Written by eTargetMedia.

According to the United States Postal Service, 3.7 percent of all First Class Mail (FCM) sent in the United States in 2014 was returned to the sender. That’s an increase of 0.3 percent from the number of returned FCM pieces sent in 2004. Depending on the size and importance of a piece of marketing, the cost of a returned piece of mail can be anywhere from $3 to as much as $50 for transactional mailers.

Clearly, having mail returned is a problem for companies of all sizes. Even though fewer people are sending mail — the amount of mail sent by the USPS dropped from 100 billion in 2004 to 64.5 billion in 2014 — sending direct mail pieces can still be a highly effective way to reach potential customers. In fact, the fact that there are less mail pieces being sent today means that when a customer does receive something from a business, they are more likely to open it and respond.

Of course, customers can’t react positively to a mailing if they don’t receive it. It’s important that you use highly targeted postal mailing lists if you want to get the greatest return on your investment for direct mail campaigns. Leading companies such as eTargetMedia constantly refresh their lists to ensure that the information on the lists is correct. It’s also important to get your mailing lists from companies that will target their mailing lists so that your message is paired with the right customers for maximum effectiveness.

eTargetMedia has more than 20 years of experience providing targeted mailing lists to customers of all sizes. Along with mailing lists, they also supply HTML and email append services.