List Management

Data Prep

2011-03-09T18:05:33Z

Mailing Lists/Variable Data

All mailing lists must have the following items in separate columns:
First Name, Last Name, Address, City, State, ZIP code, plus any additional merged data, should your job be variable.
We prefer files sent in a Microsoft Excel format.

Set Up the Mailing List Data

Start your Microsoft Excel program.
Call up an Excel spreadsheet. Open "File" and click "New."
Make the first row of the sheet your data labels. For a mailing list, your labels should contain the First Name, Last Name, Address, City, State, ZIP code, plus any additional merged data, should your job be variable.
Adjust the width of the columns to match the average width of the text that will go into it. This will usually be around 25 character spaces, although you will need less space for state and zip codes.
Type your data into each subsequent row matching the column headings with the correct data. You now have a column of names, one of addresses and so on through all of the Excel headings.

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NCOA

2011-03-09T18:04:59Z

NCOA Processing & CASS Certificate of Data

Over 40 million Americans change addresses annually, significantly reducing the quality of your mailing list. Now you can ensure that your data is accurate and up-to-date with our National Change of Address (NCOA) service. NCOA can substantially reduce undeliverable and duplicate mail pieces by identifying and correcting addressing errors before they enter the mail stream. Your records are compared against the NCOA database to ensure they have the most current addresses and are updated with ZIP+4 certification according to US Postal Service standards.

According to the US Post Office:

In a recent year, over nine billion pieces of mail were Undeliverable as Addressed (UAA).
75% of undeliverable mail could be fixed by running NCOA prior to the mailing.

Having the correct address ensures that your mailings reach all of your supporters, maximizing your fundraising success!

Benefits	Features
Reduce undeliverable mail Improve delivery time Increase speed of response to mailing Reduce duplicate mail pieces and re-mailings Receive discounted postage rates Reduce employee data entry Meet the USPS NCOA update standards Save money!	Data formatting to prepare records for processing Addresses are updated and standardized with the ZIP+4 Code CASS Automation Discount Qualification Report breakdown of deliverable/non deliverable address information Data importing of updated records into your existing data files

Click Here for full description

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NCOA Extended Information

2011-03-10T14:30:43Z

What is NCOA^LinkTM (National Change of Address)?

Every year approximately forty million Americans move their place of residence and/or business, but their old addresses often remain in the mailer's computers. As a result, mailings continue to go to old addresses and not the new ones. United States Postal Service^® estimates that at least 8% of all standard class mail is undeliverable because of incorrect addresses. This means lost opportunities, lost sales, and wasted money.

There is a solution. The NCOA^LinkTM system makes available current change of address information that can help reduce your undeliverable mail. Addressing errors are identified and corrected before mail enters the mail-stream. Mailers use NCOA^LinkTM to save thousands of dollars that would have been spent on wasted materials and postage. In addition, valuable customer names that would have been lost have been updated to receive current and future mailings.

Why Mail is Undeliverable

The United States Postal Service^® has identified the following reasons for undeliverable mail:

The first line of the address:

- Addressee unknown to carrier.
- Addressee temporarily away.
- Addressee's name misspelled.
- Addressee's Street Address Errors.
- Missing address line or street name.
- No such or incorrect street.
- No such or incorrect number.
- Missing house number/ P.O. Box.
- No such or incorrect apartment, suite, etc.
- Missing or incorrect street directional or suffix
- No such rural route number/rural route box.
- Rural route address change to city-type address.

The last line of the address:

- Incorrect or missing ZIP Code.
- Incorrect or missing city and/or state.

Other reasons for un-deliverability:

- Change of address on file.
- Forward order expired.
- Moved, left no address/box closed, left no order.
- Address vacant.
- No label/illegible label.
- No mail receptacle.

How NCOA^LinkTM Works

Data processed through NCOA^LinkTM is first standardized to conform to USPS^® requirements, including the ZIP + 4^® code. Once the address has been standardized and the ZIP + 4^® code applied, an attempt is made to match the address against the NCOA^LinkTM File, which contains approximately 115 million records or 48 months of permanent address changes. Address change information is derived from the PS Form 3575, Change-of-Address Order, filed by relocating postal customers. If an exact match is made with the name and old address, the move information is provided to the mailer. NCOA^LinkTM helps reduce undeliverable-as-addressed mail by correcting input addresses prior to mailing. Since 1986, NCOA^LinkTM and its predecessors have saved mailers millions of dollars that otherwise would have been wasted in materials and postage.

NCOA^LinkTM Match - Corrected Address Is Provided
MAIL FILE	NCOA^LinkTM DATABASE NAME/OLD ADDRESS	NEW ADDRESS
Paul Jones 123 Main Street Anytown, CT 06084	Paul Jones 123 Main Street Anytown, CT 06084	39 Oak Street Anytown, MA 01245
William Smith 481 Elm St, Apt 4A Anytown, CA	Bill Smith 481 Elm St, Apt 4A Anytown, CA 90241	11 Duck Lane Anytown, IL 61411

NCOA^LinkTM Footnotes

NCOA^LinkTMFootnotes allow Anchor to assist the mailer in deciding on a set of business rules that would only drop records for those who moved without providing a new address. Records that are potential un-deliverables (but were not considered a NCOA^LinkTM match) are flagged as Footnotes. The mailer then can decide whether or not to mail to these addresses. However the quantity of “Footnotes” you will receive under NCOA^LinkTM may be very much reduced as compared to previous NCOA processing.

The Benefits of NCOA^LinkTM and Footnotes

NCOA^LinkTM provides mailers with the capability to receive a current address before mailings. NCOA^LinkTM provides additional benefits including Address Standardization and ZIP + 4® appending, ZIP™ Correction, Carrier Route Coding, and a CASS™ Reportand DPV™.

NCOA^LinkTM footnotes indicate a match was close but not good enough to meet the strict USPS^® matching guidelines. The footnotes indicate the reason a match could not be made with the NCOA^Link file, and a mailer can investigate the address record and provide necessary corrections. A no-match to the NCOA^Link file does NOT return the new address - the Return codes when provided may give an indication why.

NCOA^LinkTM Footnotes and $$$ Advantages

The following example will demonstrate the effect of NCOA^LinkTM Footnotes processing of a 1 million mailing. If,

- NCOA^LinkTM Footnotes match rate of .15% equals 1,500 mail not posted.
- At $400/M (estimate to mail), the savings equal $600.00.
- If the 1,500 NCOA^LinkTM Footnotes names are replaced with 1,500 deliverable names and a 2% response rate results this equals 30 additional orders.
- If the average order is $50, Additional Sales = $1,500.

Processing a one million mailing with Footnotes included in the NCOA^LinkTM processing can result in additional savings and sales of $2,100 plus the potential ongoing revenue stream from these new customers.

NCOA^LinkTM CASE STUDY

NCOA^LinkTM and Footnotes
Cleans Your Customer & Prospect Files of Undeliverable Names & Addresses

Here are actual case stories...

		Fundraiser	Publisher
Saves you Money Every Time You Mail	Original File	808,173	457,252
	NCOA^LinkTM Corrected	31,600	55,387
		3.91%	12.11%
	Footnote Hits	1,810	2,733
		.224%	.609%
	Total NCOA^LinkTM& Footnotes	33,410	58,120
		4.13%	12.71%
	Mailing Cost	$406/M	$515/M

	$$ Saved	$13,564	$29,932

The Cost of NCOA^LinkTM & Footnotes Processing is a Tiny Fraction of the $$'s You Save!!

The powerful NCOA^LinkTM software will make name & address corrections, correct ZIP™ Codes, standardize your addresses, add ZIP + 4® and Carrier Route codes to your file.

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Personalization

2011-03-22T15:42:24Z

Personalized Direct Marketing

Connolly Printing has researched and developed a strategic solution for Personalized Direct Marketing. Personalized Direct Marketing is a standardized process where trigger events are recognized in your data warehouses, segmented into files and quickly mapped to custom-defined business rules. The rules match the data to pre-defined creative materials and fulfillment templates for production and execution of your event-based marketing campaigns. This solution can be applied in a centralized or distributed environment.

With Direct Marketing, timing is everything. Marketing departments spend allocated dollars creating a unique brand image and require their Direct Marketing efforts to reflect that consistent image.

With Personalized Direct Marketing capabilities, organizations can re-engineer their consumer communications to:

Redefine the role of consumer data;
Provide better segmentation and personalization;
Enable greater contact frequency;
Unify the execution process (print, e-mail, telephone); and
Measure success more accurately.

A Cooperative Solution:

Connolly's Personalized Direct Marketing solution allows mid-market organizations to utilize the technology advances that normally make economic sense in much larger enterprises.

Connolly's platform eliminates the need for high levels of development infrastructure expense, while our partnerships decrease the need for large mailing volumes through aggregation. Our client’s customer communications can now have the improved impact of Personalized Direct Marketing though coordinated digital print and e-mail at reasonable costs.

Another challenge faced by many mid-market organizations is how to deploy their critical human resources most efficiently. Connolly’s solution offers help here too. As the execution of Marketing operations is moved outside the enterprise, internal resources are freed to focus on campaign development for innovation and differentiation. Our solution allows outside Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) to run the “jobs” so your internal SME’s can focus on growing the business through improved customer relationships.

Our web-based interface is easy to use. Create and modify your customized creative templates. Begin communicating to your customers based on their unique data and behavioral patterns.

Through Connolly’s Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) approach, organizations win with our Personalized Direct Marketing solution. Benefits include:

Testing cycles increase so the organization learns more;
Personalization lifts response rates 2-10X;
Creative templates yield consistency;
Outsourcing focuses staff on innovation vs. rote execution;
Suppliers guide you around pitfalls vs. learning them for yourself;
Organizations think in terms of organizational customer communication vs. departmental campaigns; and
Utilization of CRM investment.

Connolly’s solution is priced to make it easy for you to test first and then roll-out. We’re confident of the results you’ll see.

How it works:

You provide: Consumer Targets and Marketing Expertise

Behavioral history;
Data analysis; and
Creative marketing concept and designs.

We provide: Technology and Workflow Process Knowledge

Efficient workflow processes;
Established outsource providers;
Operational infrastructure; and
Data and systems integration.

Client Benefit: Workflow Innovation, Improved Execution and Measurable Results

Timely, relevant and consistent consumer communication;
Utilize purchasing activity to drive Direct Marketing programs;
Provide consumers with choreographed communications;
Shorten Direct Marketing testing cycles;
Improve acquisition, activation, up/cross-selling and retention rates; and
Lifts in response rates of up to 10 times.

For more information on Connolly's Personalized Direct Marketing approach contact us at 781-932-8885.

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Postal Regulations

2011-03-09T18:06:36Z

Mailing Address Area

While the US Postal Regulations for addressing various pieces of mail are constantly in flux, we have worked with them to come up with the following for a comprehensive address area.

The bottom right corner of the piece held widest must be a blank box of 4.25 inches wide by 2.75 inches tall.

This will allow for the USPS's optical eye to read the bar code and address most efficiently and ensure your mail is processes as quickly as possible.

Bulk Mail

A bulk mailing must be at least 200 pieces and must all be the same information and items. It is delivered 7-10 business days from the mailing date.

Political Bulk Mail

Same restrictions as Bulk Mail, except it is delivered within 2-3 business days.

Postage Rates

Depending on the size, shape, weight, quantity, saturation, location, and so many more factors; the postage for your mailing can fluctuate greatly.

The best way for us to quote your job, and provide you with the lowest possible postage rate, is to run your list through our mailing software, approved by the USPS.

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Variable Data

2011-03-09T18:10:11Z

Variable-data printing (VDP) (also known as variable-information printing (VIP) or VI) is a form of on-demand printing in which elements such as text, graphics and images may be changed from one printed piece to the next, without stopping or slowing down the printing process and using information from a database or external file. For example, a set of personalized letters, each with the same basic layout, can be printed with a different name and address on each letter. Variable data printing is mainly used for direct marketing, customer relationship management, advertising and invoicing on selfmailers, brochures or postcard campaigns.

The technique is a direct outgrowth of digital printing, which harnesses computer databases and digital print devices and highly effective software to create high-quality, full color documents, with a look and feel comparable to conventional offset printing.

Variable data printing enables the mass customization of documents via digital print technology, as opposed to the 'mass-production' of a single document using offset lithography. Instead of producing 10,000 copies of a single document, delivering a single message to 10,000 customers, variable data printing could print 10,000 unique documents with customized messages for each customer.

There are two main operational modes to VDP. In one methodology, the document template and the variable information are both sent to Raster Image Processor (RIP) which combines the two to produce each unique document. The other methodology is to combine the static and variable elements prior to printing, using specialized VDP software applications. These applications produce an optimized print stream, such as PostScript and PPML, which organize the print stream efficiently so that the static elements are only processed once by the RIP.

There are several levels of variable printing. The most basic level involves changing the salutation or name on each copy. More complicated variable data printing uses 'versioning', where there may be differing amounts of customization for different markets, with text and images changing for groups of addresses based upon which segment of the market is being addressed. Finally there is full variability printing, where the text and images can be altered for each individual address. All three types of variable data printing begin with a basic design that indicates which sections can be altered and a database of information that fills in the changeable fields. Since 2005, the term TransPromo or transpromotional has emerged to cover the merging of promotional content and transactional print pieces by involving more business users in the printing process.

The returns for variable printing vary from double the normal return at the basic level to 10-15 times the return for fully variable jobs. This naturally depends on content and the relevancy of that content, but the technique presents an effective tool for increasing ROI (return on investment) on marketing campaigns.

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VDP Guide

2011-11-14T14:20:59Z

VDP (Variable Data Print) Guide

With the increasing growth of VDP Marketing, Connolly Printing would like to assist you by giving you a simple step by step variable print guide. Our guide references the photo examples of both printed output as well as database structure seen below.

Open your mailing list data file (if you're doing a VDP mailing based upon a mailing list you already have) or open a new spreadsheet to create one from scratch.
Count how many variables you intend on having on your VDP job and create separate fields for them in the spreadsheet (remember to keep your field names simple and something that both you and your contact/designer can easily understand based upon your job).

Note: If your VDP job contains variable images, please keep the filenames simple and consistent with variable field name in the spreadsheet (please keep all images in jpeg/jpg format and include extension in filename on spreadsheet).
Input your data into appropriate fields.

Note: If you're working from an existing spreadsheet file, the recommended method to input your variable data would be to sort the list by an indicator (city/town, neighborhood or whatever else is being used to specify your targets).

Note: If you're creating your own from scratch it is recommended that you create an indicator field if one does not already exist in the standard data that will help you sort your file.
Save your file as an .xls when using excel or .csv (comma separated values) if using any other spreadsheet/database program.

Note: Please put all images and data file into an empty folder, then compress it to a zipped file before sending.

Sal	First	Last	Address	City	State	Zip	Tagline	Image	Quote
Jill	Jillian	McHenry	56 Market Street	Wilmington	MA	3974	New High School in Wilmington!	img1_highschool.jpg	new High School proposal!
Ted	Theodore	Danson	8 Overlook Avenue	Watertown	MA	3975	New Track For Watertown!	img2_track.jpg	new track for Watertown!
Steve	Stephen	Murphy	16 Garden Parkway, Unit 4	Winthrop	MA	3972	Extended Pre-K Program!	img3_prek.jpg	extended Pre-K program!

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