Direct mail data processing contains a number of steps that are necessary to ensure that you are able to achieve the optimum postage rate for your mailing. This section will attempt to provide a base knowledge for these functions. Please feel free to contact our staff for further information or clarification.

• File Conversion
  
  Files received by Direct Mail processing departments are provided in a wide variety of formats and on a number of different media. The process of file conversion allows for these different formats to be imported into a standard format that is acceptable to the software being utilized.
  
  
• Address Standardization (CASS certification)
  
  During the process of address standardization the individual elements of the address are separated and individually modified to the acceptable USPS abbreviations. The address is then matched to the National Zip+4 directory provided by the USPS. If a match is found the address is enhanced to include the "+4" code, which is added to the Zip code. Other data elements that are included in this enhancement are the Carrier route; Line of Travel, Delivery point, Delivery Confirmation code, residential delivery indicator as well as a number of return and footnote codes. These elements are essential to achieving the greatest postage savings as they are required for either Carrier Route or Automated postage discounts. The documentation received from this processing is the CASS report which is also called Form 3553.
  
  
• NCOA-Link processing
  
  NCOA-Link processing involves a process of matching the names and addresses in the data file against the National Change of Address File. This is a 48 month revolving file that is maintained by the USPS and contains information accumulated from any change of address card filed at the post office when someone moves. The matching logic for NCOA-Link processing is very strict and must very close to an exact match. Near matches are flagged, but not updated.
  
  NCOA is a proactive approach to the update of addresses. The addresses are updated before the mail is sent to the Post Office. If you do not perform NCOA processing before your mailing, delays will result in the receipt of your mail and you can be burdened with a great deal more cost for return postage and return handling. In the instance of Standard Class mail usage, your mail piece will be disposed of if it contains no endorsements, never reaching its destination, diluting your response rate, and increasing your costs.
  
  A common misconception with NCOA-Link is that by utilizing this service you will not receive any return mail. In fact if you have chose to mail the NIXIE's (records with a close, but not exact match) you very well may see some of these come back as return mail. Also, while this 48 month file is updated every 2 weeks there could be some mail pieces returned that contained good addresses when sent out, and the individual moved before the mail piece could be delivered.
  
  One of the major efforts within the USPS has been to increase the accuracy of the addresses being mailed. In July of 1998 the need to perform some sort of Move Update service was mandated by the USPS to achieve presort discounts for First Class Mail. With 18% of individuals moving each year, it has become a valuable tool to increase deliverability and response on your Standard mailings as well. It is likely that the current Move Update requirement will be extended to Standard Class mail in the near future.
  
  Remember the more deliverable mail into the mail stream the greater the response rate.
  
  
• DMA pander file processing
  
  This process allows for the suppression of records within a mailing for individuals who do not want to receive Direct Mail. They have taken the effort to register their names with the Direct Marketing Association. All responsible marketers should respect the individuals’ wishes and suppress their names from mailings, as they likely will not respond to the solicitation. Any company whose has had the opportunity to deal with one of these irate individuals knows the value of this service. Advantage Mailing subscribes to this file and frequently uses it to suppress records from mailing lists.
  
  
• File Suppression
  
  File suppression generally involves the elimination of current subscribers from a solicitation mailing. Your current subscribers are not troubled by your current solicitation. This is particularly important if you are offering a number of different price points in your test mailings.
  
  
• Merge/Purge
  
  Merge/Purge also known as Dupe Elimination involves the combination of lists from multiple sources. The records are standardized and indexes are created to identify matches between files. The matches are eliminated so only one record of the identified match is retained. Generally there are priorities established to determine which files the duplicates should be pulled from.
  
  Dupe elimination can be done in a number of different ways depending upon whether you would like to identify exact matches to an address, one mail piece to an address, or one record to a company. Different matching logic is used for residential addresses as apposed to business addresses.
  
  
• Postal Presort
  
  Postal presorting is a function where direct mail software sequences the addresses into a stream that can be easily sorted by the mail processing staff after addressing or inserting. The documentation created by this process is a necessary element in the submission of the mailing to the USPS. This documentation is termed in the DMM (Domestic Mail Manual) as standardized documentation. This documentation must accompany the mailing statement as a means for the USPS verification personnel to approve your mailings acceptance into the mail stream. In addition the presort software creates the bar-coded tray or sack labels which are also a requirement for any automation rate mailing.
  
  The final process of the postal presort is the creation of the output data file in the correct sequence. Most presort software has a wide variety of output options to meet the variety of data file specifications required by various mailing companies. The advantage to having the data processing in the same facility as the mailing services is that there are no surprises with the data file preparation, reduced cost in multiple handling of data and better quality control. Quality control for the data is much more difficult for the mailing company if the presorted data file is created elsewhere.
  
  
• Minnesota Legislative coding
  
  Through our knowledge and experience handling communications for political geography we have created a proprietary software product that allows us to code address lists to Minnesota Legislative geography. We have the ability to add Senate, Legislative, commissioner, and school districts to your databases to allow more precise targeted communications.
  
  
• Relational Database programming
  
  Today with the increasing use of micro-marketing the need for more flexibility of the data preparation are rapidly increasing. We are finding a great deal more variability in the personalization of mailings today than ever. The use of software products has allowed for a quick means to enhance data to better target a message to a specific audience.