When it comes to measuring the success and failure of
traditional direct mail, nothing excites marketers more than
tangible data revealing the reality of what occurred or did not.
An example of this is mail tracking ― hardly a new concept, but
one that is gaining popularity among mailers who can accurately
predict in-home arrival by aggregating delivery data. Retailers
can now include direct mail advertising in connection with their
local campaigns. This data is not only traceable, but
actionable: by tracking your mailing campaigns, you can better
measure and improve your campaigns' effectiveness.
Traditionally, mailers have relied on the back-end process to
verify their success. Mail tracking allows you to coordinate
multiple-tier marketing programs, with direct mail serving as
the jumping-off point. This new technology allows you to
successfully implement timed triggers for direct mail response
via telemarketing, or initiate additional waves to forge even
stronger customer connections.
By closely monitoring campaigns, mailers can more fully
determine which concepts work best and maximize their
investments with better follow-through. All of this makes it
entirely feasible that direct mail will maintain its position as
a premier channel for coupons and daily specials, and the
preferred method for one-to-one communications.
So what is mail tracking? You might be familiar with list
seeding or other services that can assist in mail tracking, but
the United States Postal Service's genuine gold ugg australia boots for sale Confirm program is more
robust: directly integrated with the USPS process, it is fast
achieving prominence among mailers looking for tracking
resources with broad-based, real-world utility. Confirm allows
mailers to identify and track individual mail by placing a
PLANET Code on the mailpiece. (The PLANET Code is similar to the
traditional POSTNET barcode format; the only difference is a
reversal of the long and short bars.)
How does it work? The PLANET Code is typically placed in the
address block of the letter, flat or periodical mailpiece. This
PLANET code is scanned and logged by postal equipment at
points as it traverses the postal system. The postal equipment
records the PLANET Code, POSTNET barcode, processing facility,
sort operation code, and processing date and time.
Once the scan is read, the data is distributed electronically.
This data can indicate where a particular piece is located in
the system and provide reliable estimates of delivery to the
customer. PLANET Codes can be used on reply mail as well. The
first time I mentioned this to a catalogue professional, his
response was enthusiastic: "Wow ― you mean I can better predict
staffing levels needed to process the orders when genuine gold ugg australia boots for sale they are
received?"
Here are just a few examples of how PLANET Code tracking can
work for you. Imagine tracking outbound high-value items ―
invoices, for example ― as well as the inbound payments they
generate. This system works equally well for outbound check
payments, too.
(An aside: This solution would have come in handy early in my
mailing career. My major-mailer employer was once accused of not
processing (or worse, stealing) a customer's check run,
primarily because only portions of the entire job were missing
and other checks from the same run were cashed after weeks of
back and forth with the USPS and a major local government
office, the missing portion of mail was found locked in a vault
at the local municipality's processing facility. One little
PLANET Code, matched back to the Postnet would have indicated
that two trays of "check sequenced" mail were missing not two
trays of "sorted mail." A PLANET Code on just some of these
pieces would have indicated that the mail had never been
received by my company and/or delivered to the Post Office ―
resolving the problem weeks earlier. No blame would have been
wrongly bestowed on us, the processing company, and the
unfortunate recipients of these checks would have received their
funds much sooner.)
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