Let’s give Carrie Bradshaw some credit – at least she knew how to organize her shoes properly. Each pair stacked neatly in its’ own cubby and separated from the other pairs by color, size, and season. Don’t we wish we could all be that organized with our shoes, much less our marketing databases right?!
What Do My Shoes Have To Do With Databases?
Organizing shoes are like organizing your data in a marketing automation platform. You keep meaning to make time but other priorities get in the way. But, there are tools in your instance you may not be aware of that can help. For instance, Marketo’s workspaces and partitions feature are a hidden gem. Yes, I know, it’s not one of their sexier features. But, it packs a powerful punch in keeping your databases streamlined as well as your campaign management.
Let’s breakdown the core functionalities and why it’s important as part of your overall MAP architecture:
Workspaces: As kids, do you remember being so protective of your workspace where you drew and practiced homework? Your desk was your workspace. In Marketo, workspaces give you the ability to create and manage multiple brands based on your business units. If you have different assets such as logos, branding guidelines, etc, then you can make sure you have a separate storage environment.
Partitions: A partition acts as a separate database and keeps that data from crossing or duplicating with another data set. Why is this important? Well, if you have a business unit that has a completely separate database you want to integrate with Marketo, wouldn’t it be great to automatically assign that data to a specific partition that then goes into its own workspace.
Let’s Get to Organizing, Shall We?
Here are some other simple ways to think about better organizing your MAP database:
- Always stay on top of your marketable database size and where those lead records are originating.
- Create some standard smart lists to clean out any invalid or duplicate email addresses.
- Before you add a new lead through imports, check out record logs first.
- Create operational programs to manage and review your hard and soft bounces.
Try to pencil it in your calendar to complete a database audit at least every quarter. Also, schedule some time to review with your team and look into features like workspaces and partitions to make your life easier as a MOPS professional.
Which reminds me, I think it’s time to revisit my shoe closet as well.
