How Does Data-Driven Direct Mail Work?

The success of your direct mail campaign depends on the quality of your data and how well it is utilized. Consequently, every aspect of your campaign should be driven by data. This includes your mailing lists, audience segmentation, how you personalize your messaging and analyze the results. 

At Troi Mailing Services, we bring our Canadian mail and USPS expertise to every project. We understand how to use data best to craft highly effective direct mail campaigns, ensuring that your mail reaches its intended target market.

How is data used in direct mail?

1. Mailing lists

Data-driven direct mail begins with accurate, detailed, and curated mailing lists. The information contained in your mailing lists sets the foundation for the rest of your marketing efforts. 

If your mailing list is outdated, contains inaccurate addresses or names, or lacks additional personal details, launching a successful direct mail campaign becomes much more difficult. 

Only by leveraging accurate and recent information can you ensure your campaign reaches the right audience, thus improving the chances of engagement and response.

2. Segmentation

Once you have assembled or purchased an accurate and detailed mailing list, you can begin to segment your audience. Segmentation uses mailing list data to identify smaller, more targeted groups based on specific criteria.

This criteria includes, for example, location, demographics, and purchase behaviour. Since these segments share certain key characteristics, you can tailor your message and offers for maximum impact.

A one-size-fits-all approach to direct mail is ineffective. Your likelihood of success increases significantly once you begin speaking to specific groups rather than your whole mailing list in a single campaign.

Segmentation is impossible without data. Lacking data, you simply cannot identify trends or demographics within your mailing list.

3. Personalization

Personalization is the process of customizing your direct mail pieces to specific segments of your audience. This includes everything from addressing the recipient by name, referencing past purchases, offering personalized discounts, and even modifying design and copy. 

Troi Mailing Services uses Variable Data Imaging to make this process fast and efficient.

Personalized direct mail uses data to produce impactful messaging. For example, addressing recipients by name makes them feel seen and valued, so your mailer is harder to ignore. This helps you stand out from your competition.

4. Tracking

Tracking refers to monitoring the performance of your direct mail campaign. It looks at various metrics, such as delivery rates, response rates, and conversion rates.

Analyzing your results allows you to see what worked, what didn’t, and what you need to change in the future. It’s absolutely essential to the long-term success of your direct mail marketing efforts. Once you can track your results, you can use the resulting data to test different strategies and make adjustments.

How to Segment Your Audience

5. Location

You can segment your audience based on specific data criteria such as, for example, geographic information like cities, provinces, and postal codes. This allows you to localize your messages to regional preferences, trends, events, location-based promotions, etc.

Ultimately, it helps you deliver direct mail materials to recipients in certain areas who are most likely to be interested in your offering.

6. Demographics

There are additional demographic characteristics that you can use to segment your audience. Age, gender, income, education level, and financial status are the main ones to consider. These variables provide significant insights into the preferences of different customer segments.

This data is invaluable when it comes time to personalize your direct mail campaign. After all, it’s nearly impossible to customize your message to resonate with a specific type of customer if you don’t understand who that customer is!

7. Behaviour

Behavioural segmentation examines your audience’s actions and behaviours. These include, notably, purchase history, browsing habits, website activity, and engagement with previous campaigns.

As with the other segmentation categories, segmenting based on behaviour allows your business to design targeted messages that resonate with specific groups. For instance, repeat customers might receive special rewards, whereas lapsed customers could get a re-engagement offer. 

Steps for Effective Direct Mail Data Processing

8. Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS)

CASS stands for “Coding Accuracy Support System,” which is widely used by the United States Postal Service (USPS). It verifies the accuracy and completeness of addresses within a mailing list.

Mailing lists must undergo address certifications every six months and every three months for Carrier Route mailings. Additionally, CASS checks the accuracy of carrier routes and delivery points.

Troi Mailing Services utilizes CASS software to standardize and validate addresses, correct errors, and confirm that mail pieces meet USPS requirements. This ensures efficient mail delivery.

9. Deduplication

Deduplication identifies and eliminates duplicate records within a direct mail database. The duplicate identification process helps improve efficiency and eliminate data redundancy, thereby reducing costs associated with duplicate direct mailings to the same recipient.

Sending multiple mailers to the same household also paints an unprofessional image of your business. The recipient will likely be annoyed, and you could lose a customer in the process.

Troi Mailing Services provides merge/purge and duplicate identification services to clients. Furthermore, our solutions are customizable to meet your direct mail fulfillment requirements. Whether your mailing list is a basic consumer list or a complicated B2B file, Troi Mailing Services can help.

10. National Change of Address (NCOA)

The National Change of Address (NCOA) service makes it possible to update mailing lists with individuals or businesses that have filed a change of address within the USPS. This ensures that mail pieces are delivered to the correct addresses, which also reduces redundancy costs and improves overall efficiency.

Troi Mailing Services is a fully licensed mail services company in Toronto. We have undergone a thorough licensing process, demonstrating that we handle all data in accordance with USPS and Canada Post requirements. We operate with NCOA processing permission.

11. Allocation

Troi Mailing Services uses allocation to make your campaign more focused and effective. Canada Post’s allocation data technologies help build comprehensive target groups for your direct mail marketing campaigns.

What to Include in Your Data Sheets

• Full Name (so you can address them directly)
• Title (for a personal touch)
• Company Name (to establish a professional connection)
• House Number and Street Address (ensuring the mail piece reaches them)
• City (this allows for more targeted localization)
• Province or State (for accurate delivery)
• Country (if you operate in Canada and the United States)
• ZIP Code (helps prevent routing and sorting delays)

Troi Mailing Services: Data-Driven Mail Services in Toronto

Troi Mailing Services is a full-service direct mail printing and fulfillment company in Toronto. We are a premium provider of data-driven direct mail technologies, such as Data Processing, Variable Imaging, and Lettershop. Contact us today to learn how we can use data to optimize your campaign for success.

To learn more about our mail services in Toronto, call Troi Mailing Services at 1-866-486-9350 or contact us online.