Direct Mail is an incredibly effective marketing system and having updated data only increases its effectiveness. If you’ve wondered how you can optimize your marketing data even more, check out these 5 tools.
1. National Change of Address (NCOA)
The National Change of Address dataset is offered by the United States Postal Service and gives subscribers the most up-to-date addresses. They have a 160 million permanent change of address records for residential and business addresses. By using this dataset, you can clean up your records and make sure you have the latest information on your potential customers and that your direct mail pieces are reaching your target audience.
2. Deduplication
Deduplication of data helps you go through and remove redundant data. A customer who has been with your business for several years may have multiple profiles. When you consolidate their profiles, you are able to get a clearer picture of who your customer is and what they are purchasing. Another added bonus is you won’t be sending 10 mailing pieces to the same house.
3. Deceased File Processing
Deceased File Processing removes people on your mailing list who have died. This step is often overlooked when people clean out their data lists, but it’s an important one. Removing names of the deceased from your list will help you be respectful and sensitive to grieving family members. Removing deceased names will also keep you from sending out unnecessary direct mail pieces.
4. Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM)
Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is a United States Postal Service (USPS) tool that allows you to find customers near your business. EDDM gives you access to census data like household income, size, and age range, so you can select the people most likely to be your best customers. Once you select who you would like to deliver your mail pieces to, you can select which postal routes you would like to use and even what day you would like your piece delivered on. This type of tool allows you to target your best potential customers in an efficient and cost effective way.
5. Informed Delivery
Informed Delivery is another tool offered by the United States Postal Service that allows mail recipients to receive a digital preview of their mail. People who sign up to use this service receive an email with scanned images of their mail, so they know exactly what they will be receiving that day. Informed Delivery is up to 43 million subscribers and has an open rate of over 64%. Marketers can use this tool to create interactive digital campaigns that go along with their direct mail. What makes this tool even more effective is that the people who subscribe are engaged and paying attention to the direct mail pieces they receive.
Take the time to utilize these tools and clean up your data. Optimizing your data will allow you to see a clearer picture of who your best customers are, save you money by removing inaccurate records, and enable you to see higher results because you are reaching your target audience.