Why is My Mail Being Returned?
Have you recently sent out a mailing only to have it returned?
This article will help to uncover some reasons why and even provide potential solutions.
Reasons Why Your Mail is Being Returned
New Move
One major reason could be that the person you are trying to reach, moved. It is important to keep your client list up to date ensuring you do not lose touch with any customers. In addition to not losing clients, there is no time or resources spent sending mail to an undeliverable address. When no forwarding address is provided by the mover, the mailing could be sent back to the mailer, or still delivered to that address but to someone new. Without updating a client list through NCOA or PCOA processing, there is a little chance of knowing if your data is out of date. These processes offer a way of cleaning data to ensure you do not lose communication with your clients.
Failed DPV Because of Invalid Primary
If the address failed delivery point validation then a USPS worker will not deliver mail to that address (more information on DPV can be found this article). When an address is vacant or doesn’t have a forwarding address, it will fail DPV processing. It is important to figure out early on which addresses in your file fail DPV processing. This way, yet again you are saving time, money, and other resources that otherwise would have been wasted.
Out of Date or Wrong Information
A file with out-of-date information can drastically affect the results of your mailing. Even if the file was processed a year ago, there is a strong chance the information is out of date. In 2016 alone, the percentage of Americans moving in a year was 11.2% (Retrieved from United States Census Bureau). Most files that are associated with mailing are significant in size so when you think about a file that has 100,00 records, without proper data hygiene of that file at least once a year, that is about 11,000 of those records that are out-of-date.
The report below illustrates how each factor discussed in this article can affect the outcome of a mailing.
How to Prevent Your Mail From Being Returned
If you still do not believe how important it is to keep your data files up to date, upload a file now, to freencoa.com, for a free match report.
The report outlines how many moves have happened in the last 48 or 18-month period. We also provide PCOA processing information on any potential moves that have not been recorded by the USPS. Or call and speak to one of us directly at 1-800-531-2601.
Your FreeNCOA.com Processing Team
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