What is EDDM?
Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is a service offered by the USPS designed to help small businesses market themselves to their local community. You don’t need specific names or addresses; you just need to know the zip code of any neighborhoods you want to contact. It’s an affordable way to expand a company’s reach.
With the Printery you don’t need an expensive list, a costly postage permit, and you can target every single door in your neighborhood. That’s the beauty of the simplified Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) service by USPS. At an astounding 16 cents per postcard, it gives small businesses the chance to promote their products and services without all the cost and hassle that you typically associate with direct mail marketing. You don’t even need a mailing address.
This is a great service to offer your clients that are looking for a local marketing campaign.
Key benefits of EDDM
Small Business Price
With EDDM you can mail your postcards and flyers for just 16 cents. Compare that to traditional direct mailer campaigns that cost an average of 75 cents per piece for the smallest and most basic mailer promotion.
Deliver BIG Postcard Sizes
The amazingly low price of 16 cents per piece is applied to ANY size of mailer. As long as you keep within the postal size guidelines, you can send 8.5×11 postcards and larger for big impact postcards that stand-out in your customers mailbox.
No Postage Permit Needed
Normally when sending direct mail campaigns, you would need an active postal permit which can cost as much as $450 just to open an account. With EDDM, you don’t need one. USPS provides a special USPS/EDDM Endicia permit that you can add directly to your mailer designs. This special permit also ensures that your EDDM mailers are mailed separately from the mass of “circulars” that people are not always fond of.
No Mailing List Needed
Instead of printing names and addresses, EDDM utilizes a “simplified addressing” format that targets local postal customers in a radius of up to 5 miles. And because you no longer need to print names and addresses, you can forget all the typical ink-jet printing and labeling hassles.
Short-Run Mailing Campaigns
Create extensive local mailing campaigns or smaller mailing campaigns to test-the-water in your neighborhood. There is a 5,000 piece maximum per day, per post office but the minimum quantity to qualify is just 200 print pieces.
Direct Mail Works For Your Business
Direct mail is statistically one of the most effective forms of advertising for any business. It delivers a higher return-on-investment than any other medium. Every dollar spent on mailers returns an average of $12.57 in sales! And with 3-out-of-4 people reading direct mail, you are also guaranteed to get seen by the majority of people you send your mailers to.
Who is EDDM for?
Small Business Price
EDDM is available to all companies and organizations who want to distribute promotions to the households and businesses in their entire neighborhood. It’s designed to get your marketing messages directly in the hands of customers – a low-cost way to tell people about your grand opening, your weekend sale, or your special offer.
EDDM is particularly useful for local retail businesses and organizations that rely on walk-in custom and local business support.
This service is ideal for marketing:
• Arts & theater organizations
• Attorneys
• Auto dealers
• Banks & insurance agents
• Community groups
• Dry cleaners
• Grocery stores
• Real estate agents
• Restaurants
• …and all other local businesses
We offer Postcard sizes that meet EDDM specifications. When you want to place an order for EDDM, take a look at the “Size” dropdown menu. The 4-Color Offset Postcards that meet USPS requirements are clearly marked. Simply order the Postcards and take them to the neighborhood post office for mailing.
The USPS offers solutions for businesses of all sizes and marketing goals. Many smaller businesses prefer to market locally; they can use EDDM to target specific neighborhoods they may be familiar with. For example, a local pizza restaurant may target a 5 mile radius near college areas while a law firm targets downtown or areas with a lot of office buildings.
Getting started with EDDM for the first time is a bit complicated, so we highly recommend reading all the details and downloading the information that the USPS offers on their website. EDDM is a great option if you plan on sending mailings more than 4 times a year because once you get it set up and you are familiar with the process, it can save money. However, if you plan to send mailings out a couple times a year, it’s likely a smarter option to use direct mail since we handle everything for you.
Not every post office participates in EDDM, so be sure to contact the post office you plan on using prior to ordering.