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Database Marketing Focus Regular check-ups will do you good: Data hygiene saves time and money by Carolyn Petrie

These days, people are switching homes, jobs, phone numbers and e-mail accounts more and more often. It seems no one stays in one place very long. Just ask any database marketing specialist: they¹ll tell you that on average, up to 20% of direct-marketing database records are undeliverable, seasonal or vacant. In addition, up to 5% of records are identified as small to mid-size businesses, which may require different promotion and messaging than a consumer campaign.

To keep your mailing list clean, efficient and profitable, look into establishing a regular routine of data hygiene think of it as a good-health checkup for your bottom line. Data hygiene services, which include "scrubbing" telephone records, e-mail and postal addresses by updating them and checking them against the country¹s most current records, are an important part of any direct marketing campaign. Whether data hygiene solutions are used alone or in a group, they improve your ability to identify and capture your target audience. You can save mailing and printing costs and reap a higher conversion rate with every campaign by keeping your lists clean.

Hygiene Methods
Here's a general overview of data hygiene methods and sources and how they work for you.

Postal Hygiene
Data Consolidation and Standardization
This solution ensures that your addresses are standardized to meet the United States Postal Service requirements. The process includes:

Validation and correction of street, city and state

Street prefix, suffix and secondary address components are standardized

ZIP+4 Codes are enhanced, added if missing and corrected

United States Postal Service carrier Route Codes are added

United States Postal Service Line-of-Travel data is added

Delivery Point Bar Code data is added

Undeliverable and non-forwardable addresses are identified and tagged

NCOA: The National Change of Address
Updates mailing lists with the latest change of address data filed with the USPS.

MaxCOA: Maximum Change of Address
Updates mailing lists with the latest change of address data filed with the USPS PLUS two previous addresses and it provides move data for the last 60 months.

DSF: The Delivery Sequence File
Checks mailing lists against the complete, exact address for every delivery point served by the USPS.

DSF: The Delivery Sequence File - Second Generation
Checks and corrects mailing lists against the complete, exact address for every delivery point served by the USPS.

LACS: The Locatable Address Conversion System
Updates mailing lists of rural addresses to city-style addresses.

CASS: Coding Accuracy Support System
This system improves the accuracy of 5-digit ZIP, ZIP+4, carrier route, and delivery point bar codes.

Deceased Processing
Deceased processing enables mailers to eliminate deceased individuals from their mailings prior to a promotion, and prevents disturbing members of the deceased¹s household with unwanted mail.

Telephone Hygiene

Telephone Append: This process adds telephone numbers to your existing records based on matching logic of partial or full name and address.

Reverse Telephone Append: Adds missing name and address information using the available telephone number.

Telephone Verification: Confirms correct telephone numbers and appends the correct number if the field is blank or incorrect. Updates area code and prefix changes and flags customers who are on various DNC lists.

Email Hygiene

Email append: This simple, powerful service overlays deliverable email addresses onto your customer file by adding or updating addresses where needed. It¹s a great way to get a clean, permission-based list to which you can market.

ECOA: Email Change of Address. Just as you register with the Post Office when you move, ECOA finds registered changes of address for individuals or businesses using various sources, including Web-based ISPs. This service helps you maintain accurate customer email addresses, decreases undeliverables, and increases customer retention.

Reverse email append: Your Web marketing efforts may have captured email addresses, but not enough other information to market to your customers effectively. A reverse email append can match the email addresses in your database with postal addresses, phone numbers and other data. This gives you the opportunity to reach people via regular mail or telephone, and/or target specific messages depending on your customer¹s demographic information.

The Benefits of Keeping Clean
Regular data hygiene allows your business to benefit from streamlines marketing in several ways:

Identify undeliverable addresses, seasonal and vacant properties, and business addresses in residential areas

Identify movers at the individual, family and business level

Save money in printing and mail-house fulfillment

Get exact addresses, email and phone numbers to improve connectivity and deliverability

Control mailing waste and save on postage

Identify fully deliverable vs. questionable addresses

Identify fraud situations like Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies

Make better mailing selections and file maintenance decisions

Reach out to new markets, such as rural addresses

Save thousands on telemarketing campaigns by eliminating and updating incorrect phone numbers and area codes

Get access to better sales opportunities by knowing your targeted households' DMA Telephone Preference Indicators

With the right data hygiene specialist, these processes are economical, quick and simple. Several of the industry leaders even offer clients the option of performing data hygiene online, thereby saving even more time and money before every campaign. Do yourself and your business a favor: institute a regular hygiene checkup on a semi-annual or quarterly basis. You¹ll be glad you did.

Carolyn Petrie is the editor of AccuTips.