Small business owners know the importance of maximizing their marketing dollars. No matter your budget, you want to know that what you are spending your marketing dollars on works. Direct mail continues to stand the test of time and bring a strong ROI.
Studies show that up to 90% of direct mail gets opened, compared to 20% of emails. Don’t believe me? Think about how many emails arrive in your inbox that you swipe to delete without even opening.
Direct mail also has a much larger response rate, especially when it is personalized through geography, demographics, and behaviors or when integrating technology, like adding QR codes on your postcard.
With SnailBlast, we have two types of mailing options for your campaign:
- Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is a program offered by the US Postal Service that allows customers to send out identical advertisements to a specific group of recipients
- Direct mail, using lists (think traditional mail service)
- If you want to learn more about the differences between the two, check out EDDM vs. Direct Mail – What’s the difference?
Today, we are going to focus on EDDM, the good & the bad. The more you know, the better equipped you are to make the right decision for your marketing campaign.
The Pros and Cons of using EDDM:
Pros:
1. Target prospects by location and demographics like average household income, age, and size
2. Lower postage rate, which saves you 💸
3. Saturate a neighborhood or area with your mailing
Cons:
1. Must mail to every address on a particular route
2. Postcards must follow the specific size and formatting rules set by USPS
3. Not personalized
The Pros
If you are marketing something that is appealing to the masses, using EDDM is a no-brainer. For example, if you are a new restaurant or convenience store opening in a neighborhood, you can easily use EDDM to mail your postcard by selecting all routes in a set radius around your restaurant. If you are a new high-end spa, using EDDM is still an option, but you may want to drill down more to neighborhoods close to the spa that have a higher average household income.
If you are looking to build brand recognition, an easy, cost-effective way to do that is by using EDDM. For example, if your car wash franchise is new to the area, you likely want everyone to know you are here and why you outperform your competitors. Using EDDM, you can saturate an entire area with your postcard that promotes your message. And because USPS gives a reduced postage rate for EDDM mail, you will save money compared to sending the same number of postcards via direct mail sources.
📨 We offer the lowest EDDM postage rate online. We even beat what you'd get on USPS website.
🐌 With SnailBlast, when you choose to mail out your postcards using Area Blast (what we call EDDM) you can easily target your audience by location, as well as average household age, size, and income.
The Cons
There are times when using EDDM may not be the best option. Let’s say you are trying to recruit HVAC technicians (because there is a shortage in your area) and you decide to mail out a postcard talking about the benefits of your company and offering a signing bonus for new hires. You will get a much higher ROI if you send this type of postcard to a specific list of people, say every graduate from the last 10 years from the local tech school’s HVAC program. In situations like this, you will be better served using a direct mail option by purchasing or building a mailing list. With SnailBlast, you have the ability to build a mailing list, directly on the SnailBlast platform.
Another drawback of EDDM is that you do have to send it to every household on the selected route(s). If you are sending a postcard advertising a special discount to returning clients, it doesn’t make sense to send it to every household. In that case, you would be better off using SnailBlast’s Direct Blast and uploading your client list.
The last drawback to EDDM is that you need to follow specific size and format rules set by the USPS. If you are trying to navigate this area on your own, it can be overwhelming. When you use SnailBlast, we have hundreds of templates that meet all the requirements for EDDM.
No matter what mailing option you choose, you can trust that SnailBlast is your start to finish mailing service. We are here to help you with everything from design, to mailing, to delivery – we’ll even help you track response and engagement! Check us out today and remember, you don’t pay unless you mail.
