ADS Advertising and Mailing - Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Useful Terms

Address correction service - A system of ancillary service endorsements that allows mailers to obtain the addressee's new (forwarding) address or the reason for nondelivery.
Ancillary service - Forwarding, return, or address correction service included within a mail class. Depending on the mail class, these services are performed at a charge or at no additional charge, if and when the service is actually provided.
Ancillary service endorsement - A marking used by a mailer to request the new address of an addressee and to provide the USPS with instructions on how to handle mail that is undeliverable as addressed.
Automation discount - A postage reduction offered to mailers who barcode their mailpieces and meet addressing, readability, and other requirements for processing on automated equipment.
Bangtail - that little piece of paper on the back of an envelope that gets removed via perforation and is another opportunity to get your advertising message seen. Commonly seen on credit card envelopes that are included with your monthly invoice.
Barcode - A series of vertical bars and spaces that represent any numerical series, most often a correct ZIP Code for the delivery address on a mailpiece. The barcode facilitates automated processing by barcode readers and scanners.
Barcoded discount - A postage discount available for certain Standard Mail and Package Services, machinable parcels and Bound Printed Matter flats that bear a correct barcode and meet other size, shape, and volume requirements. ALSO CALLED AUTOMATION DISCOUNTS.
BCS (barcode sorter) - a mail - processing machine that reads barcodes on mail and automatically sorts the pieces.
Buckslip - a single sheet of paper inserted in a Direct Mail piece that's usually used to deliver another offer or message within the package.
Bulk Mail Center (BMC) - A highly mechanized mail processing plant that distributes Standard Mail in piece and bulk form. (Also see auxiliary service facility.)
Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU) - The area of a postal facility where mailers present bulk, presorted, and permit mail for acceptance. The BMEU includes dedicated platform space, office space, and a staging area on the workroom floor.
Business reply card (BRC) (Sender does not pay postage.)
Business reply envelope (BRE) (Sender does not pay postage.)
Business reply mail (BRM) - A service that allows a permit holder to receive First - Class Mail and Priority Mail back from customers and pay postage only for the returned pieces. These pieces must have a specific address and format. Postage and per piece charges are collected when the mail is delivered back to the permit holder.
Break - even point - the minimum number of sales a Direct Mail campaign must generate in order for the direct marketer to recover associated costs of the campaign.
Carrier Route - A presort level in which all pieces are presorted for delivery on the same city route, rural route, highway contract route, post office box section, or general delivery unit. The mail requires no primary or secondary distribution.
Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS) - A service offered to mailers, service bureaus, and software vendors that improves the accuracy of matching to delivery point codes, ZIP+4 codes, 5 - digit ZIP Codes, and carrier route codes on mailpieces. CASS provides a common platform to measure the quality of address matching software and to diagnose and correct software problems, and a report must accompany each mailing presented at USPS.
Control - the mail package format/creative that's done the best for you; the one that's yielded the greatest response.
Courtesy reply envelope (CRE) (Sender pays postage.) Mailer encloses a reply envelope as a courtesy to assist the sender in replying.
Cleaned list - one that is free of duplication and unwanted names/addresses.
Database - can be as simple as a card file; a collection of information stored in a computer medium that can be easily accessed and manipulated.
DDU (Destination Delivery Unit) - A delivery unit is a post office, post office station, or post office branch that has mail delivery functions. The DDU rate is a rate available for Periodicals and Standard Mail that is properly prepared and entered by the mailer at the delivery unit that serves the delivery address on the mail.
Dedupe - see purge
Demographics - those characteristics that define a particular group of people, including HHI, age, education level, family size, etc.
Facing identification mark (FIM) - a series of five or six vertical bars used by automated postal equipment to identify, orient, and separate reply mail and mail produced by PC postage systems and some postage meters.
Facing slip - a paper label attached to the top of a package or inserted in a polybag that shows where the mail is to be distributed, the class and type of mail, and the country or military post office.
FASTforward - a USPS-Iicensed automated system that updates addresses by matching names and addresses with current change-of-address orders on file. A piece updated with FASTforward can be delivered directly to the new address rather than forwarded from the old address.
First-Class Mail - a class of mail that includes all matter wholly or partly in writing or typewriting, all actual and personal correspondence, all bills and statements of account, and all matter sealed or otherwise closed against inspection. Priority Mail is a subclass of First-Class Mail. Any mailable matter may be sent as First-Class Mail.
Flat-size mail - a mailpiece that exceeds one of the dimensions for letter-size mail (11.5" long, 6 1/8 inches high, ¼ " thick) but that does not exceed the maximum dimension for the mail processing category (15" long, 12" high, 3/4 inch thick). Dimensions are different for automation rate fiat - size mail. Flat-size mail may be unwrapped, sleeved, wrapped, or enveloped.
Fulfillment House - a company specializing in responding to and tracking orders sold through Direct Mail, or gifts distributed by nonprofits in association with a contribution or membership club.
HHI - household income.
Indicia - a preprinted marking on each piece of a Standard Mail (A) (formerly known as "Bulk" or "Third Class") that shows payment of postage by the sender.
Insert - any item, such as a brochure, letter or pamphlet that is placed in a Direct Mail package.
Johnson Box - the top part of the letter, set above the body of the letter, that states the main message of the offer in a compelling way; the letter's "headline."
LACS - was developed to help emergency services - such as paramedics, fire, and police - and identify address locations as quickly and accurately as possible. It converts non-specific rural addresses (e.g. Rural Route 7, Box 52) to street addresses.
layout - the arrangement of text blocks, headlines and graphics on a page.
Letter-size mail - A mail-processing category of mailpieces, including cards, that do not exceed any of the dimensions for letter - size mail (that is, 11.5" long, 6 1/8" high, ¼" thick).
Lettershop - a company that addresses, stuffs and sorts envelopes to prepare for mailing.
Lift letter (lift note) - an insert that delivers an additional message. Usually written by a person other than the main writer of the letter. Good place for a testimonial.
List broker - an individual or company that brings together owners of mailing lists and the direct mailers who use them. For example, nonprofits that want to mail acquisition appeals to attract new donors; the broker will suggest and order lists (either by rental or exchange) which he/she feels would perform well for that nonprofit. The nonprofit will either pay for the list or exchange a list. Exchanging is like a barter - if you order a list from another organization, instead of paying with currency, the nonprofit pays by providing a list to that organization with the same number of donors.
List clearance - the process by which a list broker will request permission to use a particular list on behalf of a nonprofit organization.
List compiler - an individual or company that specializes in gathering names, addresses and information from a variety of sources to produce a customized list of prospective customers or donors.
List exchange - nonprofit organizations will agree to trade/exchange mailing lists in an effort to acquire new donors through direct mail. Since money does not exchange hands, the cost is significantly less than rentals. Running charges will be imposed by the list broker.
List Manager- list managers represent the list owner just as the broker is the agent for the mailer. The primary job of the list manager is to manage use of a particular mailing list and for those list owners who rent their lists for profit, to maximize income by promoting the lists to as many brokers and list users as possible.
List rental - a business or organization may rent a mailing list, usually though a list broker, for one time use unless otherwise specified, to reach out to new sales leads or donor prospects
Live stamp/live postage - a "normal" stamp which a consumer would use, as opposed to metered mailings. Includes all levels of 1st class, 1st class presort, standard and nonprofit stamps.
Machinable - The ability of a mailpiece to be sorted by mail processing equipment. Compare with nonmachinable.
Mechanical - a term for a camera-ready paste-up of artwork. It includes type, photos, line art, etc.
Merge - the process of combining two or more lists into a single one using the same sequential order, then sorting them together.
Merge/Purge - the technique used to combine names, addresses and related data from various mailing lists to identify and eliminate duplicate names for a single mailing or to create a marketing database.
Nth Record Selection - allows you to pull out a subset of your main data file by entering a number such as 4. ADS will export every 4th record of your database creating a file ¼ the size. Nth Record Selection creates a consistent sampling of your records, but makes it difficult for you to predetermine the number of resulting addresses.
National Change of Address (NCOA) - An address correction service that the USPS provides to mailers through USPS licensees. The licensees match mailing lists submitted to them against change of address information for the entire country from all Computerized Forwarding System units. If a match is made, NCOA can correct the address before it is printed on a mailpiece.
Nonprofit authorization - Qualifying nonprofit organizations may receive special, reduced postage rates. IN order to do so, you must have applied for and received authorization to mail - a copy of your 501(C)(3) is NOT enough. You must complete a postal form and submit it with required documentation. There is NO FEE to apply for nonprofit status. When your application is approved, you will receive an authorization letter from the U.S. Postal Service. A copy also will go to the post office where you are authorized to mail at nonprofit rates. Be sure to save your copy of the letter as evidence that you have been authorized.
Nonprofit Standard Mail - A subclass of Standard Mail that is available only to qualified organizations specified by U.S. statute.
Nonmachinable - The inability of a mailpiece to be sorted on mail processing equipment because of size, shape, content, or address legibility. Such mail must be processed manually and is subject to a surcharge.
Optical Character Reader (OCR) - An automated mail sorting machine that interprets the address information on a letter - size mailpiece and sprays the corresponding ZIP Code information onto the piece as a barcode.
OE (outer envelope): The envelope in which your package will be delivered. Often, a "teaser" or "tag" line is printed on the front to entice the recipient to open your letter.
Overs (or overruns) - the portion of a print run that exceeds the quantity specified in the purchase order. When printing, one must always order more than the actual quantity needed to allow for some spoilage in the lettershop process. For personalized pieces, always order even more.
PDF (Portable Document Format) - An Acrobat file. It is "portable" because it is cross-platform and can be read regardless of what software was used to create the original file or what other software you have loaded on your computer besides Acrobat Reader.
Perf - perforation.
Polybag - a plastic "envelope" in which a mailpiece may be inserted in accordance with the proper addressing requirements.
Postage statement - Documentation provided by a mailer to the USPS that reports the volume of mail being presented and the postage payable or affixed, and certifies that the mail meets the applicable eligibility standards for the rate claimed.
Postcard - Postcards get a special "post card" rate from the USPS. A postcard may be no larger than 4.25" x 6" (minimum size is 3.5 x 5") and at least .007 inches thick. It must be rectangular in shape. Special 1st class presort rates are also available. There is no special, nonprofit rate for post cards. NOTE: Double postcards do not fall into this category.
Precanceled stamp - A postage stamp canceled by marking across the face before it is sold to mailers for use with bulk mailings. Also, a stamp designated by the USPS as a precanceled stamp without cancellation marks. TheUSPS sells precanceled stamps for Presorted First - Class Mail and regular and nonprofit Standard Mail. Mailpieceswith these stamps do not go through a canceling machine at the time of mail processing. Also see precancel.
Premium - a free gift sent to a potential customer or donor either with the mail piece (front-end) or after the prospect has responded (back-end).
Presort - The process by which a mailer groups mail by ZIP Code so that it is sorted to the finest extent required by the standards for the rate claimed. Generally, presort is performed sequentially, from the lowest (finest) level to the highest level, to those destinations specified by standard and is completed at each level before the next level is prepared. Not all presort levels are applicable to all mailings.
Presort Accuracy Validation and Evaluation (PAVE) - A voluntary program in which the USPS tests vendors' presort software and hardware products to determine their accuracy in sorting address information according to USPS standards and producing standardized supporting documentation.
Presorted 1st Class Mailing - A rate category for a first class mailing that consists of at least 500 addressed mail pieces and is sorted and prepared according to USPS standards. Barcodes are required for automation discounts.
Presorted Standard - The postage rate for Standard Mail pieces that are part of a mailing and that meet minimum volume and preparation requirements.
Priority Mail - First-Class Mail that weighs more than 13 ounces and, at the mailer's option, any other mail matter weighing less than 13 ounces mailed at Priority Mail rates. Priority Mail provides expedited delivery. Any mailable matter may be sent as Priority Mail.
Purge - the process of eliminating duplicates and/or unwanted names from one or more lists.
Return-On-Investment (ROI) - anticipated profits above costs incurred.
RFM (recency/frequency/monetary) - a key formula used with most databases. It lets direct marketers know the recency and frequency of purchasing, and the amount of money spent by the people in their database.
Saddle stitching - stapling a publication from the back to the center.
Sectional Center Facility (SCF) - A postal facility that serves as the processing and distribution center (P&DC) for post offices in a designated geographic area as defined by the first three digits of the ZIP Codes of those offices. Some SCFs serve more than one 3 - digit ZIP Code range.
Self mailer - an unenveloped mailpiece - usually secrured by a wafer seal or tab
Service bureau - a company specializing in such computer services as mail list management and merge/purge operations.
Sheet Fed - printers (whether offset, laser or digital) which print on sheets rather than rolls of paper.
Shelf life - the length of time before an item (such as a catalog) becomes obsolete.
Sorting - in Direct Mail, the arrangement and preparation of pieces in a bulk mailing by ZIP Code? to facilitate processing and more reliable delivery.
Specs - short for specifications. Information about a mail piece.
Standard Mail - a class of mail that weighs less than 16 ounces. It comprises the subclasses of Regular Standard Mail, Nonprofit Standard Mail, Enhanced Carrier Route Standard Mail, and Nonprofit Enhanced Carrier Route Standard Mail. These subclasses include circulars, printed matter, pamphlets, catalogs, newsletters, direct mail, and merchandise. Standard Mail may be sent at presorted rates and at automation rates.
Suppress - using information on one or more lists to remove duplication of specific names before a mailing, or to eliminate those undesirable names.
Tab (also called wafer seal) - a self-adhesive seal, usually round, that is used to close the open ends of self mailers. The USPS REQUIRES that unenveloped letter-size mail pieces prepared for automation rate mailings must be secured (tabbed) to prevent an open edge from jamming their high-speed processing equipment. Construction of the mail piece plays an important role in determining automation compatibility. Standards for tabbing are based on basis weight of paper stock used and the location of the folded or bound edge. As an alternative to tabs or wafer seals, the open edge of the length of the mailpiece may be continuously glued or spot glued. Continuous glue or spot glue is permissible with single-sheet self-mailers and cards. Tabs can be clear with a perforation, or white (other special order colors are available).
Tag Line - similar to a slogan or catchy short phrase that captures the essence of your campaign. Usually printed on the outer envelope to entice the recipient to open your envelope.
Tap Test - When the address vehicle showing through the window of the outer envelope is moved to any of its limits inside the envelope, the entire barcode must remain within the barcode clear zone. Also, a clear space must be maintained that is at least 1/8 inch between the barcode and the left and right edges of the window, at least 1/25 inch between the barcode and the top edge of the window, and at least 3/16 inch between the barcode and the bottom edge of the mailpiece.
Tracking - the maintenance of records concerning various aspects of mailings, e.g., response rate, date mailed, location of respondents, etc.
Typesetter - an individual or company that generates high - resolution text and graphics. The typesetter can produce the high - quality output needed to produce professional - looking printed matter.
Unders - the number of pieces by which a printing run is short of the quantity specified in the purchase order.
USPS - United States Postal Service
Waferseal - see tab
Walk sequence - The order in which a carrier delivers mail for a route. This order is required for most carrier route presort mail.
Web press - a press that prints on rolls (or webs) of paper instead of single sheets.
White space - areas on a page that have no printing on them.
Window envelopes - envelopes having an opening through which an address printed on an insert is visible.
ZIP Code - a system of 5-digit codes that identifies the individual post office or metropolitan area delivery station associated with an address. ZIP+4 is an enhanced code consisting of the 5-digit ZIP Code and four additional digits that identify a specific range of delivery addresses.
ZIP+4 code - a nine digit numeric code composed of two parts: (a) the initial code: the first five digits that identify the sectional center facility and delivery area associated with the address, followed by a hyphen; and (b) the four digit expanded code: the first two additional digits designate the sector (a geographic area) and the last two digits designate the segment (a building, floor, etc.).
ZIP+4 barcode - a nine digit POSTNET barcode consisting of 52 vertical bars.