Do you often wish there was a way to reach every marketing prospect in your target area? You may be able to do that with Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM), a program developed by the U.S. Postal Service. It can be very affordable, and it works for certain kinds of businesses. But is it really right for your business?
If your potential customer base consists of every household in a specific area, Every Door Direct Mail could become a valuable marketing tool. You might benefit if you’re in one of these industries:
- Restaurants
- Dry cleaners
- Florists
- Carpet cleaning
- Pest control
- Heating & air conditioning
- Home and yard services
- Auto repair
- Tax preparation
- Gyms & fitness centers
- Personal trainers
- House cleaning
- Electricians
- Handyman services
- Attorneys
- Retail stores
- Insurance agents
- Churches
- Salons & spas
- Doctors and dentists
- Health clinics
“Every door” doesn’t mean you have to mail to every neighborhood.
You can customize your mailing to some extent, by mailing to specific carrier routes, which are subsections within a ZIP code. You can’t mail to just part of a carrier route, but you can choose whether or not to mail to businesses. The easiest way is to use Every Door Direct Mail is to determine how many postcards you want to send, then target enough of the carrier routes closest to your business to reach that quantity.
If you want better targeting, Every Door Direct Mail is not the best choice for you.
EDDM can be good for introducing your business to the entire area, but it doesn’t make sense when you need to market to a more defined group, whether that’s a particular geographic area or people with certain interests, income levels, homeowners with pools, parents with kids, etc.
For most businesses, every household is not a top quality prospect. So you need to target your mailings to more precisely match your actual audience, otherwise you’re wasting printing and postage on people who are never going to respond to your offer.
There is also a quantity threshold beyond which EDDM will not save you money. For instance, if you want to mail more than 5000 pieces, regular direct mail can actually be cheaper. Plus you have the added advantage of more accurate targeting to increase your response rate, rather than taking “pot luck” on generalized recipients.
Used wisely, direct mail can bring outstanding results.
- Studies show that a whopping 79% of households read postcard advertising, and half of them purchase multiple times each year as a result.
- Direct mail gives you the highest ROI of any advertising medium.
Your business can enjoy similar benefits, if you use direct mail marketing smartly.
- Custom design created specifically for your business is the only way to promote all of the elements that make your business special, so you can stand out from the competition. You certainly don’t want a postcard that looks like it came from the business down the street, or one that doesn’t match the rest of your branding and marketing.
- When you combine your unique business elements with the design features that drive people to respond – a great offer, a strong call to action, the benefits of responding to your offer and an easy way to follow up – you’ll be building your brand, attracting top-quality leads and driving more sales.
The bottom line on Every Door Direct Mail really depends on the kind of business you have, your customer base and your marketing goals. A full-service direct mail marketing company can help you evaluate the pros and cons so you can make an informed decision about which type of direct mail is right for you.