5 Tips for Mastering Your Mailings

The holidays are here! Your mailbox is probably overflowing with coupons, gift catalogs and season’s greetings from everyone from your Aunt Doris to your dentist. This is the perfect time for a gentle reminder that a successful mailing starts with a strong list.

Our mailings maestros have provided their top tips to help strengthen your list and streamline your next direct mail project…

1. The more data, the better. Build your spreadsheet with all the columns you think you might need. If you don’t use a column, it can be removed later. Bonus tip: If your names are not separated into first and last name in your database, it can still run through our postal software for address correction.

Firstname	Lastname	Company	Address_1	Address_2	City	ST	Zip	Country
John	Smith	ABC Company	444 Main St	Unit 12	Anytown	IA	50000	Other than US

2. People vs. places. Don’t place company names in the name column. Enter businesses into a separate company column.

3. Feeling formal? If you wish to use a prefix such as Mr., Mrs. or Dr., be sure to place that in a separate column. Bonus tip: If you need a salutation on a letter, please include that populated column in the spreadsheet.

Prefix	Firstname	Lastname	Suffix	Salutation
Dr.	Allen	Smith	Jr.	Dr. Smith
	Betty	Johnson		Betty

4. Hola! Bonjour! Konnichiwa! Planning on mailing outside the U.S.? Talk to Sigler customer service so we can go over the best options for mailing to those addresses.

5. Tabs are taboo. Do not use the tab function inside of a cell. It creates two lines within that cell and causes the information to shift out of alignment during our list manipulation and correction procedures.

Let us save you money…

Here are a few additional cost-saving reminders to help you stay within your mailing budget.

• Combining worksheet tabs is a billable service. You may save money by combining tab data before handing it off to us.
• Importing and combining multiple lists are also billable services. If you can do this beforehand, it will help control costs. 

Be sure to keep these things in mind as you plan ahead for your next mailing project.

Have a specific question about mailings? Contact us and we’ll find you an answer!