Target Direct Mail Success with Smart Data Fixes

If you've ever sent thousands of mail pieces only to receive a stack of returns, you understand the pain of bad data. According to Pitney Bowes' research, only 60% of movers file a Change of Address (COA) with USPS, leaving a staggering 40% gap of people who've moved without notifying the postal service. For marketers relying on direct mail to deliver critical communications, this gap means a lot of wasted time and money.

Movers aren't the only issue. Hidden duplicates in your list create equal waste. Name variations, inconsistent formatting, and outdated records can result in the same person receiving multiple copies—or nothing at all if conflicting data prevents successful delivery.

How Duplicates Hide in Plain Sight

Your list might appear clean until closer inspection reveals:

• "Jon Smith" and "Jonathan Smith" at identical addresses
• "Katelyn" spelled three different ways with similar addresses
• Apartments listed as "Apt 3A," "Unit 3A," and "#3A"
• Same individual at both old and new addresses

These inconsistencies compound across thousands of records, creating inflated printing costs, unnecessary postage, and missed impressions. For compliance-sensitive mailings like data breach notifications, these errors can trigger regulatory violations.

4 Simple Fixes for Significant Improvement

At Standard Press, we use multiple strategies to ensure clean, accurate mailing lists before a single piece is sent out. Our techniques include:

• Run NCOA Before Every Mailing: National Change of Address database catches recent movers who filed a COA, providing quick list maintenance against USPS records.

• Use Phonetic Matching: Go beyond basic deduplication by recognizing "Caitlyn" and "Katelyn" might be the same person. 

• Standardize Address Formatting: Ensure consistent formatting that meets USPS delivery standards, improving deliverability and duplicate detection.

• Implement Weighted Matching: Assign importance values to each field (name, address, phone) and flag records exceeding similarity thresholds.

Clean Data Leads to Mail Success

Direct mail remains one of marketing's most powerful channels, especially for sensitive or regulatory communications. Its effectiveness depends entirely on data quality. Clean lists reduce waste, lower costs, and improve ROI.

With 50,000 letters, even a 5% duplicate or undeliverable rate means 2,500 wasted pieces. That’s thousands of lost dollars and missed opportunities.

Direct mail success starts with your list, so make sure it’s doing its part. 

Standard Press provides secure, end-to-end direct mail and data solutions including NCOA processing, deduplication, and address standardization. We also use advanced techniques like camera matching and mail tracking to ensure delivery success. Contact us for more details ahead of your next campaign!