We’re pretty proud of the array of features we offer to customers who want to increase address quality. If I had to list the top three ways to increase quality, it would be point-of-entry address validation, point-of-entry address validation and finally point-of-entry address validation. Not as catchy as the real estate mantra: location, location, location, but the point is if you put good information into your database, with a little maintenance, you will get high quality contact data coming out.

The Address Quality Gatekeeper

Point-of-entry address validation is like a gatekeeper for address quality. When a call center employee or website visitor enters an address, point-of-entry address validation protocols won’t let the contact information pass into the database (unless you decide otherwise) until the address is correct and known to exist.  Strictly speaking, point-of-entry address validation is really three features in one:

Address verification

Checks that the address exists in the USPS® database as a delivery point. This is great for websites that ask for contact information before giving a white paper or some other “free” download. Now you can keep nonsense addresses like 123 Abc Ave. NoneOfYourBusiness, WA out of your database.

Address correction

Ensures that any spelling errors are automatically corrected, abbreviations like Ave. or NE are corrected and placed in the correct format. Missing address elements like ZIP Code™ or apartment numbers are added.

Standardized address formatting

Converts addresses into your preferred address format. This is important for identifying duplicate addresses and change-of-address updates, all those maintenance things that are critical for keeping address quality at its best.

Direct mail campaigns are already hard enough; don’t let an address typo turn into a lost opportunity.

For more information about address quality solutions feel free to give your Satori Software rep a call at 800-553-6477, or check out the MailRoom ToolKit family of products.

address correction · address quality · address validation · data quality · mailing software · real-time point-of-entry validation

You’ve pre-processed your list through NCOA^Link, updated your addresses with the data you got back from ACS, and still get return mail? This may be due to the almost 20% of moves that aren’t reported to USPS each year. These “lost” moves can prevent your message from getting to the right target.

Why USPS NCOA^Link processing isn’t enough

Each year, 17% of the United States moves to a new address. Many of these individuals, families and businesses file their move with USPS, allowing their mail to be forwarded. This information is accessible for mailers through NCOA^Link processing, or through ACS. However, not all people file their move with the Post Office. Whether by forgetfulness or other reasons, around 20% of moves aren’t reported. Additionally, USPS databases have an expiration date. ACS and other forwarding services only return the last 18 months of moves, while NCOA^Link can return up to the last 48 months (when using a Full Service NCOA^Link vendor like Satori Software). If you are working with a list that hasn’t been updated in the last four years, some of the move data will be past its expiration. With these limitations, you may not be getting all the data you need to keep your list updated.

How to get those missing moves

Many contacts will update their addresses with their bank, magazine subscription or other entities they do business with. Some vendors keep this information in a database to keep their own lists updated. Because the data isn’t licensed by the USPS, access and use is less restrictive. No PAF forms are required, moves don’t “expire” after 18 or 48 months, and the complicated matching algorithms used by NCOA^Link are not required. This results in a more flexible, and longer lasting, database. Some vendors allow mailers to update their addresses using this service, commonly known as Enhanced Change of Address, or ECOA.

Getting the most out of ECOA

Because ECOA is not a USPS service, it does not meet the Move Update requirement for First Class and Standard Mail. You will still need to process through NCOA^Link or another approved method to satisfy the USPS requirement. It’s a good idea to use NCOA^Link in tandem with ECOA as ECOA is an entirely separate database. While some moves will exist in both systems, running your list with each service will result in the most moves found, resulting in a cleaner, more current address list. In our tests, ECOA found up to an additional 20% of moves on certain lists. Depending on the content of your list, your results may vary.

Want to learn more?

Curious whether your list is really up to date? Contact us at 800-553-6477 option 1, and get a free list assessment. We’ll analyze your list and let you know how many moves you may be missing.

address quality · data enhancement · data services · ECOA · move update · NCOALink

This post continues our series in getting the most from your address list. To learn about address correction results, read Understanding Address Correction Results.

After processing your list through CASS and DPV, what can you do with the addresses to get the most out of your mailing? Here are some steps you can take to increase the quality of your mailings.

Step 1: Process the list through additional services

Many mailers are familiar with NCOA^Link processing, which will update addresses for people who have moved in the past 48 months. This process can also identify records where the new address wasn’t available. We will cover NCOA^Link results in another blog post.

After NCOA^Link processing, additional services can help to get more information about the addresses in your database. These services are available outside the USPS data set, but can provide valuable data about the address, and even add more information to make the address deliverable. Services available from Satori include:

• Apartment append – this service is similar to Suite^Link, which adds a suite number to a business address. For individuals, Apartment append can look up the apartment number for incomplete addresses, making the address more deliverable. This service can reduce the number of addresses with DPV problems found during CASS processing. Having this data can also result in more valid moves found during move update processing.
• ECOA (Enhanced Change-of-Address) – this service is similar to NCOA^Link, but uses data from credit bureaus, magazine subscriptions and other sources to find people who have moved, but did not file their move with USPS. Depending on the list, this process can find up to an additional 20% of moves.
• Deceased person, correctional facility and Do-Not-Mail suppression – this service, called the Suppression Suite in Satori products, identifies contacts in your database who are unwilling or unable to reply to your mail piece. By eliminating these addresses from your database, you will ensure that your message gets to someone who can respond.

Step 2: Separate good addresses from questionable and undeliverables

After getting the data back from CASS/DPV, and any additional services, you can use this data to separate the clean addresses from those that need consideration. Here are some suggested groups:

• Deliverable addresses will consist mainly of addresses “matched” during Address Correction. In Satori Software products, these addresses have an error code of 90 or less. From this set of addresses, remove any addresses with NCOA^Link errors, DPV Vacant flags or any addresses that were found using the suppression service. In Bulk Mailer products, you can use the “All Deliverable Records” group to select these addresses. These addresses have a very high probability that they will be delivered properly.
• Questionable addresses contain addresses with DPV and other errors after Address Correction. In Satori Software products, these addresses have an error code of 91 or higher. Add any NCOA^Link errors to this group. These addresses were either not complete, or for another reason were not found in the USPS data set. These addresses need some additional information to make them deliverable.
• Undeliverable addresses include addresses with DPV Vacant status, records that have moved with no forwarding information (especially foreign moves), and any addresses noted during suppression. These addresses are unlikely to be deliverable.

Step 3: Triage questionable and undeliverable addresses

Depending on the type of mail you are sending, this triage process can take seconds or weeks. Here are some options to consider when running triage with your questionable and undeliverable addresses:

• For advertising mail, sometimes it makes sense to remove any potentially difficult addresses from your list, and mail only to the deliverable addresses. This process can be done quickly, and prevents any printing and mailing costs to addresses that are not likely to reach the target recipient.
• For invoices, bills and other personalized mail, use alternate contact information such as a phone number or email address to get updated address information. This process can take some time, but will get the best data back into your mailing list.
• Depending on the cost or content of the mailing, you may choose to mail to these addresses anyway. If you do, print “Address Service Requested” on the mail piece to get more information about the address if it is undeliverable. USPS will return these undeliverable pieces to you, with additional information about why it was not delivered. This process will likely cause an increase of returned mail and each piece returned to you will incur a charge.

Step 4: Send the mailing and update your source data

While many address problems can be corrected, the best practice is to get any changed data back into your primary database. Maintaining correct and current addresses can be handled automatically in some cases, but it is important to capture data from all sources. The least updated data comes from manually returned mail, as the address changes require manual processing to update. Once your source data is clean, it will be ready for you to use with your next mailing.

Step 5: Keep it going

Once you have a clean set of addresses, your work isn’t over. With over 17% of the United States reporting a move every year, over two million deaths, and constant re-naming and re-zoning of streets, addresses don’t stay correct for long. Create and maintain a process to keep your list updated, at least once per quarter.

Stay tuned for our next blog, where we’ll review the possible results from NCOA^Link processing, with some tips for how to handle the different return codes.

address correction · CASS · data enhancement · DPV · error handling · NCOALink