help you get the most out of your traditional marketing materials, Impact Color offers on-demand visual marketing solutions that can help you connect to your customers and grow your business. Contact us today to learn more or to request an estimate for your next project.