Address Data Management System

Address Data Management System

Data is at the center of almost every business initiative today. You might have noticed there is no scarcity of data nowadays. It is readily available, and you can even buy it. However, if you are looking for data that is also accurate, then that’s a different story altogether. Today’s problem with address data management is not the scarcity of data but rather the abundance of bad data. The same problem exists for types of data but more specifically address data. Bad data is useless and interferes with a lot of business operations.

address data management system

However, the worst part is that bad address data doesn’t just stay dormant but can end up costing you money. Hence, it is now more important than ever to have a good address data management system for your business.

Here, we will explain everything you need to know about the address data management systems. In this article, we will also cover aspects like,  what a bad or wrong address is and how it can affect your business as you read on.

You will also understand whether and why you need an address data management checklist along with how to maintain a high-quality address database. The article also explains the different approaches you can take to ensure this.

So, if you are looking for address data and effective ways to manage it, you have come to the right place.

What Is Address Data Management?

Address data management includes the process that a business takes for collecting and managing their customer’s mailing address. Processes like address validation, address standardization, and address cleansing are all part of the data management process.   

Usually, a good strategy for data management is employed so businesses can maintain a steady source of high-quality data. It also allows companies to 

  • Have more accurate business communications.
  • Prevent fraud or fake addresses.

What Is An Address Data Management System?

The address management system is a system that lets you maintain a standardized and verified set of addresses. It also allows you to easily keep an address database according to the national guidelines, usually provided by the national postal authority.

In the US, the national postal authority is the USPS. They maintain the most extensive list of verified addresses in all of the US. The USPS also provides a certification called CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System).

Any address data management system with a CASS certification can access the official USPS address database. Advanced solutions like PostGrid are connected to reliable third-party databases, including the official address database of the USPS.

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What is a Bad Address?

We mentioned in the beginning that bad address data could hurt your business and even cause financial losses. But, how can you identify a wrong address from a good one? Well, it is easier than you might think. In fact, for most bad addresses, you don’t even need a software solution as you can easily do it yourself.

There are mainly six ways you can tell whether an address is wrong, and they are as follows.

  1. Incomplete Address Data: If an essential part of the address is missing from the address data.
  2. Incorrect Address Data: In case there are any typos, spelling mistakes, mismatches, and falsified information in the address data.
  3. Improper Address Format: If the address is not in the standardized format the postal service provider specifies, it is considered an improper/wrong address format.
  4. Invalid Addresses: Suppose an address is accurate but not listed in the official address database. It is treated as an invalid address.  
  5. Outdated Addresses: Some addresses that may have been deliverable in the past may not be deliverable anymore. Such addresses are called outdated addresses. but is no longer deliverable is termed an outdated address.
  6. Duplicate Address: Strictly speaking, duplicate addresses are not wrong addresses because they are made up or imaginary. However, they are just as undesirable as the other wrong addresses.

The Role of Address Data management in Master Data Management Strategy

Every successful company uses a Master Data Management or MDM strategy. However, you may not know that the address data management system is also an essential part of MDM strategy. MDM strategy deals with a lot more critical data types, and address data is just one among them.

Apart from the address data, the MDM strategy uses these different data types to obtain crucial information about business entities. However, many still consider the address data as one of the effective supplements to the MDM strategy, and for good reasons.

The main reasons why data management holds such great significance in master data management strategy are as follows.

Accurate Communications With Customers And Prospects

Imagine you are running a kid’s toy store. And suppose you developed the perfect direct mail marketing campaign for your toy store. The campaign targets households with children. Now let’s say that the campaign yields the result you had hoped for from the very beginning. 

However, you notice that the campaign starts to lose its charm slowly, and in a couple of years, the return rate of mail skyrockets. It usually means that your MDM lacks proper address data management. 

For example, a good portion of your target audience may have changed their address over the years. Now, if you had a robust system for managing your address data then you could have easily figured this out in advance.

The direct mail you send to such addresses goes undelivered and your direct mail campaigns will never get the desired results. It could also happen for other periodic direct mail you send to your regular customers, such as monthly bills and invoices. Hence, the address data management system is a must for all businesses.

Smoothly Running OmniChannel Campaigns

Without proper address data management, you can’t possibly hope to run omnichannel campaigns that incorporate direct mail in them. It is because omnichannel campaigns heavily depend on quality data and a unified database. 

Maintain a High-Level Security

One of the most significant advantages of data governance is that it controls internal access to your database. As a result, you can minimize the risk of security breaches and data leakage. Additionally, validated addresses let you shield yourself from any fraudulent activities. For example, you can use the address data against the USPS’s official address database and verify the information.

How To Determine Whether Your Business Needs Address Data Management

Master data management is yet to be adopted by most of the largest organizations in the world. However, it is only a matter of time before they do. In the meantime, addressing data management is crucial to many organizations/companies that are working today.

We could say that any business that uses the address data of its customers or prospects should invest in an address data management system. But, the truth is that it is more urgent for some businesses to utilize address data management than others.

If you are still unsure about getting an address data management system for your business, consider the following points:

  • Your business/organization regularly uses address data for sending direct mail.
  • The company is already running or planning to run omnichannel marketing campaigns.
  • Your business/organization regularly uses address data for verifications.
  • You often have to deal with big data for the normal functioning of your business.
  • Address validation is a way for improving any aspect of your business, such as security.
  • Your business/organization deals with a large number of customers.
  • A messy data system is slowing your business processes.
  • You want to implement automated marketing campaigns for your business.

Suppose you have to mark a tick on most of the points given above. In that case, your business or organization cannot afford to ignore address data management systems.

Different Ways To Use An Address Management System

We know that address data management includes several processes or procedures. It means that a business or organization needs data governance at various stages of its operation. Below, we discuss some of the main applications of the address management system for your business/organization.

Select a Reliable Data Source

It is essential that you only choose a reliable data source for your business. You can buy address data, but they are rarely reliable. The best data source you can get is the data that you collect yourself. For example, suppose a customer or prospect is on your website.

Here, you can present them with an address pop-up window for capturing their address. Additionally, you must encourage the users to provide their address data by offering them a discount, free trials, or other bonuses.

Address Data Verification At The Point Of Data Collection

The ideal way to ensure the quality of data for your business is to verify it right at the beginning. It means you need to verify the address data at its point of collection. One of the ways you can do this is by highlighting the essential fields.

For example, you can highlight the ZIP code field red if the code is not complete or wrong. However, an even better approach would be to use an advanced solution like PostGrid. With a tool like PostGrid, you can implement features like Address Autocomplete, which validates the address just as the user enters it in the form.

Address Standardization

An address management system lets you standardize the addresses you have collected over time as specified by the postal service provider. For example, you can use PostGrid to standardize all your address data using nothing but a CSV file. You can even standardize the addresses in bulk which saves you valuable time.

Address Validation

Address validation is the best thing about using an address data management system like PostGrid. You could even say that every other application of an address management system is an extension of address validation.

CASS-certified software solutions can access the USPS’s official address database and check whether an address is accurate and deliverable. PostGrid’s CASS-certified address verification API can easily integrate with your website and make address verification even more convenient for your business.

Furthermore, you also get additional capabilities such as geocoding and Address Autocomplete, further streamlining your marketing efforts.

Data Enrichment

You can make the best use of your existing data to get more insights into your customers and their taste. Once you have learned more about your target audience, you can start campaigns across multiple channels and target them. Implementing multiple channel communication can help you provide a better customer experience and harness improved marketing performance.

Automate Update And Cleansing Of Your Data

Automated systems like PostGrid are perfect for updating and cleansing your address database. The thing about data management is that it is a continuous process that never really stops. Address verification APIs such as PostGrid let you integrate it into your website’s CRM. It means you can update your address data on the CRM or cleanse it off any bad data.

Conclusion

Address data management systems are essential for any business that deals with addressing data regularly. The more address data you deal with, the more crucial it is to implement your business’s address data management system.

Software solutions like PostGrid play a crucial role in equipping your business with an address management system. PostGrid’s address verification not only lets you validate your address data but also enables you to maintain a high-quality address database.

Additional features of PosGrid, such as Address Autocomplete, enable you to ensure address data accuracy right at its point of collection. Furthermore, its ability to integrate with your CRM system ensures data accuracy throughout all your business processes.

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