Suppress Your Mailing - Green marketing

According to the latest statistics available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2005, 659,000 people under age 65 died. Now imagine an insurance company sending out a direct mail campaign with a call to action “save 15% or more on car insurance” addressed to a young mother that had been killed two years ago in a car wreck? Ouch.

While mail that is sent to deceased persons via relatives is a fraction of the overall amount of undeliverable mail each year, it is still costly – to your bottom line and your company image. Before you mail, use a data service provider to process your mailing list and suppress names that are deceased, on the DMA’s Do-Not-Mail List, or prison inmates.

You can also create and maintain an in-house suppression file that enables customers and prospects to opt-out of your company’s mailings on a selective basis. This helps ensure lists are accurately maintained at the highest level by removing inappropriate recipients, and should result in higher response rates, as well as lower production and postage costs.

Here are 9 other steps you can implement to green your mailings – reducing waste, while improving deliverability, effectiveness and response.