Direct mail marketing is an effective way to reach your target audience—but if addresses aren’t accurate, you may not receive the results you anticipated. Undeliverable mail can result in wasted resources, delayed communications, and lost opportunities.

Let Epsilon Individual Automotive help you learn how to avoid undeliverable mail in your direct mail campaign. We want your campaign to land in every mailbox every single time.

Plan Ahead to Avoid Unwanted Expenses

The United States Postal Service (USPS) defines mail that can’t be delivered to the name and address on the mail as “undeliverable-as-addressed” (UAA). This mail classification not only means you’re out on the postage cost, but also the expenses of printing materials that never reach their intended target. Plus, an outdated or incorrect address might have your tailored offer landing in the hands of someone outside of your target audience.

According to the USPS, businesses across the country spend over $20 billion annually on mail that is ultimately never delivered.¹ The best defense against unnecessary expenses is proper planning and proactive address management. We suggest regularly updating and cleaning your address database, as this proves to be essential in combating undeliverable mail.

Incorporate Change of Address Into Your Campaign

Think of it like magic for your mailing list! NCOA (National Change of Address) is like a digital forwarding address system, so your message can still find its intended recipient even if they’ve hit the road. It also prevents duplicate mailings, a smart way to trim expenses further.

This system acts as an assistant to further solidify your mailing list. Similarly, the Address Change Service (ACS) allows your dealership to receive electronic notifications when mail is unable to be delivered. Rather than having to sort through incoming mail, you can know then-and-there if an address is no longer valid to remove them from your mailing list.

Make Sure Every Address Is Formatted Correctly

Even when your addresses are valid and up to date, you must still comply with regulations in certain situations. For example, the USPS abides by specific formatting rules to ensure their automated systems can correctly sort and deliver mail. Sloppy or incomplete addresses—such as leaving an apartment number off an address—can send the direct mailer back to your dealership.

Luckily, USPS’ CASS-certified (Coding Accuracy Support System) system works to improve your deliverability. Available to all mailers, this certification process can check your addresses against the official USPS database, correcting errors, and adding necessary elements like five-digit zip codes, delivery points, and specific carrier routes. In other words, it’s a handy quality control step working for you.

Reach More Inboxes With Epsilon Individual Automotive

Say goodbye to wasted resources and hello to higher response rates! Epsilon Individual Automotive can help your campaign stay on track. We abide by the three Cs of address quality—complete, correct, and current—to ensure each required element of your mailer is good to go. We double-check addresses for accuracy, and we verify that the addresses match the recipient’s most recent address, which sets the stage for your success.

Ready to plan your next direct mail campaign? Get in touch with us online or over the phone to get started.

 

¹ https://www.quadientdirect.com/blog/post/five-tips-to-avoid-undeliverable-mail