Data cleansing, often referred to as data scrubbing or data cleaning, involves the identification and removal or correction of inaccuracies within your data. These inaccuracies can be errors, duplicates, incomplete entries, data corruption, or improper formatting. There are multiple techniques, tools, and software solutions available for conducting this essential data refinement process.

Why is data cleansing important for businesses?

Data cleansing is vital in helping businesses grow. Accurate data ensures that a company’s decisions are based on reliable information, leading to more effective strategies and improved customer engagement. 

Data cleansing also helps in avoiding costly errors and inefficiencies, such as sending marketing materials to incorrect addresses or contacting customers using outdated information. By maintaining clean data, businesses can enhance their reputation and customer relationships by providing personalised and accurate communications. This is essential for building customer loyalty and trust, which are pivotal in driving growth, and is useful when sending direct mail campaigns.

What is the process of data cleansing at a print company?

The process of data cleansing by a print company involves refining and optimising the data used for printing projects. It is crucial for ensuring the accuracy and quality of printed materials. 

At ThreeFiveFour, we offer data cleansing services for both warm and cold data. Take a look at the step-by-step guide to our data cleansing process:

1. Data collection and reviewing

The first step is to collect all relevant customer data that will be used for your next project. This data can include customer names, addresses, contact information, and any other details relevant to the project.

The data is then reviewed for any obvious errors, such as spelling errors, incorrect addresses, or missing information. This initial review is best for identifying the most obvious issues.

At ThreeFiveFour, our data cleansing service is always tailored to each individual customer. Our recommendations are only ever beneficial to you and are aimed at improving your data.

We then standardise the data to ensure consistency. This involves formatting data in a uniform way, such as using a standardised address format or date format. This makes it easier to process and ensures that printed materials look professional.

2. Deduplication

Once the data has been formatted, the next step is to identify and remove duplicate records in the data. Duplicate entries can lead to wastage and errors in print materials. The process can be manual or automated, depending on the volume of data.

Deduplication is specific to each individual customer. For example, if there are multiple customers at one address we can choose to dedupe addresses. This means only one person at this address would receive the mailer.

Duplicate records can result in unnecessary expenses. Removing these means you’ll be saving money by not advertising or sending mailings to the same end user multiple times.

3. Check and enhance data

The data then needs to be validated to ensure its accuracy and correctness. This step includes verifying addresses for correctness and ensuring that all contact information is up to date. Our services means you can guarantee your data will be correct.

We also enhance the data by adding any missing information or correcting errors. For example, if a customer’s address is incomplete we will make sure this is completed correctly.

4. Printing

Once the data is thoroughly cleansed and validated, it’s ready to use in the printing process. Whether you’re printing direct mail materials, labels, or any other print project, the clean data will help ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of your materials.

5. Mail Sorting

Once the data has been cleansed and printed, we then mail sort this for optimal postal discounts subject to quantity and client requirements.

The efficiency and accuracy of the mail sorting process are crucial for timely and cost-effective delivery of printed materials. Automated systems, address verification tools, and adherence to postal guidelines play essential roles in ensuring that the materials reach their intended recipients promptly and accurately.

ThreeFiveFour is an experienced print company, so you can count on us for all your print production and direct mail requirements.

Data cleansing is a critical step in print production to avoid wasted resources, errors, and inefficiencies. By following a structured process, print companies like us can enhance the quality and impact of our customers’ printed materials while maintaining the accuracy of customer data.