Audience Setup

Before you start sending mails, you need to specify the sender and recipient addresses. PostGrid simplifies this process by allowing you to create contacts directly from the dashboard.

Creating Individual Contacts

To create contacts, navigate to the Contacts tab located on the left side of the navigation bar.

On this page, you can find existing contacts and click on them to get more information. You can also use the search bar at the top to search for contacts using any known information, such as names, company names, or addresses. Let's click on 'Create Contact' in the top-right to create a new contact so that you can send mailings.

Once you have filled in the required details, click the create button. This will redirect you to the contacts list page, where your newly created contact will be listed at the top. To make changes to contact information, delete a contact, or check if their address is verified, click on the contact in the list page. You will then be redirected to a page with these options.

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Note for Line 2

Please add the suite identifiers as a prefix along with the suite number in Line 2. The possible suite identifiers include "#", "APT", "STE", "ST", etc. Also, add a space between the suite identifier and suite number.

Creating Multiple Contacts

If you have multiple contacts that you would like to upload at once, you can use the 'Upload Contacts' option found on the contacts page. Here, you can select a CSV file with your contacts separated by lines. For proper formatting of your contact information, please refer to the example found here.

Key Points

1. You can either add the First Name and the Last Name or the Company Name or both based on your preference and the merge variables you are using in the template.
2. Please leave optional columns blank if you are not using them.
3. Kindly make sure the country code is in the accepted ISO31661 Alpha2 code format (https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#search)
4. Merge variables can be added after the Country Code column. Please make sure the naming for merge variables used in the template matches the column header in the CSV.

Note: One important aspect to differentiate in contacts is whether they are created in live mode or test mode. A contact created in test mode will have their address marked as verified, even though it has not actually been verified. On the other hand, when you create contacts in live mode, PostGrid will verify the address and accurately determine whether local postage can deliver to that address.

Address Standardization and Verification

PostGrid cleanses all newly created addresses to optimize for maximum deliverability.

• All North American addresses will be automatically standardized, cleansed, and verified through our CASS-Certified Address Verification System before the order is created, either through the API or the dashboard.

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This feature is offered at no additional cost with our Print and Mail services.

Please note, Address Verification only happens for the contacts and orders created in LIVE mode. To check the status of address verification, refer to the "Address Status" field on the Contacts page.

For more details about address verification, click on the contact and check the raw data section.

Address Strictness

For all the mailings you send out, we verify the recipient address for every order. This ensures that your mail reaches the correct audience and reduces the probability of mail returns. Please note that this service is currently only available for users sending mailings to the United States of America and Canada.

To take advantage of this service, simply select the appropriate option under Address Strictness on the Settings page.

1. Verified: If you choose the 'verified' option, we will only send mailings to recipient addresses that we are able to find a match for in the USPS database (for US) or Canada Post database (for Canada), and that are deemed deliverable.
2. Corrected: If you choose the 'corrected' option, we will send mailings to recipient addresses that are verified, as well as addresses that we can find an approximate match for in the USPS database (for US) or Canada Post database (for Canada). These addresses will be corrected according to the required standards of the respective carrier.
3. Failed: If you choose the 'failed' option, we will send mailings to all recipient addresses, regardless of their verification status.

Note that the address strictness applies to both Sender and Recipient Address.

Skipping Address Verification

If you want to skip Address Verification for your sender address, you can do so while creating a new contact.

There are two options available:

1. Force Verified Status: This option forces the contact's address status to be 'verified'.
2. Skip Address Verification: This option skips address verification for this contact. The contact's verification status will be 'failed' by default and can be overridden by checking 'Force Verified Status'.

To avoid order cancellations due to sender address issues, we recommend selecting the ‘Force Verified Status’ option.

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US mail addresses are processed through CASS and NCOA

All mail requests for US addresses are processed through CASS and NCOA, as these are USPS requirements. Consequently, the final mailing address may differ from those seen in your API requests and Dashboard.

Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS)

Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS) is a USPS certification for vendors that help clients with address standardization and validation. This certification allows address verification services to pass a test and prove that they are capable of providing top-notch solutions to clients. Also, they get better access to the USPS authoritative databases and NCOA files.

PostGrid’s address verification API and software are CASS-certified, allowing you to update, standardize, and validate your mailing lists by comparing them with the official Post Office records.

National Change of Address (NCOA)

NCOALink is a USPS product to record all Change-of-Address (COA) requests.

The Post Office stores hundreds of millions of permanent COA records in its NCOA datafile, including-

• Names of individuals, families, and businesses, and
• Their old and new delivery addresses.

Adding Merge Variables to the CSV

To specify merge variables, use curly braces like {{variableName}}. You can also access the following predefined merge variables in your template.

Name	Type	Description
to	Contact	The recipient info e.g. {{to.firstName}}, {{to.companyName}}
from	Contact	The sender info e.g. {{from.firstName}}, {{from.companyName}}

Acceptable Default Merge Variable Values for Contacts

The following values are default values for contacts that can be used in the {{to.variable}} format.

Recipient Merge Variables

Template Format	CSV Header Name
{{to.addressLine1}}	Address Line 1
{{to.addressLine2}}	Address Line 2
{{to.provinceOrState}}	Province or State
{{to.city}}	City
{{to.postalOrZip}}	Postal or Zip
{{to.country}}	Country
{{to.firstName}}	First Name
{{to.lastName}}	Last Name
{{to.email}}	Email
{{to.phoneNumber}}	Phone Number
{{to.companyName}}	Company Name
{{to.jobTitle}}	Job Title

Sender Merge Variables

Template Format	CSV Header Name
{{from.addressLine1}}	Address Line 1
{{from.addressLine2}}	Address Line 2
{{from.provinceOrState}}	Province or State
{{from.city}}	City
{{from.postalOrZip}}	Postal or Zip
{{from.country}}	Country
{{from.firstName}}	First Name
{{from.lastName}}	Last Name
{{from.email}}	Email
{{from.phoneNumber}}	Phone Number
{{from.companyName}}	Company Name
{{from.jobTitle}}	Job Title

Non-default Merge Variables

To add any other dynamic variables to the template, ensure that the CSV has the exact same value (case sensitive) as mentioned in your HTML templates.

Template Format	CSV Header Name
{{to.metadata.Revenue}}	Revenue
{{to.metadata.amount}}	amount
{{to.metadata.Renewaldate}}	Renewaldate

Adding and Deleting Addresses

You cannot edit any existing addresses via the dashboard or API request. However, you can delete the current address and add a new one with the updated information. To delete the contact, click on the contact and then click on 'Delete'.

Address Verification Errors

Below is a comprehensive guide for diagnosing and resolving address verification errors.

Table 1 describes the primary errors:

Primary Error	Description
Alternate	Changed the Input value to an alternate value
Would not fit	The address does not fit within the required address field
Incorrect Value	The address has incorrect information
Missing Value	The input address is missing required information
Typo in Value	Typing error in the input address
Verbosity	The address is unnecessarily lengthy, redundant, or overly detailed, making it harder for the system to read and understand

Table 2 describes the error details associated with the primary errors:

Error Detail	Description
Addressee and/or Additional Delivery Information	The name of the recipient and any extra delivery instructions
Complete Street Information	The complete street address, including house or building number, street name, and type
Civic number	The numeric portion of the street address, representing the house or building number
Civic number suffix	Any additional characters or letters that accompany the civic number
Street name	The designated name of the street
Street type	The classification of the street, such as Avenue, Road, or Boulevard
Street direction	The cardinal direction (N, S, E, W) associated with the street name
Suite keyword	The term used to indicate the presence of a suite, such as "Apt", "Unit", or "Ste"
Suite identifier	The number or letter that specifies a particular suite, unit, or apartment within a building
Delivery Information	General information pertaining to how and where the delivery should be made
Complete Route Service Information	The full route service details, typically used in rural delivery systems
Route Service Keyword	A term indicating the type of route service, such as "RR" for Rural Route
Route Service identifier	The numeric or alphanumeric identifier associated with a specific route service
Complete PO Box/Bag Information	The entire PO Box or bag address information for mail destined for post office storage
PO Box/Bag keyword	The term indicating PO Box or bag for delivery, e.g., "PO Box"
PO Box/Bag identifier	The number or code assigned to a specific PO Box or mail bag
Complete General Delivery Information	Full details for general delivery; used when a recipient has no fixed address
General Delivery keyword	The term used for mail pickup at a post office by someone without a fixed address; Temporary mailing address
Complete Delivery Installation Information	Details regarding the post office or delivery facility where mail is processed
Delivery Installation Area Name	The name of a village, town, city, or metropolitan area which is served by a postal delivery installation
Delivery Installation Type	The classification of the postal installation, such as "Post Office", "Mail Depot", "Lock box address" etc.
Delivery Installation Qualifier	Identifies the portion of the area served by the installation.
Municipality	The city or town where the recipient is located
Province	The provincial designation in the address

Table 3 lists additional standalone primary errors:

Primary Error
Rural validated on postal code only	The input address was identified as rural. For such addresses, Canada Post only provides data to verify the postal code's validity, not the specific details of individual houses or streets.
Unable to find a match for this address	Address verification failed because the system couldn't find a match for the address in the USPS or Canada Post database.
Not enough information	Address verification failed because the provided information is insufficient for the system to find a match in the USPS or Canada Post database.

Possible Error Combinations

1. line1: Incorrect Value: Suite identifier
2. generic: Missing Value: Complete Street Information; city: Incorrect Value: Municipality
3. line1: Missing Value: Suite identifier
4. generic: Unable to find a match for this address
5. generic: Not enough information.
6. city: Missing Value: Municipality