I knew they were but never really tracked how much attendance increases after mailing a piece. I have been planning a workshop for my association this summer. In efforts to save money we decided not do a direct mail piece and thought we would just promote our event through e-marketing efforts. We figured that the content was a hot topic and we would get more than enough attendees through e-marketing and posting info on our website. After two weeks our numbers were low and we thought about actually canceling the event. This workshop is our second “Members Only” workshop. We thought that we were not getting attendees because it was a members only event. We decided not to cancel the workshop and change the date to a later date. I convinced my Executive Director that we needed to do a direct mail piece and to find money in our budget.

I did a simple economical post card and it was sent out last week. As a result of the post card our attendance has spiked over 50% prior to the mailing.

Now that’s RESULTS!

Typically a mail house with postal software has to do the address list cleansing, but this may be of some help-it’s from the UPS site:

Take Steps To Clean Up Address Lists
Does your list have them? Troublesome addresses you just can’t figure out?

The decisions you make about address quality directly affect your ability to reach valued customers. Cost-effective and timely delivery of every mailpiece depends on an accurate address containing complete and correct address elements. Here are steps you can take now to improve or correct your addresses:
Communicate with your vendors.
Process your address list using CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System) ZIP+4, DPV and LACSLink address-matching software.
Identify problem addresses.
Resolve problem addresses.
“LACSLink and DPV, working in conjunction with CASS Certified software, benefit both mailers and the Postal Service,” says Rick Arvonio, manager of Product Management. “These tools help mailers identify problem addresses that are undeliverable as addressed, and that saves postage and processing costs for mailers while reducing processing and delivery costs for the Postal Service.”

The Postal Service offers Address Element Correction (AEC) and AEC II as solutions for addresses that CASS Certified software can’t resolve. AEC uses enhanced computer logic to focus on inaccurate addresses, specifically those deliverable addresses that can’t be matched to a ZIP+4 Code using commercially available CASS Certified address-matching software.

When AEC is unable to resolve addresses, AEC II is the next logical step in the address element correction process. With AEC II, still-unresolved addresses are submitted electronically to delivery offices using the electronic Unresolved Address Resolution System. Delivery unit personnel can correct or identify undeliverable records through Delivery Force Knowledge — in other words, the personal knowledge of our carriers and clerks.

AEC fees are based on the total number of records submitted. AEC II processing fees are calculated on the number of resolved records returned to the customer.

For more information on how AEC II can help you with troublesome addresses, contact the National Customer Support Center at 800-238-3150 or aec@usps.gov.

http://pe.usps.com/businessmail101/rates/nonprofit.htm