A client sent me an email asking about the post office’s Every Door Direct Mail program (EDDM). Someone told them about it and they wanted my opinion about it.
Before I tell you what I said, some basic background about the client: They sell a product to a very targeted segment of the population.
The EDDM program is designed to reach every home (address) in an area. The only things you can select is if you want business, residential addresses or both and the carrier routes. You can mail up to 5,000 pieces per zip code per day. The postage rate is one of the lowest rates possible.
This program is great for small businesses that cater to the entire neighborhood near their location, such as dry cleaners, pizza or other fast food restaurants, oil and lube shops, you get the idea.
What you need to know is that carrier routes (the route the mailman takes to deliver the mail) can go outside the area you want to target. Once you pick the route, you have to mail to the whole route.
What the post office and some printing and mailing companies will not tell you is that for most businesses EDDM is a big waste of money.
If your customer base is in any way targeted (age, income, gender, homeowner, renter, hobbies, lifestyle) then EDDM is a waste for you because you will be mailing to people who will not or cannot buy your products or services.
So the next time someone tells you that Every Door Direct Mail would be a great and cheap way for you to get the word out about your business, just tell them thanks and walk away.
If you do want to know more about EDDM, just contact me.
Tomorrow I’ll be emailing you this year’s Black Friday Special a week early. Keep an eye out for it and be ready to take advantage of it.
Till Next Week –
Remember – Great Things Happen, But You Have To Take Action, NOW!
Philip Freedman
Doctor of Customer Retention
PS. My book “The 11 Secrets Successful Businesses Use to Stand Out from Their Competition” is now available as an Amazon Kindle book. Just click on this link Click Here or http://tinyurl.com/p5ab6s5 to view it.
One of the cons of EDDM is that it won’t help with targeting specific groups of people. However, if it’s a local business and it’s a special promotion, the ad doesn’t have to be super fancy and it can be an easy way to see who’s interested and who’s not. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing. You are correct, but the business must want to target everyone. You also make a good point about seeing who’s interested. I did not think of that. It’s a cheap way to see if the targed area is really your market.
Thanks again for your comment.
Phil