Chapter 3

The Forest for the Trees: Where Is the Customer in All That Data?

In This Chapter

arrow Understanding the basic structure of a marketing database

arrow Using independent service providers to clean up your data

arrow Grouping customers into households

arrow Complying with privacy laws and standards

Your success as a database marketer is closely tied to the quality of your marketing database. Marketing databases are strange creatures in the world of information technology. For one thing, they tend to evolve significantly over time. For another, they require a good deal of care and feeding. This means that database marketing is a team effort and requires support from a number of different departments in your company.

In this chapter, I lay out some basic concepts and terminology that will help you understand your database environment. This information will also help you communicate effectively with your partners across your organization. I also outline your key responsibilities in holding up your end of the database bargain.

A Marketing Database Is About Your Customers

Your ultimate goal as a ...

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