Streamlining Marketing Cloud and Boosting Efficiency

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, our team quickly devised a multi-faceted solution to clean up and optimize the client's Marketing Cloud database:

• Initial Data Extraction: We performed a deep dive into the client's Marketing Cloud database, using queries to identify the scope of the problem. The first step involved extracting data for all contacts whose subscriber key contained an "@" symbol, signifying it as an email address rather than an ID. This led to the deletion of 217,794 contacts.
• Suppressing Unsubscribed and Hard-Bounced Contacts: To prevent unintended outreach to individuals who had unsubscribed or experienced hard bounces, we queried and isolated these contacts. Their email addresses were added to a Marketing Cloud-wide automatic suppression list, ensuring they would not receive any future communications, even if they were not deleted from the system. This step alone led to the identification and suppression of 25,650 contacts.
• Duplicate Clean-up: With initial deletions completed, we turned our focus to the elimination of duplicate records associated with differing subscriber keys but matching email addresses in Salesforce. Collaborating closely with the client, we established criteria for contact record retention.
• Final Deletions: After defining the criteria with our client, we executed the final round of deletions. In the end, we successfully removed over 300,000 redundant contacts, ensuring a much cleaner and efficient platform.

‍The impact of our comprehensive cleanup operation:

• Enhanced Database Efficiency: With over 300,000 duplicates and redundant contacts eliminated, the client's Marketing Cloud was now leaner and more responsive. The risk of targeting the wrong customers or inadvertently reaching out to unsubscribed or hard-bounced contacts was significantly reduced.
• Improved Deliverability and Compliance: The automatic suppression list ensured compliance with regulations, guarding against sending messages to individuals who had explicitly opted out. This measure also enhanced email deliverability rates, boosting the client's email marketing effectiveness.