Address management programs leave only the best data behind

Companies are very excited about the prospect of big data because there is a popular belief that more is better, according to SmartData Collective. However, that's not necessarily the case. In many circumstances, bringing in more information can actually make it more difficult to find the insights businesses are hoping to discover. 

Widening the pipeline through which information is filtered might actually just introduce content that contains errors. According to the 2013 InformationWeek Analytics, Business Intelligence and Information Management survey of 417 respondents, 21 percent are concerned about using big data software because their content might contain errors. 

To regain confidence in their databases, businesses might need to do a little spring cleaning, according to ClickZ. In addition to the physically clearing off desks or shredding outdated documents, businesses might also want to weed out contact information that's expired with an address management program.

Contrary as it may seem, data has a relatively short lifespan. Contact data that's used by marketing teams is especially subject to decay because customers frequently move, open new email accounts and change jobs. Sending messages to the incorrect destinations is a waste of advertising budgets. Conducting regular audits to remove outdated information can clean up companies' databases and help them achieve their big data goals.