Data mining allows a user to run a query across a series of clients and then create a mail merge document or email to each of the clients on the list. It allows users to run simple or complicated queries to establish a list of clients or contacts or prospects they would like to send a message.
Overview
Data mining provides the user with a simple method of analyzing the client’s data and then extracting that data for reporting and mail merging purposes. The following are examples of the kinds of data extraction performed in many practices:
- Generate a mail shot and labels for a budget newsletter to send to all clients
- Generate a list of clients to request year-end records
- Generate a list of sole traders, individuals, or directors and inform them of their upcoming tax returns
- Generate a monthly newswire and email it to all clients
- Generate a list of all clients with special income types for direct marketing
- Generate a list of all clients with property interests for investment opportunities
- Generate a Christmas card list
How to Use Data Mining
From the Marketing menu, choose Data Mining or go to Marketing > DataMining in the navigation toolbar. The DataMining Browse screen will appear as below.
Click New. The Query window appears.
The details tab will ask you to fill in the following.
Description of Query: A description of the query.
Query Group: The group to be included in the query e.g., clients. To create a new query group, type the name into the text area. The query group will be added to the data mining browse when the query is saved.
Source of Information: Who the information will come from, e.g, clients or prospects only.
Include All Contacts: This appears as you fill in details – tick the box if you would like to in include all contacts.
Include Credit Control Fields: This appears as you fill in details – tick the box if you would like to in include credit control fields.
Date Last Run: The date this query was the last run is automatically displayed here.
Last Run By: The name of the staff member who last ran this query is displayed here.
Number of Records: number of records that were found matching the given query is displayed.
Note: Depending on what you input for Source of Information, the GDPR tab may appear. Here you can categorise the communications as GDPR relevant using tickboxes.
Next, click the Query Builder tab. This page allows you to define the query which will produce the list of records you require. Depending on what you have inputted in Details, it will populate.
Field: Select the data field i.e., Year-End from the drop-down list
Condition: Select the criteria i.e., containing, from the arrow on the drop-down list that appears when you click the white box directly below the word Condition
Value: Type in the value that you require i.e., Dec
What if we also want the list to include clients who have their year-end in January as well as December?
Operator: The operator option allows us to select either “and” or “or” depending on whether you want all the conditions that you have specified, to be met.
The SQL tab displays your specified query in SQL format depending on the fields chosen in the Fields tab and the criteria in the query tab; this is only used for technical IT Staff.
Next, click the Fields Tab, this page allows you to select the specific data you wish to appear on the data mine, by ticking each field.
Select the All Fields button: selects all fields to display. If you are unsure what fields, you have linked to the document you should tick this option. Un-Select All Fields button: unselects all the fields that are currently selected.
Click into the Contact Fields screen, this allows you to select the specific contact data you wish to appear on the data mine by ticking each field.
Press Run to produce the Data Mine list OR click ‘Save & Close’ to save the query you have just created. The query will appear in the data mining browse screen. You can also run the query from this window without opening the query by highlighting it and pressing the run button.
After running the query, the records that matched this criterion will be displayed. Depending on the query criteria, the number of records displayed will vary. You can delete any records from the query by highlighting the record and pressing the delete option.
Once you have created and ran the query you can now perform one of the three following options:
- Word mail merge
- E-mail merge
- Export the data to an excel file or to a text file