Why phone validation is a key objective in the mobile era

Companies today have numerous channels available to them for collecting data from consumers and using it to improve their operations. One that's rapidly rising in popularity today is the mobile realm - most people use tablets and/or smartphones every single day for a variety of tasks, and when they do so, they often share personal information that can be of use to companies in marketing and customer service.

While the mobile boom is a godsend for any business that cares about data, there is a caveat here. While the phone number is a valuable asset for companies to keep an eye on, it can often be difficult to obtain numbers, distinguish between mobile and landline, and constantly maintain high standards for data quality.

This is why phone validation is such an important part of the data management process - especially now, with the mobile movement in full force.

Serious concerns about data quality
According to Mobile Marketing Watch, the growth in available data on mobile users is an encouraging development, but serious concerns persist about the accuracy of all the information being gathered.

Eli Portnoy, founder and general manager of Thinknear, noted that this problem is especially worrisome when it comes to location data. He's pleased that 67 percent of ads today stem from specific location information, as opposed to 10 percent a few years ago, but he's worried about the quality of that knowledge.

"The bad news is that the quality of that location data has degraded considerably over time," he said. "We've been working over the last two years to accurately score location and only buy location data that's accurate."

It's not just GPS coordinates that are cause for concern. Phone numbers are also an issue to watch.

Why phone validation matters
A lack of accurate phone numbers for customers poses two serious problems for consumer-facing businesses. One is that they're likely to waste time and money on resources that aren't of any use to them, and second, they may actually be led astray, sending marketing messages that could hurt them rather than help. It's therefore vital that companies clean their phone numbers as they begin to explore new sources of consumer information, such as mobile.

A phone validation product is perfect for this initiative. This solution serves to validate that you're collecting accurate numbers, identify whether they're landlines or cellphones and ultimately help companies implement smarter mobile marketing campaigns.

Mobile is an area where a tremendous amount of growth lies ahead - but there's also concern that data quality may be an issue as companies seek to make improvements. Using the right phone validation product can help.