International Address Validation

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How To Ensure The Accuracy Of Your Business's International Address Validation?

Are you stopping yourself from sending international mailers for your business? Is the non-deliverability of your mailers the reason you still avoid international mailers? If yes, then we have got the answer to your little problem, and you are going to love it!

Use international address validation to your advantage and ensure the deliverability of your marketing mailer. It is an effective way for businesses to save a significant sum of money on international return mail. But most companies do not know how to execute address validation for their international customers.

Here, we explain international address validation and how you can ensure its accuracy. In addition to that, we will explain how using the right tools can help you streamline your address validation and enhance your marketing campaigns.

What is International Address Validation?

International Address Validation compares a foreign or non-UK address against an authoritative address database of a specific country. Usually, the address database used for this comparison is from the official postal service provider of a country.

Imagine, you want to check the deliverability of a US address. In that case, the best option is to compare it against the USPS address database. The official postal service providers of a country, such as USPS and Canada Post, have the most extensive address database you can find.

Suppose the international address validation system finds a match for your address in the database. In that case, it means that your address is accurate and deliverable. And if no match is located in the official address database, it implies that the address is not deliverable by the postal service provider.

International Address Validation Components

Most business organisations are already familiar with the address validation process for domestic mailers. However, international address verification is not the same as domestic address verification. There are some noticeable differences in the global and domestic address validation processes.

Difference In Terminologies

To start with the basics, look at the difference in the language we use for addresses across the world. For example, what we call postcodes in the UK are called ZIP codes in the US. Similarly, while the country is divided into states in the US, it is divided into provinces in Canada.

You see where we are going with this, don’t you? Even the terms we use for direct mail are different. So then, how can the international address validation be the same as domestic address verification? And this is just one of the distinguishing factors between international and domestic addresses.

Language Issues

Another thing about international mailers that you may or may not have noticed is the use of Latin characters. Several countries use Latin characters or even roman numbers in their addresses. However, that is not the case for most businesses.

Although it may not seem like much, these language issues can cause unnecessary problems for your international address verification. Advanced address verification tools like PostGrid can help you navigate these difficult situations.

An advanced address verification solution lets you specify the output characters, and you can get the output data in the desired format. So, it shouldn’t be hard to understand how vital a good address verification solution can be for streamlining your business communication.

Specify The Destination Country

The ability to input the destination country for your business mailers is an underrated feature in international address validation. You can not validate international addresses, especially in bulk, if you can’t specify the destination country of your mailers.

Usually, you can specify the country for your international mailers either by the country’s full name or an ISO classification. When it comes to ISO classification, three formats are widely accepted.

• ISO-2: It involves using two-letter abbreviations in your business mailers. For example, the acronym of the United Kingdom in the UK.

• ISO-3: As you can guess, it involves using a three-letter abbreviation. For example, the United States of America becomes the USA with an abbreviation.

• ISO-N: Unlike the other two ISO classifications, ISO-N does not deal with abbreviations. Instead, it refers to the numeric code assigned to a specific country.

When choosing an international address verification tool, make sure that one of these ISO options is included with the address. Because if you don’t, the system may fail to validate your mailer even if the address is present in the database.

Accuracy Issues In International Address Verification

The purpose of international address verification is essential to ensure the accurate addresses for your direct mail communications. However, your business can use it in any number of ways. For instance, you can use address verification to check for deliverability. In contrast, someone else may use it to check whether the street address is valid.

It is also worth noting that Royal Mail already has a very complex postal system. It deals with postal mail delivery in multiple nations and still delivers all your postal mailers efficiently. Any address verification system that can easily navigate through the Royal Mail postal system can do the same for other postal services worldwide.

International Address Validation for US Addresses

The US also has a complex postal system that has over 150 million delivery points across the nation. It is one of the few countries globally that have delivery point data available. When dealing with such precise data, you need an international address verification solution that is truly robust.

PostGrid is one of the few address validation tools that efficiently navigate you through USPS’s postal system. Furthermore, PostGrid comes with CASS certification, implying that you can get reliable address data directly from the USPS.

Due to the highly complicated nature of address data maintained by the USPS, it is essential to use a tool with the same level of accuracy.

International Address Validation For Canadian Addresses

Canada is yet another country that offers accurate delivery point data, just like in the case of the US. Make sure the international address validation tool you choose is SERP certified. The SERP or Software Evaluation and Recognition Program is the Canadian equivalent of the CASS certification discussed above.

Varying Level of Address Data Accuracy

One of the significant challenges involved in international address validation is the varying level of address data accuracy. Different countries have different degrees of address data accuracy. Only 12 countries, including the US and Canada, offer delivery point address data.

Sixty-eight countries have addressed data accurately down to the property level and 37 of them down to street level. And finally, 126 countries have addressed data down to a community or neighbourhood level. PostGrid ensures accurate address verification for over 240 countries.

It includes international address verification of addresses down to the delivery point level. As a result, you can ensure the accuracy of international addresses regardless of where it is located.

Format For Foreign Addresses

If you have ever tried Googling “foreign address format”, you would know there is no universal foreign address format. And it is not so hard to understand why if you think about it for a second. Most countries in the world don’t even use English as a communication medium.

If so, how can we expect to have a universal address format for the mailer? The fact is that every country defines its address format. What does this mean? There are more than 240 possible address formats, and you need to search for one based on your mailer’s destination.

Will Getting A Sample Address Help?

Getting a sample address for the country you want to send the mailer to can help you. But, the address format available online is not always reliable. Your business would still need an advanced international address validation tool by the end of the day.

Why? Because a proper address format as defined by the country’s postal authority outlines finer details. The appropriate address format includes abbreviations, casing, apartment numbers, and more information. It is practically impossible to manage all this and get it right for your bulk mail campaigns.

Get an all-in-one guide for your bulk mail campaign here. Using an advanced international address validation tool lets you bypass all this trouble. The system takes care of your address format and ensures everything is in order.

Why Should You Use PostGrid’s International Address Validation Tool?

Ensuring the validity of your international addresses is not a walk in the park unless you have a tool like PostGrid. As discussed, the address format varies for different countries, and you can manually track all of them.

PostGrid offers an international address validation web service that lets you validate addresses from more than 240 countries. The address validation process of PostGrid also includes the standardisation of your postal addresses.

CASS And SERP Certifications

PostGrid comes with CASS and SERP certification, which lets you validate addresses in the US and Canada. Both countries offer address data accurate up to the delivery point. Only a tool like PostGrid can ensure the accuracy of your addresses on such a level.

Geocoding Capability

PostGrid’s international address verification tool comes equipped with several advanced tools. But the one feature that offers significant potential is geocoding. It lets you find the physical location of customers based on their address.

You can use geocoding to map out prospective customers and target specific neighbourhoods. It is ideal for you to identify patterns in geographical areas or localities.

Such a feature can benefit an international address validation tool and help you market your business more effectively.

Conclusion

Without the right set of tools, international address validation can bring many unnecessary problems for your business. Most business organisations often fail to consider all the components involved in their international address validation.

Even a slight mistake in your international postal mail communication can significantly lose money for your business. It is also worth remembering that the cost of sending international mailers is high. So, even a minor mistake in your bulk mail campaigns can have devastating results.

PostGrid’s international address validation tool enables you to bypass the challenges of sending international mail. With access to more than 240 address databases, PostGrid lets you verify all your addresses.

Writer’s Note: PostGrid’s address verification tools come with CASS and SERP certifications. Despite having delivery point data, it allows you to verify international addresses for two significant countries.

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The post International Address Validation appeared first on PostGrid UK.

Via https://www.postgrid.co.uk/international-address-verification/

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Programmatic Direct Mail

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How To Speed Your Direct Mail Communications With Programmatic Mail And Its Benefits

Sending and receiving postcards on holidays is one of the exciting things we do. But sending postal mailers, including postcards, is not much fun when you send it in bulk. In fact, businesses often have a hard time sending many postal mailers to their target audience.

However, the recipients of such mailers and postcards enjoy it so much that it has a higher response rate than most digital marketing strategies. So, the only question here is how businesses can send direct mail, including postcards, without the headache of manual processing.

And, we believe the ideal answer to this question is programmatic mail. Here, we will make a case for advanced direct mail automation software for optimising offline communication for business organisations. Read on to find out what is programmed mailing and how it can benefit your business.

What is Programmatic Direct Mail?

Programmatic direct mail lets you use an advanced direct mail system to print and deliver a piece of printed direct mail automatically. It usually involves using variable images and text content to provide customers with relevant marketing messages.

Advanced programmatic mail allows you to send customised mailers based on a schedule you choose automatically. Similarly, you can also use a direct mail system to set up triggers based on particular actions.

For example, you can automatically send thank you cards to your customers every time they purchase from your business. In other words, once you set up a direct mail automation system sending direct mail becomes as easy as sending emails for your business.

How Does Programmatic Mail Work For Your Business?

The working of programmatic mail is much more straightforward than you might think. Using an example, it is easier to understand the working of automated mail. So let’s say that you own a retail and eCommerce store.

Let us also assume that you want to send a thank you card whenever a new customer registers on your eCommerce website. Here, you can set the triggering action as a website or membership registration. So, every time a new customer signs up as a member on your eCommerce website, the direct mail system sends them a thank you postcard.

Another thing you need to know about programmatic mail is that you can connect it with your CRM for easy customisation. The system uses a thank you postcard template that you set up and personalise with CRM data. Hence there is no scope for error, and the thank you postcards get delivered uninterrupted.

Why Should You Use Programmatic Mail For Your Business?

There are several ways a business organisation can use an automated direct mail system. The applicational use of programmatic mail includes everything from cultivating brand loyalty among customers to marketing your products and services.

Let us go back to the scenario where you have an eCommerce website. One of the most nerve-racking experiences an eCommerce business can have is shoppers abandoning their cart before checking out. Sending an email as an abandoned cart reminder is one option, but they often don’t even get opened.

On the other hand, sending an abandoned cart reminder via postal mail is more likely to catch the customer’s attention. Because, unlike emails which you can leave unread forever, direct mail is almost always opened by the recipients.

Benefits Of Programmatic Mail

Employing a programmatic direct mail tool or software gives you various advantages. Using these advantages efficiently will help you get ahead of your competitors. Here are some of the significant benefits of automated direct mail for your business.

Ensure The Fastest Direct Mail Delivery

Programmatic mail is the best way for your business to quickly speed up its direct mail process. Using a direct mail automation tool like PostGrid lets you eliminate all slow manual processes. As a result, you can ensure that the mailer reaches the recipient in the shortest time possible. Learn our guide on how you can speed up the direct mail operations of your business.

Get Higher ROI For Your Direct Mail Campaigns

The minimum return rates of your mailer and the resources you save through an optimal direct mail process help you achieve maximum ROI.

Grow Your Relationships With Existing Customers

As we discussed, direct mailers, especially thank you postcards, birthday cards, etc., create an emotional impact on the recipients. Hence, you can use programmatic mail to nurture existing relationships and convert them into loyal customers and brand advocates.

Pitch Relevant and Personalised Marketing Message

With a direct mail system such as PostGrid, you can connect it with your CRM. It allows you to access crucial data, such as the product the customer is likely interested in and use it in your marketing mailers.

Execute Data-Driven Direct Mail Campaigns

Advanced programmatic direct mail tools like PostGrid let you build and test data models. As a result, your business can identify the customer’s online behaviour and use them as programmatic triggers. For example, one such trigger could be when the customer dwells time on specific pages or the frequency of visits.

Conclusion

Employing programmatic direct mail can be a gamechanger for your business. It can optimise direct mail operations and ensure timely offline communication with your target audience. However, you need a fully automated direct mail solution to get the full potential of using software for your direct mail.

For example, advanced direct mail solutions like PostGrid enable you to print personalised direct mail for your business. PostGrid even gives you access to its very own template gallery and design tools that let you design and print your mailers.

With such an advanced programmatic mail tool, you can conveniently send your marketing materials. Furthermore, you can also use PostGrid’s address verification tool to maximise the reach and deliverability of your direct mail campaigns.

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Via https://www.postgrid.co.uk/programmatic-direct-mail/

source https://postgridunitedkingdom.weebly.com/blog/programmatic-direct-mail

Letterbox Advertising

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Why is Letterbox Marketing Important and How Can You Ensure Its Success?

There are two things that marketers in all industry verticals always find challenging. One is finding new potential customers for their business, and the other is engaging with a cold lead. What if we told you that both these problems have a simple solution?

Yes, by using a letterbox marketing campaign, you can tip the scale of the existing balance and get noticed by your target audience. Not sure what is letterbox advertising or how it can help your business? Well, you need not worry about that because we will give you the answer to that question as you read on.

What is Letterbox Advertising?

A letterbox or mailbox is used in private residences or businesses to receive incoming mail. Letterbox advertising involves delivering printed marketing materials such as flyers and brochures by dropping them in the letterbox.

However, it is not the same as direct mail advertising because it does not require you to have a highly targeted mailing list. Your marketing materials do not require an address at all. But that’s not even the best part! It is significantly cheaper to send this type of marketing mailer.

Furthermore, Royal Mail offers a unique postal service called Royal Mail Door to Door service, which lets your business quickly implement letterbox advertising. We even have a detailed article on how you can use the Door to Door service efficiently for your business.

 Also Read: Door to Door Mail Delivery Service

Why Is Direct Letterbox Marketing So Effective?

Some of you might think Royal Mail Door to Door service is an outdated way of marketing your products and services. And you wouldn’t be wrong to some extent. But, in actuality, you overlook many aspects when you say offline marketing methods like letterbox advertising are outdated.

For instance, the digital marketing spectrum has become so mainstream that it is practically impossible for a new player to get noticed. Offline marketing, on the other hand, is less competitive. Furthermore, it is not so easy to ignore, like how you can leave a text or email unread forever.

Here are some of the reasons why direct letterbox marketing is so effective for marketing your products or services:

They Are More Personal:

The feasible nature of mailers makes it more personal than seeing your marketing message on a screen. You can use the demographic trend to offer relevant marketing content to the target. Using a smaller demographic or area can run even more personalised marketing campaigns.

Targeting Based On Demographics and Cold Lead:

As we mentioned above, when sending unaddressed marketing mailers, you can target audiences based on their demographics. But, more importantly, you can use letterbox marketing to target your cold leads, and there aren’t many effective marketing strategies that can do this.

They Offer No Distractions:

The thing with online marketing campaigns, especially on mobile devices, is that the audience gets easily distracted. No notifications pop up on a printed flyer that could take the recipient’s attention away.

How to Ensure The Success of Your Letterbox Marketing Campaigns?

You can take several steps to ensure that your letterbox marketing campaigns are successful. Below we discuss some of these steps and how they can help your marketing efforts harness the desired results.

1. Keep Your Marketing Material Simple

Simplicity goes a long way in Door to Door marketing materials like flyers. You can follow a rule of thumb to ensure the marketing material remains simple: pick a clear objective and stick to it. Never have cluttered information in your marketing material. However, you can use bold colours, compelling headlines, and aesthetic images to grab the audience’s attention.

2. Highlight The Benefits of Your Product/Service

Your marketing material should highlight the significant benefits of the product or service you want to sell. Make sure you don’t mistake the benefits with the features of the product or service you are selling. A good letterbox marketing campaign focuses on the customer’s benefits rather than the product/service features.

3. Use Quality Content

Quality content implies that your marketing message should be powerful enough to grab the prospective customer’s attention. But, merely grabbing the prospect’s attention is not enough. The content must be engaging, maintain a consistent flow, and ultimately generate the desired response from the candidate.

4. Ensure An Attractive CTA

CTA or Call-To-Action is a crucial part of direct letterbox marketing. Simply showcasing your contact details is not enough to make a great CTA. Ideally, it would be best if you offered discount coupons or some other incentive to the prospect to encourage them to take action.

5. Be Consistent In Your Marketing Efforts

The one thing that separates a good marketer from the average and below-average ones is consistency. The chances are that your first letterbox marketing campaign will not yield the desired results. Some marketers may give up and move to a different marketing strategy. But, an experienced marketer will know better and use multiple correspondences to get a response from the target audience.

6. Target Your Most Promising Leads/Prospects

Suppose you are an insurance service provider and already have a list of promising leads for your business. In that case, it might be a good idea to pitch them with a flyer or similar marketing materials. Why? Because it reinforces your brand in their minds. Finally, when they are ready to purchase, they will automatically think of your company first.

7. Regularly Evaluate Your Letterbox Marketing Campaign

Like every other marketing strategy, regular scrutiny is necessary to build a successful letterbox marketing campaign. Only then can you ensure a profitable ROI for your marketing efforts. You can also run AB testing to find the best offer, design, marketing message, etc., for your campaigns.

8. Ensure The Timing Is Perfect

Timing of your letterbox marketing campaigns can often be a game-changer. You can increase your chance of success by understanding customer habits relevant to the product/service you are selling. Hence, you can ensure your campaign catches the audience’s attention and boosts customer engagements, leads, and sales.

How to Use PostGrid to Improve Your Letterbox Marketing Campaigns?

PostGrid is a direct mail automation tool that enables you to automate your entire direct mail process. It means you can conveniently execute letterbox marketing campaigns for your business without doing any manual work. You can simply set up your campaign using PostGrid and sit back while the system does all the job for you.

As a result, you can save valuable time, energy, and resources on your offline marketing campaigns. Furthermore, PostGrid offers advanced personalisation capability if you want to run highly targeted direct mail campaigns. It means you can send personalised marketing materials to your existing and prospective customers with a button.

Conclusion

As one of the most cost-effective ways to reach a broad audience, letterbox marketing is perfect for businesses of all sizes. It helps you save time and money with a simple marketing strategy. It even lets you target prospects based on their demographics and other influencing factors.

Make your marketing efforts even more effective by using a direct mail automation system like PostGrid. You can print and deliver marketing materials to your target audience using a convenient software solution.

You can even use features like geocoding to target your letterbox marketing campaigns. Hence, every business must consider using a tool like PostGrid to access the full potential of letterbox advertising.

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The post Letterbox Advertising appeared first on PostGrid UK.

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Mailing House

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What is a Mailhouse and How Can It Help Your Business Grow?

70% of UK customers say that direct mail makes them feel appreciated and valued. Also, a survey stated that 56% of all mail pieces remain in the recipients’ houses even after 28 days.

These figures show that direct mail is the most popular marketing channel. It is also a commonly-used media for sending compliance and transactional items. Naturally, it gets more attention and generates higher responses.

However, some companies still believe that offline mailing is expensive, untrackable, and daunting. Yes, traditionally, conducting a mailing campaign posed several challenges. But, businesses can outsource their tasks to a mailhouse and get rid of these problems!

Thankfully, a mail house is fully-equipped to handle every mailing-related task. Ensure to choose the right vendor that works in close collaboration with your brand and meets your expectations. 

Mailing houses are also known as direct mail houses, mailing companies, or mailing service providers. They offer expert solutions to help you send any number of mail items to your customers or clients. Personalisation, inkjet printing, mailing, reporting, etc., are some popular features you should consider when choosing a mailhouse. 

This article throws light on the meaning and significance of mailing houses. Keep reading to know the features, benefits, use cases, etc., of such vendors.

Let’s dive in!

What is a Mailing House?

Mailhouses are companies or agencies that take over the offline mailing efforts of other organisations. They complete all the tasks involved in a mailing campaign, from design to despatch, on behalf of their clients.

If you are a company looking to send direct mail items but lacking the required experience and resources, hiring a mailhouse like PostGrid is your best bet. 

Earlier, mailhouse services were only used for shipping mail pieces locally, nationally, and internationally. But, now, the scope of their services has increased considerably. 

Hence, you don’t need to do anything—just draft a marketing plan, find a mailhouse, and let it complete all your jobs. 

What Features Does a Mailhouse Provide?

The features a mailing house offers vary from company to company. For instance, PostGrid’s direct mail fulfilment services provide end-to-end solutions covering every process from start to finish. Most vendors expect you to upload a mailing list of your own, but PostGrid helps you build them from scratch!

Below, we have put together some features that a mailhouse is likely to offer:

Personalisation

Direct mail personalisation contributes to a campaign’s success significantly. Nearly 50% of customers avoid brands that reach out to them with poorly personalised messages. 

A recipient may not pay heed to a generic marketing postcard. But, they would engage with a personalised item. Thus, incorporating variable data printing (VDP) into your mailing strategies is a must! 

Using VDP, you can print targeted messages on every mail piece without disrupting the printing process. Though it is hard to employ VDP in-house, direct mail houses can help you with it effortlessly. 

A mailhouse like PostGrid has an extensive network of print partners nationally. Hence, it already has the means to incorporate VDP into your direct mail advertising campaigns. 

Print Finishing

Print finishing refers to all the improvements made to printed items. It comprises folding, laminating, coating, laminating, die-cutting, overprinting, embossing, etc. 

You may be unable to set up such specialist print solutions in-house. But, a mailhouse can undertake any or all of the above tasks with ease. Like VDP, print finishing is also an integral step of the production process. 

Another step is to inkjet mailing addresses on the outer covers of your mail items. It replaces the traditional address labels and gives your mail a sophisticated look. 

Ensure to discuss your requirements with your mailhouse beforehand as it may or may not have the features you need. 

Stuffing and Assembling

Most direct mail houses also stuff letters and bills into envelopes. Hence, you don’t need to instruct your staff to complete such manual duties by dedicating days and weeks of their time. 

Plus, manual efforts are prone to mistakes that may result in your campaign failure. Imagine sending a postcard addressed to Mr Bailey to Mr Morgan. Such errors are more common than you may think and can lead to huge losses. 

Thankfully, a mailhouse takes care of jobs like stuffing and assembling envelopes. It helps you ensure accuracy at every stage of your campaign. 

Following Postal Guidelines

Businesses need to comply with the Royal Mail guidelines to send bulk mail. If you are a regular mailer, you should follow the postal size and weight specifications to qualify for the standard rates. This way, you can avoid paying any surcharges and ensure smooth deliveries. 

Furthermore, a mailhouse like PostGrid verifies your mailing addresses against the Royal Mail’s Postal Address File (PAF), allowing you to maximise savings. 

There are two benefits of cross-checking your mailing data:

• You can guarantee that your mail items reach the correct recipients with zero wastage. 
• You can presort your mail and grab bulk postage rates. 

Despatch

An efficient mailhouse prepares and despatches your mail systematically. It completes all tasks, like affixing stamps and posting items at the Post Office. Manually, this process would require you to calculate postage and stand in the Post Office queues. 

But, direct mail houses ensure that everything is done without you having to go anywhere. Thus, you can print and mail your items at the convenience of your home or office. There are also no limits to the number of mail pieces you need to send out to your customers. Isn’t that the best solution to your requirements?

Reporting

Real-time reporting of your sent mail helps you plan your next steps accordingly. It also allows you to stay updated and draft accurate insights. If you send items in-house, it is nearly impossible to gather all the information you need. 

Even if you succeed, it can cost you a lot of your precious time and resources. Thus, PostGrid’s print and mail house helps you track your mail pieces altogether. You can log into your PostGrid account and access the mail statuses through your dashboard. 

It gives you a consolidated view of every sent mail piece. This step is especially advantageous for businesses conducting a multi-channel marketing strategy. For example, if your plan dictates that you need to launch an email campaign after delivering your offline mail, you need to stay informed. Otherwise, your efforts would be misguided and lead to your campaign failure. useful 

Direct mail houses help you know about your campaign performance in-depth. Thus, you can access precise reports and plan your future campaigns more effectively. 

Design

Design is the foremost step in launching a direct mail campaign. But, we didn’t mention it as the first feature because most mailhouses don’t offer it. 

This step includes the creation of an artwork, customisation, branding, etc. PostGrid’s mailhouse offers pre-built design templates to allow you to save on design costs. It also enables you to edit as many times as you need and save templates for future uses. 

Unlike designers that charge hourly, PostGrid offers these templates free of cost. It is part of our all-inclusive automated solutions to help you forego the trouble of hiring designers. 

Data Management

Data management is another uncommon feature that a few direct mail houses offer their clients. Undoubtedly, customer data is your most valuable asset, and you would like to keep it updated. But, updating databases from time to time is hectic and time-consuming. It can restrict you from launching effective direct mail campaigns. 

Here are some stages of data management that you should look for in a mailhouse:

Data Compilation

Imagine you want to launch a different line of products for a specific age group. Or, suppose you want to connect with a particular group of people, say, interior designers. In such cases, you need custom mailing lists that only some mail houses like PostGrid provide. 

PostGrid helps you compile targeted mailing lists to boost your campaign results. Also, our Zapier integration enables you to connect with 1600+ apps and expand your database. 

Deduplicating

It is advisable to select direct mail houses that can de-duplicate your mailing lists regularly. We are sure you know how it can be chaotic for your sales staff to manage customer data files. Sometimes, they may have a list filled with hundreds of duplicate entries. 

If you proceed to send mail to an outdated list, there are chances that you will send mail pieces to the same people again and again. It can annoy your recipients and cause wastage. 

Therefore, PostGrid’s bulk mailing house processes your lists and eliminates all duplicate entries. It also checks whether your list contains more than one prospect living at the same address. This practice lets you optimise your mailings and save costs!

Address Verification

Perhaps, address verification is a crucial stage of a mailing campaign. You need to confirm the accuracy of every delivery address. Otherwise, your mail items might be lost, delayed, misplaced, or returned to you. 

If your mailhouse does not provide address validation, you may need to cross-check your lists yourself. Luckily, PostGrid’s address verification API allows you to standardise and validate your mailing lists—ensuring accurate deliveries. You can also avail of this feature with our print and mail solutions. 

Who Needs to Employ Mailhouse Services?

Usually, those who realise they require expert logistics, mailing processes, additional capacity, print and mail fulfilment machinery, etc., approach a mailhouse. Perhaps, they cannot manage their mailing tasks internally because of budget, timescale, and authorisation constraints. 

However, some businesses need a mailing house simply because they wish to save money and increase efficiency. Here are some examples:

Marketing Agencies

Marketing companies are experts in helping businesses drive more visibility and conversions. They do so using numerous ways, like direct mail, email marketing, PPC, display ads, etc. 

Most of their operations are completed by their full-time employees, but they also outsource other activities. For example, they can prepare a social media calendar for their clients in-house. But, they cannot print a thousand postcards for their campaigns. 

Thus, they hire a mailhouse to do the heavy lifting on their behalf. This way, they can spend more time completing tasks that require their direct intervention. 

Internal Marketing Departments

Most medium and large-sized businesses have an internal marketing team. This department is committed to increasing brand awareness and helping the sales staff convert more leads. Again, remember that they are not experts in direct mailing. 

Their duties include planning and overlooking a campaign. But, they cannot indulge in specialised tasks like ink-jetting and large-scale despatch. 

Hence, they use the services of direct mail houses to get things done properly. It also helps them expand their capabilities and send any number of mail pieces simultaneously. 

Small Businesses

Small businesses might not hire a marketing agency or create an internal marketing team. But, they can outsource their offline marketing tasks to a print and mail house like PostGrid. Thus, they can connect with their target audience and strengthen customer relationships without draining their budgets. 

The good news is that most direct mail houses have flexible price plans. So, small businesses can select a plan that best fits their requirements. 

Benefits of Incorporating a Mailhouse Into Your Marketing Plans?

A mailing house allows you to convert rough marketing drafts to result-driving mail items. It ensures that this intricate process falls into place and you can avail of the expected results. 

Below, we have mentioned the prime advantages of using mail house services:

1. Mailing Expertise

Quality mailing houses have years of mailing experience and expertise, which they can share with you. It allows you to expand your knowledge of how direct mail campaigns work and methods to boost performance. 

Furthermore, a mailhouse also helps you gather insights into what can work best for your business. It can also suggest you modify a few aspects resulting in better campaign execution. 

So, direct mail houses can be of great help if you want to explore more possibilities and launch a well-curated campaign. 

Along with that, they also have expertise in several print and mail processes. Hence, they can better guide you on factors like tracking barcodes, labelling options, mail enclosing, etc. 

2. Reduce Overheads and Save Time

Mailing processes are complicated and technical. They also cost a lot of investment and time. One of the main reasons businesses outsource their duties to a mailhouse is to control costs and save time. 

A bulk mailing house like PostGrid can help you revise your direct mail design or use other postal processes—allowing you to save overhead costs. Also, it lets you conduct successful mail marketing campaigns without bringing about crucial structural changes in your organisation. 

3. Avoid Buying Latest Equipment

If you want to print and mail internally, you need to buy and maintain several types of equipment. Poly wrappers, binders, sorting machines, cutters, etc., are a few examples of the necessary equipment that you need for completing mailing processes. 

Moreover, you need to purchase insurance, complete leasing formalities, and deal with safety agreements. You would agree that it is unreasonable to go through so much trouble when you can outsource all the tasks to a mailhouse. PostGrid helps you save up to 75% of your mailing costs and get everything done five times more efficiently!

4. Prevent Hiring Additional Staff

There are many individuals involved in launching a mail campaign. An in-house campaign needs you to hire additional staff members to fulfil the extra duties. 

But, you can avoid that by outsourcing to a mailhouse and using the services of an extended team. Hence, you get all the benefits without the inconvenience of managing employee contracts and paying extra. 

5. Sign a Service Level Agreement (SLA)

Always choose direct mail houses that sign an SLA with your company. It guarantees that your direct mail tasks get completed within a specified time. 

Thus, you can rely on your mailhouse and conduct flexible campaigns. It lets you launch on-demand and bulk campaigns with the same speed and accuracy. 

PostGrid offers a two-business day SLA—helping you make faster business decisions and conduct campaigns promptly. 

How to Assess Whether a Mailhouse is Right For You?

A quality mailhouse would offer all the features we discussed above. From data management to personalisation, it should provide everything you need. 

Obviously, prices play a huge role in determining the effectiveness of a print and mail house. Always check whether their prices are all-inclusive or vary according to the features you use.

If a vendor does not offer list compilation and design services, enquire how you can proceed with the process.

PostGrid’s direct mail API provides many useful benefits, like:

• Per-piece tracking
• API integration
• Easy to navigate dashboard
• Industry-best pricing
• Timely analytics
• A vast range of collateral options, etc.

Thus, you can integrate our API into your CRM and start mailing from your system. Unlike most direct mail houses, PostGrid allows you to be in control of your mailing efforts. You can send any type of direct mail to any address as needed. 

Conclusion

We hope this blog helps you know the meaning and functions of a mailhouse. There are several factors in this article to help you choose the correct vendor that lets you achieve your mailing objectives. Therefore, you can better decide whether to outsource your mailing tasks or complete them in-house.

As said earlier, our automated solutions allow you to enjoy the benefits of a mailhouse at the most affordable costs. PostGrid strives to help its clients send transactional, compliance, and marketing mail smoothly.

Using our API, you can send:

• Postcards
• Letters
• Invoices
• Flyers
• Statements
• Cheques
• Newsletters, etc.

Talk to our sales team now to know more about how our mailhouse can help you increase mailing efficiency!

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The post Mailing House appeared first on PostGrid UK.

Via https://www.postgrid.co.uk/what-is-mailing-house/

source https://postgridunitedkingdom.weebly.com/blog/mailing-house

Best Direct Mail CRM

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Direct Mail And CRM: All You Need To Know For Achieving Effective Communication

Direct mail is infamous for being slow. Everything from personalising, printing, and delivering it takes time. Or does it? With advanced direct mail automation solutions available, it has become significantly easier and faster to send direct mail.

But what really makes the mailing process easy and convenient for your business is the direct mail CRM integration. Today, we will take a peek at the CRM integration for direct mail and how it can help you speed up your direct mail communications.

What is Direct Mail CRM Integration?

As you know, a CRM integration connects an application with your CRM platform. The main goal of CRM integration is to ensure a secure and accurate flow of data between the connected application and the CRM software.

A direct mail CRM integration is nothing but connecting a direct mail software with your CRM. It is like the CRM integration you probably already have for your email system. In other words, the CRM integration for direct mail makes personalising your direct mail as easy as personalising your email.

How Does The CRM And Direct Mail Integration Work?

As we have briefly mentioned above, the CRM integration for your direct mail works similar to your email CRM integration. The integration process itself is pretty straightforward. Once you install the plugin or API, a new workflow should appear in your CRM.

Of course, for the direct mail CRM to work, you first need an advanced direct mail software like PostGrid. And even though tools like PostGrid offer full direct mail automation capabilities, you would still need to do some work to set it up. 

For starters, you need a design for your direct mail. However, you can always use a template for this if you want the easy way out. Apart from the initial set-up, you can use the CRM integration with your direct mail software to carry out the rest of the work.

• Easy Personalisation:
  Personalisation is one of the best parts of connecting your CRM and direct mail software. Instead of going through each mailer personalising one after the other, you can use CRM integration to do it for you automatically.

• Set Up Triggers:
  You can use the CRM integration for direct mail to set up triggers and automatically send postcards and other mailers. The trigger for this can be any event or action from the customer. For example, you can send a thank you postcard every time a customer purchases from your website.

Direct Mail CRM Integration And Automation

We know that the primary function of CRM integration is to take the customer data and relay it to the other software. This action alone can help you automate various business processes, effectively speeding up complex operations.

For example, let’s say you are a healthcare provider and you want to send a postcard to your patients inviting them to a health seminar. Here, you can use the direct mail CRM integration to personalise your invitation.

You can have the patient’s name printed on the invitation which makes the mailer look more personal. Furthermore, you can choose specific patient groups for your invitation. For instance, if the seminar is on heart disease prevention, you can select the patients with cardiac history or target a specific age group.

How To Make Your Communications More Efficient Using Direct Mail CRM Integration?

Connecting your direct mail and CRM software has numerous benefits, and listing every single one of them is not easy. However, here is a list of things that CRM integration can do for your business.

Save Valuable Time

Automation is often synonymous with time-saving. Hence, it is no wonder that direct mail marketing is a whole lot faster when it is connected with your CRM software. For a business organisation without direct mail CRM integration, there needs to be constant communication with the printer throughout the entire direct mail process. 

Everything from product configuration, uploading the mailing list, choosing the artwork, and more may require separate communication. Now, compare this with a single direct mail process you get with an automated system like PostGrid’s. Isn’t your life a whole lot easier with the latter option?  

Save Money

What’s one thing better than saving time? As far as a business is concerned, that one thing is saving money and the direct mail CRM integration lets you do just that. For one thing, direct mail automation tools like PostGrid are affordable. We provide direct mail packages that can fit your business’s budget regardless of its size, and you can check them out here.

Apart from the affordable nature of the direct mail solutions like PostGrid, there are other ways you can save money. Automated direct mail systems have practically no scope of error, which means there is no wastage either. So, you also get to save money on your direct mail campaigns and drag in a higher ROI.

Track Your Campaigns and Get Detailed Reports

Tracking your direct mail campaigns is a whole lot easier when you connect your CRM and direct mail automation system. You get timely updates on every stage of the direct mail campaign, including the printing and delivery of your mailers. 

Furthermore, you also get a detailed report on your marketing campaigns from the direct mail service provider. The report usually contains valuable insights that can help you optimise your campaigns and even help you better understand your audience. 

Easily Send Bulk Mail

Bulk mail can be a handful for your business. And executing it manually when you can automate is possibly the biggest mistake you can make. When tools like PostGrid are combined with Direct mail CRM, it is fully equipped to handle bulk mail requirements.

We keep helping our clients by integrating our Restful API with their existing systems or CRMs. So, they can significantly reduce manual errors throughout the direct mail process and elevate their postcard marketing campaign programmatically. As a result, most of our clients can easily send 1,000- 3,000 mailings a month. 

We have even created an all-in-one guide that explains how you can boost response rate with bulk mail, and you can find it here.

Conclusion

If you want to optimise the postal mail communication for your business, the direct mail CRM integration is a must-have. Without CRM integration, you can not get the full potential of automation in direct mail.

Furthermore, it would be best if you also had a tool like PostGrid equipped with advanced features and tracking ability. As long as you have a software solution like PostGrid and a sound CRM system, you can easily send bulk mail. In addition to this, it also lets you optimise your direct mail marketing campaigns based on factual data.

Hence, if you don’t already have an advanced direct mail automation tool in place, it is high time that you did. Only with an advanced tool and direct mail CRM integration can you hope to get the desired results for your direct mail campaigns.

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The post Best Direct Mail CRM appeared first on PostGrid UK.

Via https://www.postgrid.co.uk/direct-mail-crm/

source https://postgridunitedkingdom.weebly.com/blog/best-direct-mail-crm