Database Management In Marketo

Here’s a closer look at best practices we’ve applied to help our clients achieve and sustain clean, actionable databases.

1. Start with a Thorough Audit

A comprehensive database audit forms the foundation of effective data management. When we partnered with a SaaS company to improve their marketing operations, we began by auditing their existing structure and identifying inefficiencies.

Understand Workspace and Person Partitions

• Document the Structure: By reviewing how their database was segmented across Workspaces and Person Partitions, we uncovered duplicate records and mismanagement that impacted their targeting accuracy.
• Partition Assignment Rules: We ensured automated routing campaigns and partition rules were optimized, enabling their default workspace to access all partitions for accurate reporting—a step critical for aligning marketing and sales efforts.

Analyze System Smart Lists

For this client, Marketo’s system Smart Lists provided key insights into their database health.

• Evaluate Critical Lists: We identified problem areas like invalid email addresses and unsubscribed leads.
• Document List Sizes: By tracking the number of people in each Smart List, we pinpointed trends in database growth and areas requiring immediate attention.

2. Build Custom Smart Lists

Creating tailored Smart Lists allowed us to segment and analyze specific data issues effectively.

• Incomplete Records:
  For example, our client’s database had numerous records missing fields like Email Address and Country. By isolating these, we designed campaigns to fill in gaps or flag the records for review.
• Database Health:
  • Identified malformed email addresses and flagged them for removal.
  • Segregated test/internal records to maintain data purity.
• Lead Performance:
  We created dynamic Smart Lists to monitor database growth and identify drops in lead engagement over time.
• Inactive Leads:
  A segmentation strategy for inactive leads over 30/60/90 days helped us craft re-engagement campaigns, improving conversion rates.

3. Define Criteria for Deleting Records

One challenge we often encounter is determining which records to delete without disrupting workflows. For this client, we identified criteria that included:

• Invalid Records: Leads with incomplete or invalid email addresses.
• Inactive Leads: Non-marketable leads with no activity for over six months.
• Duplicate/Test Records: Internal tests and duplicate entries, especially competitor records, were purged to declutter the database.

These efforts led to a 15% reduction in database size, significantly improving reporting accuracy and system performance.

4. Establish Ongoing Data Management Processes

Ongoing management is where long-term success is built. We implemented these processes for the client:

Clean-Up Campaigns

• Automated regular purges of invalid, inactive, and duplicate leads.
• Designed workflows to populate missing fields, ensuring critical data remained complete and actionable.

Normalization Campaigns

• Standardized data fields like job titles and countries to enable precise segmentation.
• Set up real-time validation rules to prevent bad data from entering the system.

5. Database Monitoring & Reporting

To keep the database clean, we developed monitoring workflows that flagged emerging issues before they could escalate.

• Monitoring Smart Lists:
  Created dynamic lists to track invalid entries and analyze active vs. inactive lead ratios.
• Review Frequency:
  Conducted monthly reviews of database health, aligning findings with marketing objectives.

For our client, these efforts ensured their database stayed in top condition, reducing costs and enhancing campaign performance.

6. Optimize Campaigns for a Cleaner Database

Focus on Engagement

With improved database health, the client’s engagement metrics surged. By targeting only active leads and suppressing inactive ones, we boosted email deliverability rates and reduced bounce rates.

Set Limits on New Lead Creation

• Designed forms to require essential fields, ensuring new entries were always complete and actionable.
• Added validation rules to filter incomplete or suspicious entries at the point of capture.

7. Why Regular Maintenance Matters

The results of regular database maintenance were clear for this client:

• Improved Campaign Performance: Targeting became more accurate, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.
• Streamlined Lead Management: Fewer duplicates and errors minimized CRM sync issues.
• Enhanced Personalization: Clean, accurate data enabled highly personalized campaigns, boosting ROI significantly.

By implementing these best practices, Xgrid helped the client transform their Marketo database into a powerful tool for targeted marketing, improved engagement, and cost efficiency. These steps are not just recommendations—they are proven strategies that have driven measurable success across industries.