Why Suppression is a Vital Marketing Tool

Suppression may sound constrictive, but it’s actually a very valuable direct marketing tool as it can save you money. Suppression is when you squash undesirable or wasteful names from your mailing list, such as people who are deceased, those who are in prison, people who signed up for a do-not-mail list and people who signed up for a do-not-call list.

Why is suppression a vital direct marketing tool? Applying suppression techniques to your direct mailing efforts will save you money and is just another way to clean up your lists. Suppression is considered by direct mailers to be a more responsible and respectful method of marketing. Think about it: would a widower like constantly receiving mail or phone calls for their deceased spouse? Probably not.

In fact, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) established a Deceased Do-Not-Contact List to remove deceased individuals from commercial marketing lists. It was designed to help families deal with the loss of a loved one.

All DMA members will be required to honor the DDNC. The list also will be available to non-member companies so they can take advantage of the service. The DDNC list will include the deceased individual’s name, address, phone number and email address. The information will be placed on a special do-not-contact file, which will be updated monthly. Deceased data is based on Social Security Administration records and other sources.

Family and friends can register deceased individuals on the DMA’s Consumer Assistance site at http://preference.the-dma.org/cgi/ddnc.php.

There will be a $1 credit card verification fee for each consumer registered, to prevent misuse of or fraud against the system.

Still, there are also other methods of suppression techniques to employ. One way is called “duplicate elimination,” which deletes any duplicated name and address. This cuts down on unnecessary production costs. But more importantly, it keeps your company’s credibility intact among customers and suppliers. Duplicates also get in the way of making sound decisions.

Start cleaning up your list now. Click here for more information on duplicate elimination or deceased suppression.