Head in the Cloud? The one time “MORE” is really not.

I think we all like to receive things – especially unexpected things. Like when you receive that unexpected gift from your significant other for no reason at all. Or when you find a twenty-dollar bill in the parking lot a the mall. Or when you get an unexpected raise (even though you probably deserved it). More is better, right?

How about when you discover several free (or really inexpensive) cloud connectors that perform a variety of interesting functions. Everyone needs clean data, so why not really clean it up with several plugins or cloud connectors? Or what about appending data, since you probably need addresses and phone numbers anyway. Free? More is better, right? Well, maybe not in this case. Let’s look at a few reasons why not.

Free is not Free
This is the most obvious (and easiest to understand) reason you may want to investigate a little deeper. Check to make sure the free cloud connector or plugin does not require a paid subscription service to actually use it. It should be fairly simple to determine the process required to obtain value from the connector, so make sure that surprise isn’t an unpleasant one.

The Results are not Useful

Going back to previous {Demand Gen Brief} posts, we saw that first identifying your business problem is the key to understanding how to solve for it. For example, while data appending cloud connectors can be useful, make sure the field values are what you need. For example, if your target audience is regional warehouse managers, data that appends the headquarters address and phone number is not going to be particularly useful. Compound that statement for international organizations, where a HQ address might get you in hot water for emailing to a recipient who actually lives and works in a tightly regulated country.

The Results Conflict with Each Other

This requires a bit more investigation and requires you to fully understand your root business problem. What happens when you extract the phone number from one service and the address from another and the two services use very different methodologies for obtaining (or curating) their data. You may find area codes and zip codes in conflict with one another and your logic programs are unable to determine the real location for that company.

Speed Concerns

As we saw in an earlier post, some cloud connectors and plugins have imitations on processing speeds or volumes. These need to be carefully considered when included in programs like Contact “Washing Machines” that function in-line in your lead management processes. If you have lead delivery SLAs, make sure you are not implementing cloud connector processes that take longer that your SLA allows!

Change the conversation.

When it comes to cloud connectors and plugins, free is not always better. More is not always better. Finding the correct level of processing is always the best solution. Only address real problems with solutions that directly solve them. Partial solutions or mismatched combinations of solutions may well leave you in a worse condition than where you started.

Notes:

You need to first understand your business problems.

Fully understand what each cloud connector or plugin actually does.

Make sure any cloud connector actually solved your business problem.

At the end of the day, you need to understand how your Demand Gen efforts are contributing to the bottom line. We will begin a four-part series to understand what you should be working towards, some serious question you should be asking and a common problem to avoid in: Four Ways you are Marketing Backwards.