The night before the file is due
The printer needs the mailing file by Friday for the issue to be wrapped and posted. On Thursday, someone exports the subscriber list from the shop, pastes in the gift subscriptions from another spreadsheet, and works through the week's emails: three address changes, one subscriber who has moved abroad, a request to pause while someone is travelling, and two copies returned from last issue marked 'gone away'.
Then the columns need to be in the order the mail house asked for, with overseas addresses split by postal zone, and the counts checked. At eleven at night, someone notices that a subscriber who cancelled last month is still on the file, and wonders how many more are.
Where the mailing file goes wrong
The subscriber list is kept in several places, and changes are applied by hand in the last few days before each issue. Every issue is its own small project.
- Address changes arrive by email, phone and notes on renewal forms.
- Gift, complimentary, contributor and trade copies are kept in separate lists.
- Pauses and cancellations are recorded in the payment system but not in the list.
- Returned post is left in a pile rather than recorded against the subscriber.
- Each mail house or printer wants a slightly different file layout.
What a messy file costs each issue
| File problem | Result |
|---|---|
| Old address used | A copy is lost and the subscriber complains |
| Cancelled subscriber included | A copy and its postage are wasted |
| Missing gift or contributor copy | An embarrassed apology and a second posting |
| Wrong postal zone | Overseas copies charged or delayed incorrectly |
| Counts do not match | The print order is wrong or leaves no spare copies |
How we produce a clean file
- One subscriber list holding paid, gift, complimentary, contributor and trade copies, with the reason each person receives the magazine.
- A self-service page where subscribers change their address, pause or cancel, with a cut-off tied to each issue's mailing date.
- Address checks on entry using a UK postcode lookup, and country and zone rules for overseas addresses.
- Returned copies logged against the subscriber, with a follow-up email asking them to confirm their address, and a hold until they do.
- A mailing file generated per issue in your mail house's exact layout, with separate counts by zone and type.
- A reconciliation that ties the file count to active subscriptions and complimentary lists, and shows every change since the previous issue.
Mailing day, the new way
Address changes arrive through the page all quarter and are in the list the moment they are made. On file day, someone checks the reconciliation: numbers of paid, gift and complimentary copies, the changes since last issue, and any held addresses. They download the file in the mail house's layout and send it. It takes a short while rather than an evening.
When the mail house reports returned copies, they are logged once and the subscriber gets an email. The print order uses the file count plus the spare copies you want for back issues and shops, so it stops being a guess.
Consider the subscriber who emails the week after the cut-off to say they have moved. The page tells them plainly that this issue has already gone to the old address and the change applies from the next one, and offers a replacement copy to the new address if you choose to allow that. The request is handled without anyone opening a spreadsheet, and the replacement is logged against back issue stock rather than simply disappearing from a box.
Checklist: your mailing file might need this
- The mailing file is built by hand the day it is due.
- Address changes are applied from emails in a batch.
- Cancelled subscribers have received issues after cancelling.
- Returned copies sit in a box with nothing recorded.
- Your file counts and subscription counts never quite agree.