Our specialties include:

List Optimization. According to the USPS, 18% of households move on an annual basis. In such a highly mobile society, lists are perishable and require periodic maintenance to retain their accuracy. Your data may also be formatted improperly, causing it not to reach its destination. AD-Vantage can solve these problems with:

• Zip+4 (and CASS certification) - This "tool" is commonly used whenever we process a mailing for you. (It can also be useful for cleaning your data at any time). The program checks the validity of the address by looking it up in a nationwide database. When a match is found, the "plus 4" information is appended to your usual 5 digit zip code. It also checks and corrects the spelling of city and street names. Zip+4 allows us to create a barcode for your address, which results in faster USPS delivery and a lower postage rate. Records that do not use Zip+4 are mailable, but at a higher postage rate and may have questionable deliverability.
• National Change of Address (NCOA) - Zip+4 (above) verifies the address, but not who lives at that address. That's where NCOA comes in. By electronically comparing your database to the USPS "master database", we can automatically update mover information and identify undeliverable records. NCOA offers all the benefits of updating your list, without having to mail and manually edit your database with the returned mail. In addition to time, NCOA can save you countless dollars in potentially wasted printing, processing and postage.
• Fast Forward - Virtually the same service as NCOA, except Fast Forward only reaches back 12 months into USPS archives (where NCOA goes back 3-4 years). At a fraction of the price, Fast Forward can be more economical for lists smaller than 5,000 records or lists that have already been updated within the last year.

Data Enhancement saves money and adds value to your list via:

• Duplicate elimination - Even though you may think your list is "dupe" free, it is likely to contain some redundancies (especially when multiple files are merged). We can remove these dupes on a "one per address" basis; or, the program can work on a "one per name / per address" level. We can also delete names from your list by comparing them to a "suppression" file. Deduping can result in substantial printing and postage savings, while avoiding frustrations with recipients who would have received multiple copies.
• Genderization - Can make your list more functional by identifying the recipient's gender and addressing the message accordingly.
• Parse data/split fields - Perhaps your mail list needs reformatting. We can split the "full name" field into "first name" and "last name" to create a personalized letter. "City, State, Zip" can easily be separated to presort the data for automation discounts.
• Source coding - When multiple lists are merged together, AD-Vantage can code each record so you know which file it came from. The code can be printed on the mailpiece when addressing, enabling you to track the performance of different lists.

Data Entry. If your valuable mail list data is still in "paper" form, we can capture this information in to a reusable computer format. Many people simply don't have the time, equipment, or desire to spend days keying in names and addresses. We'll set up a file, key and maintain your mail list to keep it healthy and deliverable. Mail lists are "perishable" and require constant attention to edit the file for "adds", "changes" and "deletes".

Media Conversion. We can read data from most any media and format... and if desired, convert it to any other media or format. We can work with Mac, PC and mainframe files from discs, CD's, email, and 9-track tape. Give us a call with any media or conversion questions.