To Clean or Not Clean

What is Mailing List Data Hygiene?

BB Direct leverages best-in-class mailing list data hygiene solutions to help you improve address accuracy and direct mail deliverability, update your files with NCOA Link processing (National Change of Address), and much more.  The key to success with any direct mail marketing campaign starts with a clean mailing list.  Whether your target audience is a consumer mailing list or business mailing list, BB Direct can review your direct mail campaign strategies and offer you cost effective solutions.  In most every direct mail campaign, processing your mailing list through the NCOA and DSF (Delivery Sequence File), produces a positive cost/benefit.  You’ll save money by keeping your database clean.  You will also capture more customers and improve existing customer retention.

To Clean or Not to Clean?

Mailing list data hygiene involves updating your mailing list so that it is accurate, deliverable, and targeted.  It goes without saying that if your mailing list is old and undeliverable, you're going to be printing more than you should, over spending on postage, and reaching people who will likely not respond to your offer.  Not only will you miss opportunities with a mailing list that’s not been cleaned, you may also send the wrong branding message to those “unqualified” prospects, known as “disinformation”.

The question of whether to mail without NCOA/DSF processing lies in the age of your mailing list, as well as what you're selling.  Consider for a moment the comparison of a grocery store and a fundraiser.  Since everyone eats, it's likely that most anyone within a quick drive distance to the grocery store would be a "qualified" direct mail prospect.  Adding, "Or Current Resident" below the name line on your mailing list addresses will direct the postal service to deliver that direct mail piece to anyone residing at that mailing address location.  Adding “Or Current Resident” works with direct mail offers which are local in nature such as a grocery store mailing to the nearby neighborhoods.  Since everyone eats, there is a chance that this current resident is a likely potential prospect.  Conversely, let’s consider a fundraiser direct mail campaign in which your targeted mailing list is donors who’ve previously donated.  “Repeat donors” to give to an affinity are difficult to come by and the small investment of some simple mailing list database hygiene will help you keep in contact with these mailing list contributors.  Adding, "Or Current Resident" will likely yield little response because there’s a little to no chance the new residence will have the same donor affinity.