Is Your Direct Mail Data Bad?

Now is the time to take a look at all your direct mail data and make sure it is accurate. You do not want to send the wrong offer to the wrong person. In this heavily digital world, marketers have access to more data than ever before, which could be great or disastrous. Which has it been for you? Let’s take a look at some common data problems and ways to avoid them. Then we will look at the great things data can do for your direct mail!

Direct Mail Data Issues:

• Wrong address: When people move, they fill out a form with the post office to notify them. Whenever you are sending a mailing you are required by the USPS to run a form of move update on your file. There are several acceptable ways to do this. One problem that happens is when only one person in a residence moves and the others stay, you can get a false match that others moved too. Then you end up sending your mail piece to the wrong address. This is frustrating for the person getting the wrong mail piece as well as to you. The best way to check moves is to verify it with your customers. There are many creative ways to do it.
• Compiled: Sometimes when data is compiled from multiple sources it can become corrupted or just flat out wrong. For instance when compiling data where multiple adults live in the same household, there can be cross over between people. This can come from one person’s buying habits combined with another’s or one person fills out a survey for another. It is easy to crisscross. How can you mitigate this? Make sure to verify your data sources before you combine them with your in house data. Use only the most well vetted files.
• Duplication: Depending on how you wish to dedupe records you may end up with only one person in the house to send to who is not the best contact. You want to reach the person most likely to respond to your mail piece. How can you avoid this? First run a dedupe one per person that way no one gets 2. Then if you have purchase information or other information that shows you who your targets are make sure to include that information in a report to look a dupes per address. Pulling per address will grab all people in that home in your data. You can then look to the information field to see which records have the key targeting words and keep them while dropping the others.

Are you ready for some data greats?

• Targeting: Good solid data gives you the opportunity to get very targeted with your direct mail messages. When you know who someone is, what they like and what they can’t resist you have the ability to create a powerful mail piece with a very impressive response rate.
• Specials: You can use your data to create specials for birthdays or other occasions throughout the year based on information you have collected. The more specific you can get the more likely you are to get a response.
• Information: The best part about your data is that it can give you clues about who your best customers are. You can then use that information to find more people like them to send your direct mail too. When you are able to reach the right prospects your response rates will be much higher.

As you can see your direct mail data can help enhance your direct mail or thwart it depending on how good it is. You must guard your data from cyber threats as well as the 3 tips above. Your data is your lifeblood in marketing. The more accurate data you have the better off you are. So who do you have in charge of your data? Contact us today! We are glad to help!