What Goes Around Comes Around, "Snail mail" gains new creds

Just a few years ago, when online marketing was still a twinkle in the eyes of the marketing technocrats, those same overly ambitious techies prematurely announced, “Direct Mail is Dead.” 

And while the premature announcement of DM’s demise didn’t make the cover of Time Magazine, it nonetheless shook the marketing community to its roots. 

Direct mail (DM), the long-time savior of all things marketing, became denigrated as “Snail Mail” — slower than the electron-fast e-mail marketing that was rising to prominence.  Fast was in; slow was out.  Shotguns were in; rifles were out. 

Well, that view is so... yesterday.

Today, the brilliant target-ability of direct mail has proven its worth as a tried-and-true in-the-trenches marketing success story.  Sure, DM has taken a hit from email and its electronic cousins.  Mail volume has dropped dramatically over the last 10 years, hurting both the USPS and providers of mailing services.

But consider this:  your letter/postcard/catalog/package now shares the mailbox with far fewer competing pieces of mail.  That means your recipient has longer to ponder your offer than ever before.  You get more “eyeball time,” and because there is less competition, response rates are rising again.

One retailer analyzed side-by-side marketing performance of three media:  DM, email and in-store promos.  With response up 150% from the previous year with no significant change in strategy, DM was the hands down winner over flashier new media.

So here’s the headline:  Snail mail, the so-called “obsolete marketing media,” is outperforming digital, including social media.  Who’d a-thunk it just 10 years ago?  DM is leading the new marketing wave.

The Past is Prologue.

Word.

Dear Upset Customer

I know that this is your first time mailing, so I’m going to cut you a bit of slack.

Yes, I agree that the USPS rules and regulations are about as complicated as a schematic to build the space shuttle.

You’re right. There is no Do-It-Yourself Heath Kit solution for direct mail, despite what the overly optimistic USPS publications promise.

And yes, I appreciate that you hired us to help you work your way through those byzantine rules. So let me explain exactly why your mailing cost more than the quote we gave you.

For starters, your hair was on fire when your secretary contacted us. She explained you had to get your mail out fast! No problem. We can handle it. We do “fast” every day.

She said you wanted to mail 4.25x6” postcards. That’s OK by us.

She said you would print and provide the cards to us. And you wanted to mail at First Class (I talked her into First Class Presort, thus saving you about 7 cents each in postage, remember?)

She said your list was regional, and for us to please provide you with a quote based on those premises. “Then I’ll turn you over to my boss,” she concluded sweetly.

It looked like it was coming to together well. 4.25x6” is a perfect size to mail at First Class Presort. It’s a post office pricing sweet spot. Your job looked like a cream puff, a walk-in-the-park.

And then the wheels started to fall off your wagon.

You and I “met” by email, but never spoke. That’s a problem, but I won’t dwell on your invisible cloaking device here. Despite my inability to reach you by phone so we could clear everything up in 5 minutes, we exchanged emails for 2 days about indicias, wording, positioning, barcode clear zones and other postal related things. Eventually I thought we had everything squared away.

On Tuesday your cards arrived. They were nicely designed and beautifully printed. But they were 6x8", not 4.25x6".

“No big deal” you explained.  “I decided we wanted to make a bigger impression on the receivers.”

Sorry. It was a big deal. While I agree 100% with your decision to upsize from a marketing perspective (and would urge any of my clients to do the same thing) changing the size changed the postal rates—and your quote—totally.

Instead of 20.9 cents postage per card, your rate was going to be 33.5 cents a card.

“That’s over my budget!” you yelped. (Now you could pick up the phone and call me!) “What can you do?”

“Mail at Standard rate,” I countered. “Your postage will be about 23.3 cents each. It will take longer to be delivered, but you’ll be back in the budget range. Of course we’ll need to X-out the wrong language on the indicia and overprint with the right language, but this is do-able.”

First crisis averted, but the second was approaching fast.

Your data arrived. As per our arrangement, we cleaned it, NCOA’d it, presorted it and were preparing to address your cards when you realized you had sent the wrong data. You sent the data three times before you got it right. And then you asked us to merge/purge the various files against each other to be sure you hadn’t sent any duplicates.

At the end of the day, your regional list was national. Surprise!

“Bad news,” we told you again. “Your data is national, not regional. As a result, your postage is nearly 28 cents each. You lost the address density that the USPS rewards with lower pricing.”

Oh, yes. Another itsy bitsy point: your data was 7,000 records; we had quoted on 5,000. And you question why you were over budget?

You were backed into a corner. Your hair was still on fire; the event you were promoting was now less than a week away. There were no options. You sucked it up; we mailed your job.

Now you’ve come to me (by email, naturally) to ask me how to do your job better next time.

Here are five suggestions I’d humbly proffer for your kind consideration:

1. Know your data. That’s the #1 thing that can make postage and production estimates go bad. Since you didn’t know if it was regional or national—and you didn’t even know the count—it led to several huge miscalculations.
2. Realize that a postage estimate is an estimate. Until the data goes through data processing, we can only provide you with an estimate. Of course, if you tell us one thing and it proves to be another, then all bets are off. Oops!
3. Assign one person to handle the job. In time, this person will become knowledgeable about USPS rules and regulations. Once he/she knows the rules, the budget-busting misunderstandings will decrease enormously.
4. Don’t change your package without checking for unintended consequences. An innocent change can be costly. As you found out.
5. Find a reliable direct mail provider partner to work with you. Then follow their instructions. Don’t go rogue. The USPS punishes rogues.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to educate you about the US Postal System. We’re sorry that your education was painful. But that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Or so they say.

Show me a Little Love!

Every marketer—whether working in a for-profit or not-for-profit—has one goal: Get customers, clients and donors to “Show Me the Love.” You want them to sign in, sign up, and send money.

In the dark days of yore, your options to reach these folks were limited. Direct mail; print, radio and TV advertising (or PSAs); public relations (like press releases); telephone solicitations; special events, and of course, word-of-mouth. You recognize it: It’s Marketing 101 stuff.

But today is a Brave New World, gentle people. Statistics show that each one of us is bombarded with 5,000+ advertising messages per day. That’s more than our great grandparents saw in their entire lifetimes!

Email, social media, PURLs, and text messaging has added opportunity, but has made it harder to get your message to stand out from the crowd. Figuring out where you get your donations or sales from is affecting marketers in all industries.

We are all adrift in a sea of uncertainty. Some of us simply have better life jackets than others.

So many options. So few facts.

Before you develop that fatal deer-in-the-headlight stare, consider the age of your target market. Younger folk have a variety of paths from which they get information, and no single channel predominates. Muddying the picture further, the X and Y crowd don’t seem to have developed the brand loyalty of older generations, so their allegiance is up for grabs until a clear pattern emerges. Older folks tend to stay with what they know and are comfortable with.

Here is what’s working (or not!) for a variety of marketers:

Retail. 100% of us buy retail. Just ask Safeway. But just over half of us say they have made contributions at the grocery or retail store. Most of the contributors are younger, as older folk still prefer to receive their information through direct mail, and younger people tend to spend and give more spontaneously (ie “Would you like fries with that?” “Of course!”)

Internet. Despite lingering privacy issues, most of us shop on-line today. Retailers are making great headway on the web. Non-profits are benefiting as well. 35% of the Gen Xers have gone on a charity’s web site to contribute as have 29% of the Gen Yers. But here’s the bad news: What had gotten them to that website in the first place is still TBD.

Social Media. Social Media is still largely a young person’s game. Nearly 100% of individuals under 30 use social media, with that percentage decreasing as age increases. While many of the younger users look to friends for recommendations, older users don’t. 36% of those under 30 years old have talked about a charity with friends in the past month and 29% have posted that information on their Facebook page; oldsters, not so much.

Text messaging. With near 100% cell phone market penetration, you’d think that text messaging would be huge. For instance, 77% of the public had heard about contributing to Haiti earthquake relief via their cell phones and 36% indicated willingness to contribute this way. But there is a huge generational divide. While 13-14% of the X and Yers contribute by phone, only 4% of Boomers do.

Social Events. Younger people tend to prefer social events such as 5K runs and galas. Older individuals who participate in galas tend to be gala goers, not long term prospects for donations (“I want to be seen with the right people.”) Younger people tend to give/buy spontaneously without much forethought. By comparison, older donors like to do research before they invest (think Consumer Reports and charity watchdogs), hence social events provide a bit of peer pressure to get more from younger audiences.

Direct Mail. Direct Mail is still one of the best channels for reaching people. DM earned attention—and money—from almost 100% of the Boomers, 43% of the Xers and 26% of the Yers in the last year. The age divide continues: Individuals born before 1965 voiced a strong preference for direct mail; people born after 1965 preferred web sites.

It goes on and on. Today’s multi-channel environment demands that marketers find new ways to determine response rates and ROI. We’ve figured that much out.

We haven’t figured out how to compute the value of internet vs DM (direct mail) vs WoM (word of mouth) vs text messaging vs Social Media vs special events, etc.

So many options. So few facts.

Like so many things, it used to be simpler.

Give me a hug. I need one.

Email could learn lessons from Snail Mail Marketing

"Snail Mail"-aka direct mail-is truly alive and well. Need proof? Just look at your mailbox. Every day there are provocative mailings that demand you read them.

Old technology snail mailers have a thing or two to teach tech-happy eMarketers about good marketing. Here are some Marketing 101 errors I found in my email just this week-amateur errors that cost these companies my time and attention.

Lesson #1 Verify the basics: presentation, spelling and grammar. We all know that direct mail isn't instant. But it's typically better thought out, more compelling and better composed than text messages or email blasts.

Just this past week I received email blasts from bona fide companies offering to get me some of the "simulous [sic] money that's flooding the market" and help me "refiance [sic] my home." And I don't even want to think about the spam I get offering a "free colege [sic] education" or cheap "Canadan [sic] pharmaceuticals."

Can you imagine a direct mail piece going out with those egregious errors?

eMarketers: Check your spelling before you hit the "send" button. Your error makes it easy for me to ignore your message. It makes you seem unorganized and ill-prepared. And I don't choose to spend my time or money with someone who is either unorganized or ill-prepared.

Lesson #2. Time is your ally. OK, direct mail takes longer to produce, longer to deliver and longer to start to get feedback. But time can be your friend. Truly.

Time gives the marketer a chance to think about his message. It lets him prepare it in a compelling way and select graphics to reinforce the presentation. It gives him an opportunity to consider what audience would be most receptive to his message and to craft his message to that audience. It gives him time to reflect, to reconsider, before he pulls the trigger.

eMarketers: Don't be a cowboy. Plan then execute! Doing things fast and doing things right shouldn't be mutually exclusive.

Lesson #3. Know your audience. Good direct mail does a terrific job of talking to its audience. Successful marketers who put direct mail together think about their audience before they launch. That's why letters are personalized to the recipient-to reestablish the existing relationship. That's why people living in apartments don't get letters meant for homeowners. Or why hunters don't get letters intended for PETA members.

It's patently obvious: market to someone you know with a message that is right for that person, and you'll increase your response rate. Duh!

If my incoming email is an indicator, the guys (I'm assuming they are guys) who generate this electronic stuff need a few lessons in who they are reaching out to.

As a woman, I don't need little blue pills that will give me "hours of exstacy [sic, again!]" and I certainly don't need to "keep her happy all night long." ...As a college postgrad, I don't need a free college education...As an owner of a company, I don't want to work out of my house at night to generate extra income. I am not interested in buying foreclosed property or in becoming a secret shopper, or in getting free coupons for products/stores/restaurants I don't buy/frequent/eat at.
Come on, guys! Focus!

eMarketers: Rifles work better than shotguns. Targeted, personalized messages work better than helter skelter get-as-many-out-as-you-can-in-as-short-a-time-as-you-can. That's leaping before you look. That's stupid marketing.

Lesson #4. Quantity does not equal Quality. If your marketing plan is to send out as many emails as you can to as many people as you can hoping that something will register with someone, then you have no plan. You're wasting your money and my time.

By the way, sending me the same email twice in 5 minutes does nothing to endear you to me. Sending it to me four times in two days alienates me. Got it?

Lesson #5. Give me a way to get back to you. Let's suppose I'm interested. Please be sure your email has an obvious "Contact us" link that I can use. Better yet, give me the name of a real person with a real phone number.

Oh yes-back to Lesson #1. Check and re-check your info. Be sure you've got the phone number and "contact us" link correct. Last week I responded to the Contact us link and got back a bounced message that [name of intended recipient] was no longer employed at [name of company that sent me the email]. Geez. No one is watching that store to be sure! Makes one wonder.

Maybe I am a little old gray-haired lady who is a bit crotchety and stogy. But I am your potential customer. That should count for something.

Take a lesson or two from the fuddy duddies who do direct mail marketing. Focus on the marketing basics. Good copy. Good graphics. Correct spelling. Relate your message to the recipient's interests/needs. Provide a reliable respond-back mechanism.

They've been doing it right for 50 years. Study the masters.

Need help with your direct mail marketing and email marketing? Consult a professional like Paul&Partners. We'll help you navigate the postal regulations to ensure you get the best postage rate available to you. We'll help you find the perfect people for your message, and then we'll design a package that is the right one for your audience and your budget.

Check us out at www.PaulandPartners.net. Let us know how we can help make your next marketing program more successful.

43670 Trade Center Place, Suite 150, Dulles, VA 20166

Phone: 703.996.0800 Fax: 703.996.0888 1.866.365.2858

www.paulandpartners.net sales@paulandpartners

The story of FSC and Recycled papers.

What’s black and white and green all over?

The story of FSC and Recycled papers.

Back in the dark ages—say in the 1960’s and 70’s—when computers were Kaypros or Compaqs, the promise was a paperless office within 20 years. As you’ve probably noticed, it didn’t happen. In fact, we’re using more not less paper than we were 40 years ago.

The US was—and remains—the world’s largest market for paper products. And that puts a huge burden on the forests of the world. Untrammeled forests in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia are being flattened to support our need for paper. In the process, the needs of indigenous peoples are being shunted aside, irreplaceable native animals and plants are being steamrollered into oblivion, and air/water pollution on a shocking scale is de rigueur. Worse yet, the living “lungs” of our planet are being wiped out at an unsustainable pace.

Yes indeed, paper is big business. A big, messy business.

In the US, 25% of our national timber harvest is used solely to create paper. But it isn’t enough. We produce 90 million tons of paper each year but consume 100 million tons. So not only are we dependent on other countries for the fuel we burn in our cars, we’re also dependent upon them for the paper we use to fulminate about our dependency!

If God helps those who help themselves, goodness knows we’re trying.

First we tried recycling. When the concept was introduced a generation ago, the hope was that the public would do the right thing. And it did. While the recycling effort did reduce the amount of paper in landfills, it still accounted for less than one third of our paper consumption.

Then the market for recycled materials flooded, prices tanked and even environmentally sensitive communities had trouble selling their hard-earned recyclables. All this while paper prices continued to go up and forests continued to go down!

Once there was sufficient recycled product on the market, recycled papers started to appear. But because they required extra processing to remove toxins like inks, staples, glues and cellophane windows before being turned back into paper, recycled stocks were more expensive than “virgin” paper. They were also ugly and didn’t hold an image well.
Consumers stayed away in droves.

Manufacturers responded by mixing recycled paper pulp with virgin pulp. The results were lower prices and an improved product. But it touched off a moral dilemma: is 10% recycled content “recycled enough?” What is “enough,” anyway?

If recycling alone wasn’t the answer, what was?

Enter the Forest Stewardship Council. Realizing that lumbering practices around the world had to change as part of the solution, The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) implemented standards of certification for responsible behavior.

Wood is the largest component of paper. Hence, start with the source: logging. Certify companies that manage forests responsibly. Give them a “brand” that helps them win market share from companies using illegal, unsustainable and unverified logging. And by doing so, FSC reasoned, eliminate habitat destruction, water pollution, displacement of indigenous peoples and the violence against people and wildlife that accompanies unregulated logging.

Then FSC certified the mills that chip, shred and pulp the wood, ensuring they use the most benign technologies possible to turn tree slurry to paper product.

Then FSC certified companies that sell the paper to ensure the brand is not diluted or misrepresented. And finally, FSC certified printers that use environmentally friendly processes.
In other words: FSC established and maintained a rigorous “chain of custody” from forest to final product. The unbroken chain ensured environmentally and socially responsible behaviors in every step. It was the gold star standard.

But then it got even better! FSC added a recycled component to its certification process. Three labels tell the story:

• FSC 100% Virgin ensures the paper is from sustainable forests that comply with the rigorous environmental and social standards of the FSC.


• FSC 100% recycled ensures the paper is from 100% post-consumer recycled wood fiber as defined by FSC standards.
  
• FSC Mixed Source ensures the wood pulp came from an FSC-certified forest, company controlled sources and/or recycled materials.

Environmentally and socially aware consumers of paper product no longer have to choose between recycled stock and FSC stock. Now they can get the best of both possible worlds!

We may not be paperless yet, but we can ensure the papers we use are societally responsible.

Want to know more? Want to print your next job on greener papers?

Call Paul&Partners. 703-996-0800.

We’ll help you make the right decision for all the right reasons.

++++

43670 Trade Center Place, Suite 150, Dulles, VA 20166

Phone: 703.996.0800 Fax: 703.996.0888

www.paulandpartners.net sales@paulandpartners.net

Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend...Sometimes.

…and sometimes it’s PURLs!

PURLs (Personalized URLs) are the latest and greatest marketing tool to hit the street this decade. And that’s saying a lot.

It works like this: a savvy marketer (OK, we’ll assume it’s you, wise and wonderful friend) has asked Paul&Partners to help you (that’s the part that makes you both wise and wonderful!)

First P&P sends a letter or postcard to your intended audience. The card invites the recipient to “go to this website I’ve created for you” to learn more about blah blah blah.

The invitation P&P has created for you has the recipient’s name in color so it’s very obvious. (Remember, people always love to see their names in print. Color ensures they will see it.) So the curious recipient checks it out. Voila! He’s entered the wonderful world of PURLs.

On his personal URL, you greet him by name. You give him content of value—something of real interest and benefit (read the previous article on marketing to Gen-Xers). Maybe you ask a couple of questions that are apropos to your better understanding his needs (ie “I’ll be ready to buy this item in 1 week…1 month…6 months”). Maybe you give him a link to your main web page where he can get more in-depth information. Certainly you ask for any contact information you don’t have embedded in the PURL site already.

So far so good, right? I’m just getting started.

Assuming he answers some of your questions, he’s giving you important marketing intelligence so you can tell how to better approach him next time.

If he didn’t answer your questions, you can at least see what he read and how long he stayed on your site. So you can ascertain his level of interest and in what specific areas he has interest.

Tres’ cool, indeed. But it gets better.

When he logs off, you know instantaneously who has visited, what list he’s from, what he read, how long he stayed, if he linked to your main webpage, and if he answered any of your questions. In other words, you know a lot about your visitor.

He’s left his footprints for you to follow. He’s telling you what you need to do to address him more pertinently in the future. He’s started a conversation with you, and now it’s up to you to respond appropriately.

But wait! There’s even more!

If you’re a certified number-crunching marketer then you should be delighted to know that the P&P’s PURL software can also give you the statistics you want…and can give them to you real time. So you know how many people have responded from each list…what the percent return is for each list…how many people say they want to buy your gizmo in one week…etc.

But perhaps you’re not selling gizmos. So what can you use a PURL to do?

Track alumni…accept contributions…make reservations…solicit volunteers…determine interest levels for various projects and programs…get people motivated and involved in a cause or issue…or just about anything else that could benefit from an informed two-way conversation between you and your constituency.

It’s useful for anybody who has something to market; it’s a good information exchange for the recipient; and it helps to build your relationship.

Do PURLs increase response rate? Absolutely! We’ve seen responses of over 4% on cold prospecting, and triple that on a housefile project.

Are PURLs expensive? Depends on your perspective. To get your usual predictable response rate, you can mail smaller quantities, so you save on production and postage. Or you can send more and see more results. But of course, setting up a PURL campaign does have a cost. Duh.

Want to know more about how PURLs can boost your marketing efforts? Curious about integrating PURLs into your marketing toolkit? Call Paul&Partners (703-996-0800) for the word on this newest direct marketing technology.

PURLs, anyone? They can be worth their weight in gold.

43670 Trade Center Place, Suite 150, Dulles, VA 20166
Phone: 703.996.0800 Fax:703.996.0888
www.paulandpartners.net sales@paulandpartners

Direct Mail 101 - So what is an NCOA file?

NCOA files are maintained by the Post Office. (Remember the last time you moved? Remember that yellow Post Office form you filled out with your old and new address? You intended the postal service to forward your Time Magazine properly, right? Well, they did forward your Time Magazine to you, but they also put your addresses—both old and new—into a database. And then they made that database available to mailers to confirm address accuracy.)

Upon running your housefile through the NCOA process, you are awarded a certificate. That certificate allows you to mail First Class Presort, Standard Presort, or Nonprofit Presort (NCOA certification no older than 90 days is required for all presort categories of mail) should you wish. It also shows the Post Office that you are concerned about list hygiene and doing your part to keep your list clean. Call it “good will” if you wish. More practically, it updates your file and reduces your outlay for non-deliverable packages. NCOA certification is valid for 90 days.

Upsides: It’s fast: an expedited NOCA can happen in a couple of hours. And it’s cheap. NCOA processing will also catch incomplete addresses (i.e. missing apartment/suite numbers) or mismatches between states and zips, or incorrect addresses (no such street number). It will tell you if someone has moved, and if so what their new address is. It will tell you if someone has moved overseas (no luck on that address, though). And it will tell you if the person is gone with no forwarding address (best to check Heavenly Acres for current residence status). So you can fix your list and get in the mail faster with cleaner information. That means more positive results faster.

Downsides: Did your recipient fill out his/her yellow moving form legibly? If the input keypuncher can’t read it, the entry may be wrong in the database. Mail could be misdirected. So there is a small element of human error involved. And about those incomplete or incorrect addresses: NCOA processing probably can’t fix them for you. It can pinpoint problems, but you have to make the fix later.

Also, an NCOA of a company file can not pinpoint if your specific recipient is still employed in his/her position; it can only tell you if the company address is still viable.

Bottom line: For speed, accuracy, cost and getting your corrected information back in a timely fashion, no other list cleaning technique equals an NCOA.

Direct mail marketing is tough enough. Mailing to people who no longer live where you think they live only makes it harder and more expensive.

Make it easier on yourself—and your organization’s pocketbook. Keep your data clean, eliminate duplicates and kill the “deadwood.” But get a professional like Paul & Partners to guide you. Professional help costs nothing more than the NCOA fee. But get that NCOA done. You’ll be surprised at how much your return rates will improve on your next mailing! Best yet: your boss will think you’re a genius.

Now that’s a win-win!

43670 Trade Center Place, Suite 150, Dulles, VA 20166
Phone: 703.996.0800 Fax: 703.996.0888
http://www.paulandpartners.net/ travis.boaz@paulandpartners

Our Services Include: mailing services, bulk mailing services, direct mailing service, printing and mailing services, mass mailing services, buy mailing lists, mailing lists, buy mailing list, mailing list service, mailing list, direct mail mailing list, direct mail post cards, direct mail house, direct mail programs, direct mail printers, direct mail solutions, direct mail cost, direct mail advertising services, direct mail post card, direct mail marketing services, direct mail companies, direct mail postcards, direct mail advertising, direct mail marketing, direct mail

CLEAN UP YOUR NEXT MAILING!

Clean your housefile…Clean up on your next mailing!

Anyone who has studied Direct Mail 101 understands that mailing to a clean list is critical to the success of a project. A clean list reduces printing, production and postage costs…even as it increases percentage return.

Clean up your housefile and you’ll look like a marketing genius. I guarantee it.

Interested?

Consider this: 20% of the US population moves each year. Some marry and merge households; some divorce and split households; some die; some just move away. Thus consumer files can go stale quickly.

Or this: 20% of small businesses fail each year, and a somewhat smaller number of larger companies merge, get bought out, or move—sometimes “off shore.” Furthermore, the specific individual you want to target may be downsized or promoted, on maternity or military leave, retired or replaced. Organizations mailing into the government have an even greater challenge, due to personnel turnover.

Or this: maybe you are your own worst enemy. Maybe you have people listed multiple times on your datafile. Don’t deny it! I’ve seen databases just like yours. Duplicates everywhere. And that means wasted money…and upset recipients.

It is hard enough to find people who are interested in your message…people who are willing to buy from your company or donate to your cause. Staying in touch with them can be just as difficult.

You probably intuitively know that it is less expensive to keep customers or contributors than to replace them. Prospecting is expensive. And it rarely breaks even. So it only makes practical sense to periodically clean your housefile.

Yet so many direct mailers don’t take that one simple—and inexpensive—step. Instead, they watch as their list slowly atrophies and their return rates plunge. And they wonder what’s wrong.

The answer is simple: poor list hygiene. Cleaning a list is simply the best way to keep your customers and donors active and keep your prospecting costs down.

And list hygiene needn’t be a laborious process. There are several ways to clean your housefile.

The first method is to call everyone on your list before you mail to them. While your accuracy will be assured, you will never get anything into the mail because you’ll always be on the phone. Unless you have a staff of thousands with nothing better to do, try another technique.

A second method is to mail everything First Class. It’s effective: the Post Office will forward your information to your intended recipient. Voila’! Prime mission accomplished! But at a price. You are paying dearly for your postage, your intended recipient may get a package that has been handled so many times it is no longer readable and you may not get back needed corrections in a timely fashion.

A third solution is to use endorsement lines (such as “Address Forwarding Requested.”) Depending on the endorsement you select, you will get predictable results. In one instance your mailing will be forwarded to your recipient—new yellow stickers and accusatory pointing finger stamps and all—and you get a photocopy. In another instance, the package comes back to you with the correct address (if known) noted so you can send out a fresh piece. But again there are downsides. Sometimes you can’t read the photocopied forms. They are too light or have a sticker over a crucial piece of information. If you get the piece back for remailing, then you’re paying twice for postage. It can take weeks or months to get your information back. And, unless you’re mailing First Class, you have to pay a price for this service—but only on the pieces returned. So using endorsement lines can be expensive.

A fourth method is to NCOA your file before you mail. NCOA—or National Change of Address—is a software solution to updating your datafile. An NCOA service provider like Orion Direct can check your existing database again a Post Office master database. If an entry has changed, your database changes. It’s that simple.

Or not.

You need a provider like Paul & Partners that can help guide your list through this process. The list has to be modified to NCOA format...then run against the NCOA list...then returned to your native format. You truly need a professional like Paul & Partners on your side. It will make your life--and your list--so much happier.

So what is an NCOA file?

NCOA files are maintained by the Post Office. (Remember the last time you moved? Remember that yellow Post Office form you filled out with your old and new address? You intended the postal service to forward your Time Magazine properly, right? Well, they did forward your Time Magazine to you, but they also put your addresses—both old and new—into a database. And then they made that database available to mailers to confirm address accuracy.)

Upon running your housefile through the NCOA process, you are awarded a certificate. That certificate allows you to mail First Class Presort, Standard Presort, or Nonprofit Presort (NCOA certification no older than 90 days is required for all presort categories of mail) should you wish. It also shows the Post Office that you are concerned about list hygiene and doing your part to keep your list clean. Call it “good will” if you wish. More practically, it updates your file and reduces your outlay for non-deliverable packages. NCOA certification is valid for 90 days.

Upsides: It’s fast: an expedited NOCA can happen in a couple of hours. And it’s cheap. NCOA processing will also catch incomplete addresses (i.e. missing apartment/suite numbers) or mismatches between states and zips, or incorrect addresses (no such street number). It will tell you if someone has moved, and if so what their new address is. It will tell you if someone has moved overseas (no luck on that address, though). And it will tell you if the person is gone with no forwarding address (best to check Heavenly Acres for current residence status). So you can fix your list and get in the mail faster with cleaner information. That means more positive results faster.

Downsides: Did your recipient fill out his/her yellow moving form legibly? If the input keypuncher can’t read it, the entry may be wrong in the database. Mail could be misdirected. So there is a small element of human error involved. And about those incomplete or incorrect addresses: NCOA processing probably can’t fix them for you. It can pinpoint problems, but you have to make the fix later.

Also, an NCOA of a company file can not pinpoint if your specific recipient is still employed in his/her position; it can only tell you if the company address is still viable.

Bottom line: For speed, accuracy, cost and getting your corrected information back in a timely fashion, no other list cleaning technique equals an NCOA.

Direct mail marketing is tough enough. Mailing to people who no longer live where you think they live only makes it harder and more expensive.

Make it easier on yourself—and your organization’s pocketbook. Keep your data clean, eliminate duplicates and kill the “deadwood.” But get a professional like Paul & Partners to guide you. Professional help costs nothing more than the NCOA fee. But get that NCOA done. You’ll be surprised at how much your return rates will improve on your next mailing! Best yet: your boss will think you’re a genius.

Now that’s a win-win!

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