Module Overview: Merge Duplicates

Duplicate data poses serious problems for companies of any size.

Duplicate records inhibit your marketing team from effectively segmenting and personalizing your communications. Sales teams step on each other's toes and lack vital context in conversations. Support teams miss important information, and analysis and reporting are skewed.

Insycle helps you to bulk merge duplicate contacts, companies, and deals—flexibly and powerfully with the Merge Duplicates module.

Key Use Cases

Sample Use Case Steps: Bulk Merge Duplicate People, Companies

How It Works

Insycle analyzes your database and identifies duplicates with flexible matching rules, using any field in your database, to help you identify and merge more duplicates.

With duplicates identified, you set rules for determining the master record the duplicates will merge into—such as the first record created, record with the most email opens, or any other attribute that would be relevant. You can also set merging logic on a field-by-field basis.

You can merge duplicates in bulk, and Insycle provides a complete report of what was identified as a duplicate, what was merged, and what the outcome was in your master record.

Summary

To identify and merge duplicates using the Merge Duplicates module, you simply tell Insycle how to identify duplicates using set rules. Once Insycle identifies the duplicate records in your database, you then set rules for determining the master record such as the first record created, record with the most email opens, or any other relevant field. You can also choose what data is retained in the master record on a field-by-field basis.

With Insycle, you can run deduplication processes in bulk, then automate the process using templates to keep your database free from duplicates at all times.

Automation

You can schedule your Merge Duplicates templates to run on an automated, set schedule.

You can schedule your template directly in the Merge Duplicates module. You do this by clicking the Review button at the bottom of the module page.

Then, you go through a three-step process to run the operation. In the third step, you can choose the Automate tab, and schedule your template to run on a set schedule.

You can also schedule deduplication automation using Recipes, which are a collection of templates run together. You can view all scheduled automations on the Automations page of your dashboard.

Learn More:

Preview Changes Before They Go Live

With Insycle's Merge Duplicates module, you can preview the changes that you are making to your data before those changes are pushed to your live database. That way, you can check to ensure your deduplication template is working as expected.

Frequently Asked Questions

I already have a list of duplicates, can Insycle bulk merge them?

Yes. You can use a customized list of duplicates, as detailed in this help article, and use Insycle to deduplicate the list in bulk. Include ID numbers from your connected CRM in your CSV.

Why can I only process 50 duplicate groups at a time?

Insycle can process thousands of duplicate groups in one operation. Potentially, you could deduplicate your entire database in one operation. Insycle shows 50 records on the module screen as a preview. You can select duplicate groups for merging individually on the module screen, and can specify the number of records to merge after clicking the “review” button.

How do I ensure that I am not merging non-duplicate records together?

Currently, there are two ways to make sure that the records that you are merging are indeed duplicate records.

First, always run your deduplication templates in Preview mode before running them in Update mode. This produces a CSV that shows you how your records would have been merged. Then you can ensure that your Merge Duplicates template is working as expected and not merging non-duplicate records together.

Additionally, you can reduce risk when merging duplicates by narrowing your filter in Step 1. Use Exact Match instead of Similar Match. Make sure that you are using true uniquely identifying fields—first name, last name, email, and phone number are popular choices. The more tightly defined your filter is, the less likely you are to merge non-duplicate records.

How many duplicates can I merge into one master record?

You can merge as many duplicates as you would like into one single master record. This setting is available in Step 3 of the Merge Duplicates module.

This setting is here to ensure that if you set too broad a filter, you will not accidentally merge many non-duplicate records together by accident. This is precautionary, but you can change the setting as needed to match the size of your duplicate groups. If you are going to set this number at a high level, it is a good idea to run in Preview mode first to make sure your deduplication template is operating as you intend.

Are there any limits to the number of records that can be identified and merged for a paid subscription?

All plans include unlimited usage, unlimited users, and unlimited operations (see the pricing page). The number of records updated, cleansed, or merged is capped at 500 records during the free trial only.

Insycle is having trouble determining a master record. What could be causing this issue?

First, check Step 4 to ensure that you have selected Priority Match and not Absolute Match.

With Priority Match, the rules are processed in order and your master record only has to match one rule. In Absolute Match, your master record would have to meet all of the criteria in the Records tab in Step 4.

The vast majority of the time, it is best to be in Priority Match.

Can I select which data is retained in my master record in a field-by-field basis?

Yes, Insycle allows you to select which fields are retained in the master record based on predetermined rules. To learn more please see this help article.

I need to exclude some records from deduplication. Can I do that?

Yes. You can exclude records from deduplication by including a Deduplication Exclude field in your CSV, as detailed in this help article.

My team needs to review and approve the master. Can I accommodate that with Insycle?

Yes. You can manually approve master records and mark them in a CSV, then use Insycle to bulk deduplicate down to those master records. See this help article to learn more.

Alternatively, you can run the Merge Duplicates module in Preview mode, then deliver the preview CSV that Insycle generates. This CSV shows exactly how the merge would take place, but does not update your live data. Then your team can approve the merge based on this document, before running Merge Duplicates in Update mode.

Additionally, you can choose the master manually choosing the Manual tab in Step 4.

Do my matching fields have to match each other exactly?

No, Insycle does allow you to use similar matching to identify duplicates. Please read more about that in this help article.

How can I find duplicates when one field is empty?

Insycle requires the values to match in Step 1: Find Duplicates. If the matching fields listed in Step 1 are blank, Insycle will not include those records in the deduplication.

You can work around an empty matching value by removing that condition/field from Step 1 and adding it in Step 4. Then, the field will be included in the report generated for your review. This will allow you to identify duplicates that weren’t merged because the field was missing.

For example, let's say in Step 1 you have the matching fields: First Name, Last Name, Phone Number. Sometimes, the Phone Number field may be empty.

Remove the Phone Number Field, and add Phone Number Exists" as the last rule in Step 4. Now, Insycle will only use First Name and Last Name to identify the duplicates, but the Phone Number field will be included in the report for those contacts. Then you can use a customized approach to deduplication to merge records that are missing the phone number.

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