In theory, Facebook is a fantastic platform for creating or transferring custom audiences. The wealth of data Facebook holds on users, and the many options for defining...
A successful mailing campaign is only as good as the quality of the data your campaign is using. If your mailing database is full of errors, incorrect addresses, or old contact information, not only are you missing out on potential new customers and revenue - you’re blowing money on postage.
Ouch.
So what’s the best way to make sure your direct mail data is correct? And what systems can you implement to keep your campaigns fresh year after year?
First, let’s go over some of the common problems. You may see solutions right away.
What are some of the common mailing database issues?
Out of Date Contacts
Did you know 17% of the U.S. population moves every year?
That most likely means 17% of your B2C mailing data is rotting every year. At the very least. If you haven’t verified your mail database recently, that’s an exercise that will most certainly pay out. Psst! This is something Every Market Media can help your company with.
Incorrect Mailing Address
Another common problem is bad or incorrect addresses. This can stem from how data collection is carried out. If your company collects data from surveys, contests or any scenario where your customers or audience are submitting contact information to you, there’s always a chance of fake or bad mailing data.
Another source of error can be from human data entry. Typos, entering data from the wrong line, and poor data organization methods can all degrade the quality of your mailing data. Humans will be humans. However, don’t fret, there’s good news if this is you - keep reading!
Duplicate Entries
Duplicate mailing address entries or “dupes” are one of the oldest problems direct mail marketers have faced. Years ago it was easy to spot because a human had to manually write the address on each piece of mail that got mailed out. And of course, duplicate entries could be crossed out as mailers were being processed.
Today, with computerized mailing, duplicate mail can go unnoticed and be a substantial cost as a mailing list scales up. The good news is cleaning dupes and verifying which duplicate is the correct address is a breeze for Every Market Media.
Incorrect Address Formatting
This problem is so painful because it’s such an easy issue to fix. For example, if an address in your B2B mailing address database is missing the word "suite" or the same city has a Walnut Street and a Walnut Ave., but your data just has 100 Walnut as the address - these type of address formatting issues can degrade your mailing campaign deliverability. It may sound ridiculous, but it causes mail to get returned.
When you add up all of these sources of error they can be quite costly. Especially if you keep mailing to the same list month after month!
What are some solutions to fixing your mailing database?
Use a Keyline or Match Key
The classic solution to keeping your mailing database in good shape is to use a keyline on every piece of mail that goes out. This system allows you to create a feedback system for all mail that can’t be delivered or is returned. 
As mail is returned, your keyline system will allow you to update your mailing database and keep the accuracy high. Using keylines is also helpful because the U.S. post office will send electronic ACS nixie notices which you can then use to automatically update your mailing database.
Manually Removing Duplicate Entries and Improving Address Information
If your mailing database is relatively manageable, you can (and certainly should) spend time “cleaning” your database every month. This can include removing duplicate entries, checking address accuracy and updating mailing entries when necessary. Usually, all of the above can be accomplished with some Excel wizardry and using USPS.com (with Google) to verify mailing addresses. But, if the task is just too time-consuming...
Hire Every Market Media
At a certain point, your mailing database may be simply too large to manage manually. This is a great time to utilize Every Market Media’s services. Every Market Media excels at mailing database optimization and verification. We can correct bad mailing address and contact data problems as well as work with USPS to make sure your deliverability remains high.Do you want to add contacts to your mailing database?
Not only can Every Market Media optimize, verify and cleanse your mailing database, but we can also add fresh contacts to it as well. Whether your contacts are B2B or B2C, we have millions of contacts available for you to market to. Please contact us if you’re interested in scaling your mailing database.
