Wrongly addressed mail damages brands says Veridata (UK)

Veridata says that mailing out millions of pieces of direct mail needs to be done responsibly and that it can be a waste of money as well as actually damage a company’s reputation by delivering to the wrong address/recipient effectively becoming an annoyance rather than a way to reach potential buyers.

Veridata, which specialises in providing data capture solutions, says that that around 10 pct of all direct mail fails to even reach its target and that 13 pct of the population move very year. With pressure on direct marketing companies to update mailing lists and reduce the volume of paper that goes to landfill, accurate databases are essential says Veridata.

The UK government has already asked the direct marketing industry to get its house in order or face sweeping measures to curb what some householders and business see as a deluge of unwanted and irrelevant sales literature, and much of the problem is down to companies using old or outdated mailing lists.

Veridata handles returned mail from marketing campaigns, extracting the contents, scanning relevant address, verifying and collating the data and then returns this information to direct marketers to provide up-to-date information which reduces waste.

‘Stop Junk Mail’, the main lobby group calling for strict limitations on junk mail, says that people can reduce the amount they get through their door by opting out. Royal Mail which is the single largest distributor of door-to-door mail does have an opt-out facility although it warns that you could lose important information distributed by local authorities and other organisations.

Veridata says that mailing out millions of pieces of direct mail needs to be done responsibly and that it can be a waste of money as well as actually damage a company’s reputation by delivering to the wrong address/recipient effectively becoming an annoyance rather than a way to reach potential buyers.

Veridata, which specialises in providing data capture solutions, says that that around 10 pct of all direct mail fails to even reach its target and that 13 pct of the population move very year. With pressure on direct marketing companies to update mailing lists and reduce the volume of paper that goes to landfill, accurate databases are essential says Veridata.

The UK government has already asked the direct marketing industry to get its house in order or face sweeping measures to curb what some householders and business see as a deluge of unwanted and irrelevant sales literature, and much of the problem is down to companies using old or outdated mailing lists.

Veridata handles returned mail from marketing campaigns, extracting the contents, scanning relevant address, verifying and collating the data and then returns this information to direct marketers to provide up-to-date information which reduces waste.

‘Stop Junk Mail’, the main lobby group calling for strict limitations on junk mail, says that people can reduce the amount they get through their door by opting out. Royal Mail which is the single largest distributor of door-to-door mail does have an opt-out facility although it warns that you could lose important information distributed by local authorities and other organisations.

The bulk of unsolicited mailings you receive can be stopped by doing three simple things. To stop addressed junk mail, you can register with the free Mailing Preference Service (MPS). To stop unaddressed junk mail you should opt out of Royal Mail’s ‘door to door service’ and get a ‘no junk mail’ sticker.” it said.