By Celina Heath


Verifying information with specialized address book software can be an important marketing process for businesses that deal with bulk mailings and other important types of marketing mail. This software compares the information entered into it with what the postal service has on official record. This verification is helpful in locating mistakes in things like street names, misspelled towns, incorrect states and incorrect zip codes.

A company's source of information might simply be outdated, due to changes made by the postal service. Zip codes, for instance, can change if an area experiences rapid growth and a single zip code becomes a burden to process mail for. By adding additional zip codes, the work load involved with mail delivery in the area is greatly reduced and efficiency is increased.

Incorrect addresses can also get entered into a system because of poor handwriting. Mailing lists are sometimes created by pulling names and addresses from registration forms or information cards that have been filled out by hand. Some people's handwriting can be difficult to read. If the person that entered this information into the computer had difficulty reading some of it, errors in entry could have occurred because they misread the information given by the person.

Some businesses use software that scans, interprets and then enters information from forms for them. While this is a sophisticated tool for business, it's not perfect. Often a best guess is made by the program while trying to piece together a usable address and it may not always be right. This occurs frequently when the program needs to scan and interpret handwritten information.

Simple human error can also result in many incorrectly entered addresses. A few wrong keystrokes or guessing about a spelling can generate a wrong entry that is not a real address. This often leads to mail being returned to a company or being misdelivered somewhere else. When this happens, the postage used on those mailings was wasted as it never reached the intended recipient.

The point is, there are numerous ways for addresses to end up being wrong on a mailing list or something similar. Using software that can also verify that information with the postal service can almost complete eliminate the problem. The reduction in returned or misdelivered mail after running through a verification system should be exponential in comparison to how often it occurs without verifying anything.

By increasing the number of mailings that are being correctly delivered, a higher rate of return is generated. A larger number of intended marketing targets will translate to a higher volume of sales. Instead of postage prices being wasted on mailings that end up in the wrong person's hands, the mailings actually make their way to where they were intended to.

Address book software that enables a company to verify mailing list information with the postal services can be a valuable tool for marketing. Less mistakes are made, less postage is wasted and targeted consumers are reached more efficiently. Sales increase in the process and a company's mailing list becomes a useful marketing tool itself.




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