Why Direct Mail Advertisers Should Use Address Verification Software

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Communication is very important especially to clients and targeted customers. While the latest technologies may have revolutionized the way information is transmitted from one source to the next, one thing is for sure the old forms of communication can not be easily replaced; they still have significance even in the face of social media networking sites, electronic mails and voice over internet enabled communication. Businesses are facing stiff competition and the bargaining power has shifted from pricing strategies to just how well you serve and keep close touch with your prospects.

address-verification

Change of business name, location, change of product offering and other reasons could be behind the necessity to communicate with your clients. While there is a need to communicate comprehensively and fast to your clients, one thing is commonly overlooked; the need to verify the mailing addresses.

People could have moved or even changed their postal addresses and it is not fair to you and to the people you are sending mail just to assume that the status quo still remains and you just send your mails without confirming. Luckily there is software that does exactly that, verifying addresses before you send your mails. It is a common habit to just assume that what you have written on the envelope is right but at times mistakes can come up in the way states are abbreviated, spelling of street names or even the towns. While it is true that most of these mistakes can be remedied even before the mails are sent out, unless such a deliberate effort is taken to verify the addresses, this software can be of little help.

The change of zip codes

Most times the reason why we get the wrong addresses is simply not entirely our fault. For instance the change of zip codes could really have a substantial effect on our mailing addresses. With time, zips codes change because of a number of reasons. Amongst the reasons why zip codes change, is growth in populations. As people increase in number in a given locality there is a need to expand the services. This is where the postal service may come in to add an extra postal code in order to lessen the burden on their part of handling bulk mails. After such additions of zip codes it is expected that databases be updated but unfortunately it is not as simultaneous as it is thought to be. It takes time for the database update to take place meaning that the zip codes through which mails will be sent out with will be the wrong ones leading to failure of deliveries and subsequent losses. This is amongst the reasons why the address verification software plays a key role in ensuring that all the information concerning the address you use is correct and updated.

Poor and illegible handwritings

Not every person has embraced or rather has access to typing machines through which they can type addresses on the envelope before sending them. Most people do write the address with their own handwritings which for some reason may prove illegible. More still the addresses used could have been captured through documents that were filled by hand such as registration forms or promotional cards. In such a case errors occur at the point where the data entry expert feeds such information into a database because of illegibility of the handwriting. The street name could be spelt wrongly or even the state name due to unfamiliarity of the data entry clerk with the addresses being input. Unless at the point of dispatching mails such addresses are put through the verification software, there is bound to be a host of errors leading to failed mail deliveries.

Difficulties in software interpretation

It is appreciated that some companies use electronic gadgets to capture addresses into electronic databases. Such addresses could again be handwritten and as such at the point of capturing them, the optical character readers (OCR) could experience difficulties leading to non-readable data being captured into the database. At times it is to be appreciated that even what is termed as sophisticated software may not capture accurately the addresses as written by hand and this means that the database will contain erroneous addresses. Now unless such addresses are verified at the point of sending them out, there is a likelihood that mails containing wrong addresses could be sent out.

Having cited all these situations, one thing is for sure; there is need for Direct Mail Advertisers to ensure that all mailing addresses are verified using this software to avoid missed sale opportunities as a result of spelling errors, outdated or inexistent addresses.


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