New 42-day free trial
Smarty

Full address validation leads to better business data

John Hickey
John Hickey
 | 
January 31, 2023
Tags
Full address validation leads to better business data

Certain surprises are fun. Finding out the person in front of you at Starbucks paid for your coffee? Java-tastic! Finding out you've been shipping products to addresses that don't exist? That's a postal catastrophe.

Luckily, many shipping snafus can be prevented by using address validation software.

Address validation (or verification) is the process of checking a mailing address against an authoritative address database. If the address matches an address in the known database, it is marked “valid”—meaning it's real. If an address doesn't match, it's marked "invalid."**

Just because an address didn't validate doesn't mean it's not real.

Reasons an address might be marked invalid

  • Imaginary address: Despite what Universal Studios wants you to believe, Hogwarts does not actually exist and Dumbledore isn't receiving your requests to enroll. Fake, hypothetical, no longer existing, or not yet existing addresses will not validate.
  • Address not registered: Some addresses won't be registered with address authorities like the USPS or utility companies yet because they're for brand-new buildings. If an address isn't in the system, it's invalid because there isn't an address to match.

In addition, millions of addresses exist in the US where the USPS doesn't deliver. You won't find these addresses in the USPS database.

If you have customers at those addresses, you need an address validation provider, like Smarty, that references the USPS database but also utilizes other authoritative private and public sources.

Download the 4 Steps to Unlocking Latent Revenue and Driving ROI with Your Address Data ebook

Choosing an address validation provider

Many providers get lumped into the "address validation" category but don't fully validate or might not even offer validation.

For example, while UPS offers “street level” validation, they usually won't indicate apartment, building, or house number errors.

Another commonly considered service, Google Maps won't tell you if an address is missing an apartment number. It also won't tell you that you entered a house number that doesn't exist. The mapping tool simply provides the best guess with any entered address.

Here at Smarty, we validate every part of the address and indicate if an address is in an apartment building. Such information allows you to pinpoint addresses that might be missing components—suite or floor numbers, for example—before you're struggling with lost and returned mail, missed appointments, angry customers, and more.

Business benefits of address validation

In addition to avoiding shipping issues and cranky customers, you may benefit in other ways from validating your address data.

Eliminate Duplicates: The phrase “double trouble” did not originate in data management, but it might as well have. Duplicate addresses make it difficult to segment your data accurately and can cause you to double your administrative work and expenses by sending multiple bills to the same location. And what if you have 20 versions of the same address? It happens.

Reduce Shipping Errors and Potential Fraud: When it comes to accurate delivery, the third time is NOT the charm. Using address validation helps you get your deliveries right on the first try, so you're not out the cost of the item or paying a return fee to get your product back.

On another note, shipping products, bills, account information, or other mail with personally identifiable information to the wrong address could expose your customers to fraud.

Data Appending: Your address validation provider may offer appended data and extra features. Data appending involves adding new information to your database that can improve your marketing campaigns, customer segmentation, and long-term planning.

Smarty, for example, focuses primarily on address validation and geocodes, both US and international. But in addition to the standardized and validated address, you'll receive over 55 data points for each address. These can include:

  • RDI (residential/commercial)
  • Climate statistics
  • Observes DST (or not)
  • Congressional district

Why does this extra info matter?

If you know who your customers are, what they care about, and where they live, you can craft a more efficient marketing campaign and increase ROI. That's just one example of many.

Want to know more about how to increase revenue with accurate address data? Download our free ebook, 4 Steps to Unlocking Latent Revenue and Driving ROI with Your Address Data.

Download the free ebook today

Download the 4 Steps to Unlocking Latent Revenue and Driving ROI with Your Address Data ebook

Subscribe to our blog!
Learn more about RSS feeds here.
rss feed icon
Subscribe Now
Read our recent posts
Improving user/customer experience in every industry with clean address data
Arrow Icon
You finally track down an essential addition to your collector’s set of [insert item of your choice], and you're hyped to buy it until the chaos begins. The cart is hidden in a fly-out on the side, cluttered with blocky, overwhelming text. You spend way too long just trying to find the "Proceed to Checkout" button. 👎 That’s bad UI (user interface): messy, confusing design that makes navigation a chore. You make it to the checkout and start entering your info, but the site keeps rejecting your address.
Dashboard essentials for Smarty users
Arrow Icon
The Smarty dashboard is your central hub for managing address verification, geocoding, and property data services. Whether you're just starting or looking to optimize your current setup, understanding the dashboard's full capabilities can significantly streamline your address data operations. We recently held a webinar in which we reviewed all of the Smarty dashboard's items and features. Missed it? That's OK; we've got all the information right here. You can expect to read about:Accessing your dashboardSetting up your account for successUnderstanding your active subscriptionsManaging API keys effectivelyStreamlining billing and financial managementStaying informed with smart notificationsTeam management and access controlsWeb toolsMaking the most of free trialsKey takeawaysLet’s get going!Accessing your dashboardGetting to your dashboard is straightforward.
Take charge of your API usage with Smarty’s key management features
Arrow Icon
Ever wondered, “Where did all my lookups go?!” Without proper API management, you may burn through your lookups quicker, experience runaway code, and encounter unexpected usage. That’s why Smarty created usage by key (included in all annual plans) and limit by key (included in some plans; you can add them by contacting sales) for its APIs. Why key management mattersCommon API usage challenges (problems to solve):Unexpected spikes in lookupsDifficulty tracking specific key usageWhich keys are calling which Smarty licenseNeed for better control over API consumptionDifficulty allocating Smarty lookups across an organizationWith Smarty's key management features, you gain more control by having better visibility of your usage, eliminating the element of surprise (you know, the bad kind, like when you’re suddenly out of lookups).

Ready to get started?