What Is Data Appending?

Data appending is the specific practice of adding new information fields to existing database records. It is a key component of data enrichment, focused on filling in missing data points rather than verifying or updating existing ones.

Common data appending scenarios include: appending email addresses to records that only have names and companies, appending phone numbers to email-only contacts, appending firmographic data (industry, size, revenue) to company records, and appending social media profiles to contact records.

The data appending process involves matching existing records against external databases using identifiers like name + company, email domain, or company website. Match accuracy varies by provider and the quality of input data - the more identifiers available, the higher the match rate.

Enrichabl performs data appending through its multi-provider enrichment workflow. When you import a CSV with partial contact data, Enrichabl can append missing emails, phones, and company data by matching records against multiple data sources through waterfall enrichment.