Mail Smarter Using Data Processing Services

Reaching your customers through email and social media has its benefits, but sometimes there’s no substitute for direct mail. Direct mail lets you address each segment of your market with a customized, focused message. However, mail costs money – money your business is losing if you’re not making the most of your direct mail approach. That’s where great data processing services help.

To reach your customers, you must first know where to find them. An outdated database is worse than inefficient; it actively works against you. Sending mail to invalid addresses costs you postage fees, and losing track of a valued customer who’s moved across town could cost you far more in lost opportunities.

Put Your Postal Service to Work

The United States Postal Service maintains a national database called the National Change of Address registry. A USPS-certified data processing service can access the NCOA database to keep your mailing list updated automatically. By pruning your mailing list of obsolete addresses, the NCOA also ensures that your clients keep getting the great service they expect from you.

While the NCOA registry is a valuable tool, the USPS has an even more powerful option for direct mailers: CASS, or the Coding Accuracy Support System. CASS puts the NCOA to work and uses it to correct incomplete addresses, typos and obsolete information in your listings. Using a CASS Certified service keeps your data clean. The postal service saves money when you work with a direct mail data service that keeps up with its annual CASS Certification, so choosing a CASS Certified service may even qualify you for discounted postage rates.

Making Better Use of your Data Processing Service

Keeping track of your customers is valuable, but it’s only half the story when it comes to saving money with direct mail campaigns. Now that you’ve found your customers, let your data processing service inform your decisions on approaching them.

Merge-purge services improve your mailing lists by condensing duplicate names and striking defunct addresses from the rolls. If each address on your mailing list were a playing card, merging and purging lets you shuffle, cut and deal them in any configuration that suits your organization’s needs.

Enhanced data processing also gives you a more complete picture of your customers. With the sophisticated tools that data processing services have at their disposal, you can segment your mail campaigns as finely as you like. Targeted mailings are invariably more effective than cold mailings. Viewing your market segments in greater resolution through the demographic filters you get from data enhancement raises the response rate to your direct mail.

Don’t waste your direct mailing budget on lists choked with defunct addresses and random recipients. Make it an economical choice with data processing services designed to track and target your audience; you’ll save on postage and miss fewer opportunities.