What is the best course of action for the highest ROI?

There are a number of services providers that have proprietary processes to correct approximately 20% to 50% of records that are not +4 coded or have a missing/invalid secondary (apartment) number. However, even after this hygiene processing, there will most likely still be 1% to 3% of records with deliverability issues. Now the questions become: Should all of these be mailed? Should none of these be mailed? What is the best course of action for the highest ROI?

Even though a record has deliverability issues, it doesn’t mean it won’t get delivered. Here are two examples:

Jane Jetson
124 Main St
Saint Cloud, MN  56301

Jane’s address is not +4 coded because 124 Main St is not a valid delivery point. However, 123 Main St. is valid and is, in fact, where Jane Jetson actually lives. Because of this, there is a strong likelihood this mail piece will be delivered.

Fred Flintstone
456 Oak River Run Apt C3
Saint Cloud MN  56301

Fred’s deliverability issue is an invalid apartment number.  Instead of C3 it is 3C. In this case, there is also a very strong likelihood this mail piece will be delivered.

The goal for marketers is to identify and drop records with deliverability issues performing below breakeven to ensure they only mail to the most effective set of records. Over the past year I’ve worked with a top 200, top 100 and a top 50 retailer whose breakeven deliverability analysis saved them each between $900,000 and $1.7M annually.

How would it affect your budget if you had similar results? If direct mail is a critical part of your marketing ecosystem today, read more about breakeven deliverability analysis.

The first bit of friendly advice is to consider free shipping, especially during the holiday season. According to FreeShipping.org, 90% of online shoppers said they’re more inclined to spend more if the shipping is free – so why not? They’ll also be more apt to coming back later from their memory of the good customer experience.

Keep in mind that during the holidays, consumers have higher expectations for on-time delivery. If something is delivered late, your customers see that as your fault, not the mail carrier’s. Keep customers happy by setting expectations and trying to deliver ahead of schedule if you can.

If ever you’re going to make sure that your address information is correct and up-to-date, this is the time. It’s all too common that someone entering their own address online can have ‘fat-finger’ syndrome, or even not know what their actual mailing zip code. Make sure to perform a database cleanse, adding the extra ZIP+4® to make sure that your customer will be getting their order in a timely fashion. Happy shipping, and happy holidays!

Ensuring that organizational contact data is correct, usable and accessible is something almost every organization wants to achieve. To accomplish this, stakeholders need to take steps to ensure new solutions are comprehensive enough to actually solve the problem, not just cover it up.

To get started, individuals need to review their contact data entry points, find which pieces of contact information are utilized most within an organization, and then find the tools to alleviate any errors. But this should be done in stages with an ROI check at the end of each roll-out. While it will take longer, it will make sure that organizations are purchasing tools that don’t just look good on a demo, but actually perform the promised results.

To help organizations with that challenge, Experian QAS created a website to help you become a data quality rock star. In it, you can find information on evaluating your current database, proposing a data project to senior management, and reviewing which tools can help you make it happen.

Visit the website and start your journey to becoming a data quality rock star. Enjoy the new resources.

-Reactivate old customers – The holidays are a great time to reach out to inactive customers.  To improve the performance of your reactivation efforts, ensure that your old customers are still at the same address by using an external verification service. Our clients have seen a 40% lift in response from a verified name and address versus a non-verified one.  And during the holidays, the lift in performance may even be greater.

-Use NCOA^Link® – Run NCOA^Link on your house records as part of the processing for every holiday mail campaign vs. monthly or even less frequently.  For each week since NCOA^Link has been run, .2% (or almost 1% per month) of your customers have moved, and mailing to a person’s old address dramatically reduces response. Testing shows that if you mail to an old address the response rate is 75% less than if you mailed to the right person at the right address.

-Maximize response and performance – Use proprietary change of address tools from a service provider to get the most updated address for the targeted people on your mailing list. These proprietary Change Of Address (COA) tools can identify changes of address for some of the 22%+ of movers who do not file a change of address form with the USPS^®.

-Mail those who have responded to you in the last 12 months, even if the addresses have deliverability issues – Make sure in your zeal to identify and drop records with potential deliverability problems that you don’t drop those where ROI is above break even. Interestingly, testing has repeatedly shown that the performance of 0-to-12 month responder records with deliverability issues perform well above break-even. This is even truer during the holidays when the delivery of mail is at its best.

-Include “Or Current Resident” when your offer is more generic (catalogs, for example) – This makes sense over the holidays because despite a dramatically reduced response rate, your piece will get delivered to someone as opposed to being thrown out – and since more people are shopping you have the potential to get some response.

-Target the right people – Use tested and validated models on both your customer and prospect mailings. Incorporate the depth and breadth of external data to create stronger models.  And prospect models are much more effective when done at an individual/household level versus a ZIP™ level.

If the student cannot find admissions information online, it’s unlikely that he or she will submit an application. With this in mind, colleges and universities need to ensure that all information is available and is easy to find. But the real challenge is to provide this relevant content while still encouraging prospective students to submit their contact details.

The following list highlights new recruitment tactics that university marketers can use to attract the right candidates for their institution:

Tip 1: Provide different content across different communication channels.
All core information should be available on the main website, however, additional campus life details can be provided through email, facebook, and mail follow up. To access these additional resources, prospective students should be required to submit their contact details.

Tip 2: Make sure that students interact (not just browse).
To ensure student interaction, include information that makes the prospect feel like a part of the school. Provide campus life updates, such as sporting event results, student competition video clips, or student club opportunities. These communications tend to be more fun than informative.

Overall, these updates should not require much work. But while the effort is low, the results are high. Prospective students are more likely to share their own contact details in exchange for these updates. So by sharing more about student life, recruitment teams can still access prospective student data for tracking purposes.

Tip 3: Verify email and physical mailing addresses.
With more information publically available, it’s important to make the most of the contact submissions that you still receive. Make sure that all email and physical mailing addresses are verified at the point of capture, whether via a web form or manual data entry. While small errors appear to be insignificant, the ramifications of simple data entry mistakes can be severe. It’s important for recruitment officers to communicate with all interested prospective students. An incorrect email or mailing address will prevent the student interactions described in Tip 2.

Fraud prevention has been has been an industry concern for awhile now. As technology advances, so do criminals and consumers who set up fraudulent accounts in order to over bid, over order, or scam retailers. Typically, internet retailers have put certain software in place to reduce fraud. However, many are now looking towards address verification to help solve the problem.

We’re seeing a trend of companies turning to address verification vendors to help put a stop to the problem before it starts.

Taking the example of online retailers who use a “bidding” method to buy products, fraud prevention comes into play not only when making sure a consumer isn’t able to place more than one bid, but also maintaining the integrity of the website. People tend to get frustrated if they take the time to bid on an item, yet never win seem to win. This can result in consumer frustration and drop off. Capturing a verified physical address can help solve this problem by reducing duplicate accounts ensuring that a consumer is only able to bid once.

Interested in learning more about address verification services? View the latest offerings from Experian QAS.