The terms, in plain English.

Terms

Append

Filling in information your records are missing.

A data append matches your records to a compiled file and adds fields such as ZIP+4, names, phone numbers or business characteristics where a match exists and the use is permitted.

Data append →

Carrier route

The set of addresses one letter carrier delivers to.

Every ZIP Code is divided into carrier routes. Targeting by carrier route lets you select neighborhoods more precisely than ZIP Codes and can qualify saturation and high-density mailings for lower USPS Marketing Mail prices.

Carrier-route targeting →

CASS

Checking and standardizing addresses against USPS data.

The Coding Accuracy Support System is the USPS certification program for address-matching software. CASS-certified processing corrects and standardizes addresses, adds ZIP+4 and delivery point codes and flags addresses that cannot be matched.

CASS & NCOA processing →

Count

How many records match your criteria.

Before you order, a count shows how many records meet your selections in your geography. Counts let you adjust criteria to fit budget and quantity before any data is licensed.

Get a custom list count →

Data hygiene

Keeping a database accurate, current and free of duplicates.

Hygiene covers deduplication, address standardization, change-of-address updates, formatting and suppression. It reduces wasted pieces and keeps records usable across systems.

Improve your data →

Deceased coding

Flagging records for people who have passed away.

Records are matched against deceased files and flagged, so they can be suppressed or handled separately before a mailing.

Prepare the data →

Do Not Mail coding

Flagging people who asked not to receive advertising mail.

Records are matched against Do Not Mail suppression files and flagged, so those requests are respected before the file goes to production.

Prepare the data →

DPV

Confirming that an address actually receives mail.

Delivery Point Validation checks an address against USPS delivery point data to confirm it is a real, deliverable location, down to the apartment or suite where applicable.

DSF / walk sequence

Putting addresses in the order the carrier delivers them.

Delivery Sequence File processing assigns each address its position on the carrier's route. Walk sequence append adds this information to customer-supplied or list-rental files. Walk-sequenced mail is required for some carrier-route prices, including saturation.

Walk sequence append →

Firmographics

The characteristics of a business.

Industry, employee size, sales volume range, years in business, headquarters or branch status and location. The business equivalent of demographics.

Business data →

Merge/purge

Combining lists and removing duplicates.

Merge/purge combines files, identifies the same person, household or business across them, keeps one record by priority and removes suppressed records.

Merge/purge →

Move Update

The USPS rule that lists must be updated for movers.

Mailers claiming presorted or automation First-Class Mail prices, or USPS Marketing Mail prices, must update addresses with an approved method, such as NCOALink, within 95 days before mailing.

NAICS / SIC

Codes that classify businesses by industry.

SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) and NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes group businesses by what they do. Business files use them to select industries precisely.

NCOA

Updating addresses for people and businesses that moved.

National Change of Address processing, through the USPS NCOALink system, compares a list to permanent change-of-address filings and returns new addresses where available.

CASS & NCOA processing →

Occupant / resident mail

Mail addressed to whoever lives at the address.

Addressed to “Resident” or “Current Occupant” rather than a name. Useful when the goal is every household in an area, regardless of who lives there.

Resident & saturation data →

Penetration analysis

Seeing where your customers are concentrated.

Analyzing an existing customer database geographically shows where customers are concentrated, identifies stronger and weaker market areas and helps identify potential areas for future marketing.

Analyze your customers →

Presort

Sorting mail the way the USPS wants to receive it.

Presorting groups mail by ZIP Code, carrier route and other levels so it bypasses USPS sorting steps. Presorted mail can qualify for lower prices when it meets USPS requirements.

Response analysis

Finding out which mailed prospects became customers.

After a direct-mail campaign, a new-customer file is compared against the original prospect file, matches are flagged and the results are summarized in a response report.

Analyze your customers →

Saturation mailing

Mailing to nearly every address on a carrier route.

USPS Marketing Mail saturation prices apply when a mailing reaches a high share of the addresses on each carrier route it covers. Current thresholds are set by the USPS and should be confirmed before each campaign.

Selects

The criteria used to choose records.

Geography, industry, household characteristics, title and so on. Each select narrows the file. Some files price certain selects separately.

Suppression

Removing records you should not mail.

Current customers, recent responders, internal do-not-mail requests or records from a previous drop can be suppressed so they are not included.

USPS Marketing Mail

The USPS class used for most advertising mail.

The current name for the class formerly called Standard Mail (and, long before that, third-class mail). It offers lower prices than First-Class Mail in exchange for meeting volume and preparation requirements.

ZIP+4

A ZIP Code narrowed to a block face, building or floor.

The four-digit add-on identifies a small delivery segment within a ZIP Code. ZIP+4 targeting is precise enough for notification mailings to specific blocks.