The United States Postal Service offers a useful tool to many marketers. It’s called Every Door Direct Mail (or EDDM for short). It’s kind of exactly what it sounds like: The USPS will send a certain piece of mail to every door (or residence) in a specified mailing region or ZIP code at a low postage rate. It seems like this strategy might be an excellent deal, and in many cases it is. But as with any marketing tactic, EDDM has its pros and cons.
Benefits of EDDM:
EDDM MAKES SENSE WHEN YOUR BUSINESS HAS A BROAD APPEAL
Depending on the nature of your business/product you might not need to segment your audience to a large extent. Some businesses will appeal to all segments – such as grocery stores, restaurants and other local services. It’s a good idea to use EDDDM if your business provides a service to specific geographic area.
EDDM CAN BE HELPFUL WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE THE BUDGET FOR A MAJOR CAMPAIGN
Intricate, focused direct mailing campaigns typically require heavy research, precise targeting, and the purchase of a mailing list. Small businesses might not have the budget available for complex direct mail campaigns, so EDDM is often an excellent option. Smaller companies may prefer the fast, simple execution and low postage cost of EDDM.
EDDM COVERS A WIDE AREA
You can deliver your message to (as the name implies) every mailbox in a specific geographic region for a relatively low cost with relatively little effort. For new businesses and startup companies, EDDM is a great way to make yourself known to a local community.
If your business offers a product or service that serves a local community, this is a great cost-effective marketing tool that gets you noticed. Every door direct mail is perfectly suited for:
• Realtor • Realtor Estate Agent • Pizza Delivery • Churches • Hair Salons
• Restaurants • Dry Cleaners • Boutiques • Dentists • Political Campaign
• Home Improvements • Fitness Centers • Groomers • Auto Service & Repairs
• Auto Dealers • Retail Stores • Painters • Contractors • Daycares
• Lawn Care Provides and more
On the other hand, there are some obvious (and not-so-obvious) drawbacks to using EDDM. Here are some of the cons:
- SIZE AND TYPE OF MAIL ITEMS IS LIMITED WHEN USING EDDM
The USPS places somewhat strict dimension limitations on the items you can send in EDDM blasts. This means your items can’t have unique and interesting shapes, nor can you insert catalogs into your direct mail pieces as part of an EDDM campaign.
- YOUR CUSTOMERS CAN’T BE TARGETED WITH EDDM (OBVIOUSLY)
Using EDDM means you can’t segment your recipients by age, gender, interests, or anything besides location, really. Furthermore, your mail items can’t be personalized or customized by using tactics such as variable print data. There’s no way to INSERT FIRST NAME unless you happen to know that everyone in your specific geographic area is named Steve for some reason.
- IT’S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO TRACK EDDM RESULTS
There’s no real way to effectively track responses and measure your ROI when using an EDDM campaign. In certain cases, you can add a call tracking phone number on your mail items to measure responses and leads, but it may be difficult to narrow down your prospects into a relevant, targeted list.
Need help preparing an every door direct mail campaign? WordTech offers everything you need to fully communicate and measure the impact of your message over print, online, and other new media outlets. Contact WordTech today for more information about developing an integrated direct mail campaign!
To qualify for EDDM:
- Your mail piece must be taller than 6.125″ or longer than 11.5″ and smaller than 12″x15″
- You must be mailing only to zip codes in routes (Tell us your zip codes and we’ll let you know if they are in routes)
- You do not need to purchase a mailing list as the post office will just deliver one piece to each home
- There is a 5000 piece maximum per mailer, per day for this program
- You must be willing to accept a delivery time of 7-14 business days
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