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Powerhouse Data Hygiene Solutions for Optimal ROI
It’s time for some spring cleaning – on your
database, that is. Keeping your database clean and
updated will pave the way for optimal ROI. Here’s a
list of the top five ways to achieve data quality.
1.) NCOALink® (National Change of Address)
With NCOALink, you can identify the movers in your
list and update your records with their new address
information¬¬¬ − before you mail. NCOALink
processing searches your database for individuals,
families and businesses that have moved and filed a
change of address with the USPS® within the last 18
months. The 48-month service is recommended for any
list that has not been updated in over a year. For
direct mail businesses that have surpassed the
12-month mark, it’s time to do some major cleaning.
See the mCOA option below.
mCOA (Multisource Change of Address)
When you’ve gone more than 12 months without
cleaning, things can quickly escalate out of
control. Enter mCOA. It finds the consumers in your
list that have moved within the last five years,
covering a larger time frame. The mCOA database
contains a collection of address changes compiled
from several sources such as magazine subscriptions,
catalog houses, insurance groups and financial
institutions. These are all establishments your
target consumer may have left a forwarding address
or phone number with, whether or not they informed
the Postal Service™. Using NCOALink in conjunction
with mCOA produces the best results.
2.) Area Code Update
Area Code Update corrects and overwrites all the
phone numbers in your list that have new area codes
following a split, replaces incorrect area codes and
fills in missing codes. This service will also
standardize your phone numbers for consistency
throughout your database. The last 4-digits of the
phone number will not be checked. An added
incentive: it increases telemarketing efficiency
when you have the correct area code and prefix
combinations to start with – before you dial.
3.) Duplicate Elimination
When you eliminate the duplicate records in your
database, you automatically reduce unnecessary
printing, postage, inventory and costs. More
importantly, you reduce the steady erosion of your
organization’s credibility among customers and
suppliers. The four categories for de-duping are:
• Name and Address: Searches for records with
matching names, addresses and ZIP® codes.
• Address Only: Searches for records with matching
addresses and ZIP codes.
• Name and Phone Number: Searches for records with
matching names and phone numbers.
• Phone Number Only: Searches for records with
matching phone numbers.
4.) DSF²™ (Delivery Sequence File)
This service compares the records in your list to
the DSF2 file of the 145+ million address delivery
points in the United States. Your list will be
verified for the highest level of accuracy possible,
ensuring you the highest deliverability for the
lowest cost. Safeguard your list with the most
accurate, up-to-date address data available
DSF²:
• Validates and standardizes addresses
• Adds postal codes and walk sequence numbers
• Distinguishes between residential and business
addresses
• Detects potentially undeliverable addresses
• Identifies addresses that are seasonal or vacant
5.) CASS™/ZIP + 4®
Addresses are matched to the monthly updated USPS
National Address File. A CASS certificate (Form
3553) is provided for your automated mailing. Along
with meeting USPS requirements for CASS CertifiedTM
discounted mailings, you now have a list of:
• Validated and corrected addresses for accurate
delivery
• ZIP + 4, carrier route, and delivery point codes
for printing barcodes
• Standardized addresses to USPS specs for automated
mailing discounts
LACSLink™
LACSLink was developed in response to local 911
systems to convert business and residential rural
route addresses to street-style addresses. It
increases your deliverables using the new street
names of your rural route customers and prospects.
Because the residents do not actually move when they
receive a new address, change of address forms are
not filed. These permanent address conversions
typically involve renumbering and renaming rural
route, highway route and box numbers as city-style
addresses. The changes are updated monthly and the
rural route addresses are considered undeliverable
after one year. LACSLink processing identifies these
addresses and automatically updates your records.
Each one of these database cleans is imperative to
keeping your database running at maximum speed for
optimal success. By cleaning out your database,
you’re upgrading its quality and safeguarding your
data. Remember that a clean database is a quality
database, which in turn, results in a valuable
engine that drives a thriving business.
Improve your response rates – clean up your database
now!
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Melissa Data
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Save money on postage using leading
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Update & standardize addresses and
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Find new customers perfect for your
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Locate the business information you
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