HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR DIRECT MAILING LIST
If you are submitting a list to Online Prints for a direct mail campaign, please follow our organization requirements for your data below.
Records must be contained in one row
The individual elements of each record should be contained in one row. If you are submitting a database or spreadsheet, then each element (name, street address, city, zip code, etc.) should be in a separate field in the same row for that record. If you are submitting a .txt file, then place a tab between each element of the record, but do not hit return until the end of the record.
Please note that we do not accept mailing lists with addresses organized into multiple rows, including those in mailing label format.
Order of fields in your list file
Each field or element will be printed by inkjet in the order it is organized within your file, up to 50 characters maximum per line (including punctuation, etc.) This means that you will want to make sure your fields appear in the following order:
1. Name (Optional)
May consist of either one field titled Name or a combination of any of the following five
fields to make up the first line (total number of characters must not exceed 50). These
elements will be combined in this order if contained in separate fields:
- Salutation
- First Name
- Middle Name
- Last Name
- Degree
2. Professional Title (Optional)
3. Company Name (Optional)
4. Department Name (Optional)
5. Second line of address (Optional)
6. Deliverable address (Required)
7. City (Required)
8. State (Required)
9. Zip (Required - either 5 or 9 digits)
10. Country (Required if mailing outside US)
By default, only the fields/elements listed above will be processed. Please let us know if you require additional information, such as promotional codes, etc. to be printed on your mailing.
Non-US addresses (international) in separate files
Non-US addresses, including Canadian and overseas addresses, should be submitted in a separate data file.
Alternatively, you may include the separate required fields for Province, Zip Code and Country with your list. However, please ensure that you are using separate fields for US and international zip/postal codes (do not include Canadian postal codes in the field designated for zip codes, for example).
Please be aware that we cannot verify non-US addresses. We will print your international address data as it is provided in your mailing list file.
Additional Formatting Considerations
Standardization of Addresses
We will automatically standardize addresses according to USPS guidelines for processing. This means that all information will be capitalized and punctuation removed. In addition, we will substitute abbreviations where applicable for address items. Read more on how we assist you with speedy postal processing.
Removal of Duplicates
We will automatically deploy deduping, the process of removal duplicate records contained in your mailing list. This is an automated process that occurs based on several criteria and is not 100% accurate.
Unless you request otherwise, deduping will occur by Name and Address. Our system will compare fields to look for exact matches and then remove those that are exact duplicates. Please note that fields that contain as little as one letter or number difference in the name or address field will not be considered duplicates and will not be removed. The only exception is in the case of common first names - if all other characters match but the first name of one record is William and the second record is Bill, for example, the second record may be removed (this will only occur when all other elements are exactly the same).
Additionally, you may specify for deduping to occur based only on the address or for no deduping to occur.
To learn more, please call Online Prints toll-free at (800) 880-4571
