How to validate customers’ postal address using technology and api

If you want to run a successful business with an everlasting relationship with your customers, you need to contact them physically through direct mails. Direct mail marketing is still considered to be a strong and imperative strategy for excelling your business. Direct mail campaigns can never be outdated but to do it perfectly, you only need to have correct physical mailing addresses. Address verification plays a crucial role in determining your success in mail marketing campaigns.

Here, address validation software comes into play and helps you in filtering your mailing address list by removing the clutter in the form of incorrect addresses that no longer exist but resulting in wastage of time, money, and resources.

Nevertheless, there is a need to have a proper understanding of the difference that exists between a valid and invalid address. A valid address can be defined as the address that is found in the official postal records of a locality of a country. But, the address can be valid if the address is of a vacant piece of land and hence, the mail cannot be reached at such addresses. Therefore, a valid physical mailing address also relies on the deliverability of the mail to a specific address.

A postal address validation service is required for various purposes. It can be useful when an address is to be prepared for geocoding or when a large number of postal deliveries for postal address verifications are to be made by USPS and other related companies. Moreover, address validation can also be helpful when an e-commerce site wants to connect to their customers physically and in this case, correct billing and shipping address of customers is required. Additionally, address verification can have its application in the Census research in the US and Canada as well.

However, address validation software can assist us through the address verification process. Such software provides us a correct, verified, and standardized physical mailing addresses. Most corporate, commercial, and e-commerce sectors seek the help of these tools for cleaning their client’s postal addresses and mailing lists. Address verification software verify the correctness of data using lead generation software.

Furthermore, address verification API (Application Programming Interface) is another processing method that looks into your list of street addresses and compares it with the existing reliable databases. It checks for the invalid postal addresses comprising of incorrect house numbers or postal codes and displays the correct one. It aims at providing fast data verification of marketing and business mail addresses with high accuracy. Address validation API is available in both forms i.e. free and paid version. Also, API validation is a procedure suite that can be incorporated either into the software, website, or CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Address Validation APIs can be classified into two separate types i.e. USPS-powered Address Validation APIs and Third-Party Address Validation APIs.

1.  USPS-Powered Address Validation APIs

USPS or United States Postal Service carries all the street addresses of the whole country in its database. It is a reliable source of valid mailing addresses which always leads by integrating and updating the latest information regarding any change in the address. The USPS database is made accessible to all the commercial, e-commerce, and other related mailer sectors through address validation API. However, if you are looking for more sophisticated tools for your commercial tasks then USPS address validation tools are not for you. These tools can only work efficiently if the mailing deadlines are not tight and the number of mails is also less. Therefore, if you want a better option for your business operations, you should rely on the third-party address validation APIs.

2. Third-Party Address Validation APIs

USPS allows various software, websites, and CRM which are CASS certified to utilize their database information. Third-party companies are highly significant and reliable address validation tools that help you in the situation where mailing is the only option you have and want every mail to reach the correct postal address. Although such software and websites rely mainly on the USPS database but provide a more customer-friendly service and offer additional functions with supplemental information to their users.

In this article, we are penning down the best address validation software which is easy to use, provides the best customer experience, and serves with reliable data.

3. Address Validation Software

Some of the best address validation software includes:

i. Melissa Data

Melissa Data is the software that caters the customers having huge business setups. It provides the information based on addresses in the US. As they deal with clients with large companies so, they offer additional services to their clients including emails, weather updates of the addresses in the mailing lists, name verification, demographics, and census information. The software is easy to use with fairly easy documentation. Also, their customer support team helps you with every related query. If you are looking for an extensive piece of knowledge related to your provided addresses, then Melissa Data is you for sure.

ii.  Loqate

Loqate aims at providing information related to the domestic as well as international addresses and deal with customers across the globe. It provides a rather technical document with highly accurate information. Their API has access to more than 240 countries and providing addresses and geocodes with great accuracy. Moreover, they use USPS as one of the many address validators and data providers.

iii. SmartyStreets

SmartyStreets believe in providing a fast and simple customer experience at their place. They claim to have the fastest address validation service in comparison to their competitors. Their online APIs and Command-Line Interface are highly efficient in processing a large amount of data in few minutes provided by their customers. They are experts in making complicated tasks simpler and easier. Their API is also the simplest and easiest to use. They provide address validation services not only to US clients but also to international clients. Their prices are also digestible for small companies.

Here, at the end of the article, we won’t be tagging anyone software as the “BEST” address verification software as it depends upon your needs. One which fits your requirements is the best software for you.