The direct marketing sector, and those using direct mail, have a duty to ensure that mailings are not sent to the recently deceased.
An excellent blog post at Brand Republic explains in detail why checking consumer data for recently deceased recipients is an essential part of a data cleansing regime.
The article looks at the issue from the perspective of the charity sector, as the profile of donors can often include a higher proportion of older people. However the issues it raises are common to all businesses which target consumers with direct mail, and especially those who target the grey market using lists such as Silver Prospects.
The article reveals that;
“The most recent figures suggest that within 36 months a marketing database could be as much as 90 per cent inaccurate, meaning a rigorous approach to data cleansing is vital. On average, according to ONS 48,500 people die each month, equating to almost 2 million people in this three year period, or just less than one per cent of the total population.”
This is one of the reasons why we developed Easycheck, a fast, easy to use and cost effective data cleansing tool which can help encourage smaller businesses to ensure their data is cleansed regularly. Lists can be checked from the users desktop against a range of suppression files including the Bereavement Register.