Navigating Every Door Direct Mail Marketing: Advantages, Limitations, and Best Practices
Curious about the potential of EDDM postcards in reaching your next client? EDDM direct mail can live up to the hype if you use it correctly. We've got the tools and experience to help guide you in using EDDM to succeed.
What is Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM Direct Mail)?
Every Door Direct Mail, abbreviated as EDDM, is a marketing technique offered by the United States Postal Service (USPS) that allows businesses to send postcards or flyers to specific geographic areas, targeting every residence within those chosen zones. Unlike traditional direct mail campaigns that rely on mailing lists, EDDM operates on a broader scale by delivering marketing materials to entire carrier routes, eliminating the need for a detailed recipient list.
The “Every Door” aspect of EDDM implies that you can effectively reach every door in a designated neighborhood or locality, making it an attractive choice for businesses seeking to blanket a specific area with their message.
Areas Where EDDM Stands Out Over Standard Mail
1. The Lowest Cost Option for Mailing
EDDM isn’t just cost-effective; it’s the most budget-conscious choice for reaching local audiences. By focusing on specific neighborhoods or regions, you can substantially cut postage expenses compared to traditional direct mail campaigns, which require detailed recipient lists. EDDM’s affordability empowers businesses of all sizes to optimize their marketing budgets.
2. Blanketing Your Local Community
One of the primary advantages of EDDM is its ability to saturate a selected area. Whether you’re a restaurant, a retail store, a real estate agent, or a local service provider, EDDM allows you to blanket your local community. It’s particularly advantageous when your product or service has broad appeal within a specific geographic location.
3. Simplified Targeting
Unlike standard direct mail, which requires meticulous curation of mailing lists, EDDM simplifies the targeting process. You choose delivery routes based on ZIP codes and carrier routes, reducing the complexity of list management. This can save you time and resources, making it an attractive option for businesses of all sizes.
4. EDDM Goes Beyond Letters
One notable advantage of EDDM is its requirement for larger mail pieces that meet specific dimensions. While this might seem like a constraint, it can actually be a strategic advantage. EDDM allows you to send larger mail pieces, such as full half-fold brochures or tabloid newsletters, in addition to oversized postcards. These larger mail pieces have a commanding visual presence, ensuring that your message not only reaches every door but also stands out prominently. The flexibility in mailer sizes allows you to make a more impactful impression on your target audience.
5. Priority EDDM
Priority Mail Open and Distribute (PMOD) might not be a term you’ve heard, but it’s a game-changer when it comes to EDDM services. At our company, PMOD is not just a term; it’s a significant advantage we exclusively provide in-house for our EDDM services. Unlike traditional EDDM service providers that typically rely on ground shipping, we prioritize expeditious delivery through PMOD. This means your EDDM mail is efficiently placed into sacks and shipped via Priority Mail, ensuring swift transportation to the Destination Delivery Unit (DDU). The result? Your marketing materials reach their intended recipients quickly, making PMOD an ideal choice for time-sensitive announcements, such as ‘Just Sold’ or ‘Just Listed’ properties.
What are the Limitations of EDDM?
While it’s clear that EDDM offers numerous advantages, it’s essential to recognize that every benefit can potentially have a flip side. Just like any tool, it’s crucial to use EDDM for its intended purpose. Let’s delve into some considerations that might make you think twice about using EDDM.
1. Lack of Precision Targeting
EDDM’s strength lies in its broad reach, but this can also be a limitation. If your product or service caters to a niche audience, sending marketing materials to entire carrier routes may result in lower response rates. EDDM excels when your offerings have universal appeal within a specific area.
2. Inability to Personalize Each Piece
While standard direct mail has the advantage of employing Variable Data Printing (VDP) to personalize messages for individual recipients, EDDM postcards do not offer this level of personalization. This characteristic aligns well with businesses that have a general offer suitable for a broad audience. However, if you’re aiming to optimize every aspect of your mailing campaign, including custom Personalized URLs (PURLs) for tracking who scanned a card to establish leads, EDDM’s limitations become apparent. This means you cannot fine-tune content for specific recipients, which could lead to reduced engagement levels.
3. EDDM Direct Mail Full Carrier Route Requirement
Beyond the option to exclude a few addresses by utilizing the ‘Do Not Deliver’ section on the front-facing slips, EDDM offers limited flexibility in refining your coverage. EDDM mandates that you distribute mail to the entire carrier route you’ve chosen, even if specific areas lie outside your intended geographic target. This inflexible requirement can lead to inefficiencies in spending, particularly when your ideal audience is concentrated within a specific portion of the selected route. For example, consider a scenario where a real estate agent aims to reach a specific affluent neighborhood while also including adjacent, less affluent neighborhoods.
Our Hybrid Approach for EDDM Postcards
We recognize that in marketing, a one-size-fits-all approach rarely aligns with your unique needs. That’s why, at our company, we offer the flexibility to tailor your orders to your precise requirements, all within the same order. You can specify EDDM routes for wide-reaching campaigns and, in addition, opt for targeted lists when you need to hone in on specific audiences.
This flexibility is designed to create a win-win strategy for you. It empowers you to maximize the impact of your direct mail campaigns while also optimizing your budget. With the ability to seamlessly switch between EDDM and targeted lists, you’re in control, ensuring that your marketing efforts align precisely with your goals and reach the right audience at the right time.
EDDM Direct Mail Newsletters
Our professionally crafted Branded Real Estate Print Newsletter Service is an excellent choice for EDDM. You have the flexibility to mail it as a large, flat-size brochure, ensuring that the engaging content and visual allure are right at your audience’s fingertips each month. This convenient format allows you to make a strong and lasting impression through EDDM, effectively reaching your target audience with ease. Despite the abundance of EDDM mail, rest assured that not many are taking full advantage of this prime real estate opportunity.
EDDM Postcards
Leverage the extra space available with EDDM to showcase large, captivating photographs and eye-catching headers. You can utilize this room without concern for overcrowding, ensuring that your message never feels cramped. EDDM postcards are your opportunity to stand out prominently in the mailbox, making a lasting impression that sets you apart from other mail.
What Our Clients are Saying
“It has always been a pleasure working with AnyPresentations and now they have taken it to an even higher level with all their offers and technology to track delivery of materials. I have a great response to my printed EDDM newsletters because I can easily personalize it to meet my market. Best value anywhere!”
- Kate H., Realtor®
“Your attention to detail and wanting to make each project mailed out look so professional and high-end is exemplary. Not to mention the patients and care with each client.”
- Maxine M., Realtor®
“This company is great and does a wonderful job at helping me stay in touch with my database with a powerful yet simple monthly newsletter. I often get comments on the interesting articles. I highly recommend it!”
