Authorized methods to meet Move Update Latest Mailing Database standards include: NCOALink processing, FASTforward processing (letter mail only), and Address Change of Service (ACS(TM)). The USPS maintains a database Latest Mailing Database with approximately 160 million records or 48 months of permanent address changes.
It's called the NCOALink product. You can submit your mailing list or database records to USPS approved vendors for NCOALink processing to match your Latest Mailing Database addresses to the change-of-address records on file with the USPS. Since 1986 when the USPS introduced the product, NCOALink has saved mailers billions of dollars that otherwise would have been wasted in paper, postage, and labor costs.
NCOALink processing your mailing list before mailing Latest Mailing Database can have a significant impact on the ROI for a direct mail campaign. Let's take an example of a 100,000 piece mailing at bulk rate with a total cost of $0.50 per piece. For this example let's say that the mailing will generate a 1.5 percent response rate and $50 in average sales. Let's assume Latest Mailing Database that the mail list hasn't been NCOALink processed in the last 12 months and there is a "bad" address rate of 5percent. As bulk mail is rarely forwarded, that means that 5,000 pieces never made it to their destination.