5 Questions to ask yourself Before Choosing EDDM

Are you having trouble deciding if choosing Every Door Direct Mail is right for your business? Answer our 5 simple questions and look at our flow chart to know whether to chose EDDM or another marketing strategy.

First, What is EDDM? Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is an affordable targeted advertising service offered by the United States Postal Service (USPS). 

This service allows businesses to:

• Map out mail advertising audiences by filtering mail carrier routes by age, income, or household size
• Pick one or more of these carrier routes 
• Blanket the carrier routes to send marketing materials to EVERY single residential household (DOOR) in that area without requiring a list of names or addresses

1.Who are you targeting with the advertisement and what are you trying to accomplish with it? 

To start you must define who you are targeting with your advertisement. Your target market may be different or more specific than the target market of your company. Additionally, you need to define what you want your advertisement to accomplish. Are you trying to target new customers in a new area? Are you trying to notify current customers of a new special? Or Are you trying to notify existing customers of a reopening?  Defining these first will help you with answering the rest of the questions.

Example:

• Although a travel agency may have a broad target market, they could be advertising a special for families. So they are targeting households with families/large households and want their advertisement to promote a new special they are offering.
• A new restaurant that is opening and they want to advertise their grand opening. So they are targeting houses close to the location of the restaurant and they are advertising their reopening.

2. Can your business appeal to most people

The next question to ask yourself when choosing EDDM is, can your business appeal to a broad range of people. Can it appeal to most of the people in the general population? Although this is not necessary to use EDDM, if you do answer yes to this question choosing EDDM is very easy. Because EDDM is definitely a useful tool for your business.

Example:

• A restaurant sells food that can appeal to everyone. 
• A plumber can be needed in every household

3. Can your segment your target market into one of these demographics that can be consistent in the houses of one neighborhood?

Although you can’t pick specific houses out of a neighborhood, you can pick specific neighbor foods and even filter to see age, income, or household size. Even if your business can’t appeal to most people, if you can segment your target market into one of these categories then you can still utilize EDDM efficiently.

Example:

• A high-end restaurant that sells more expensive food can segment their target market into household income demographic. They can choose neighborhoods/routes with higher household incomes and send their advertisements on that route.
• A local church that wants to advertise their services can segment their target market into a location demographic. They can choose neighborhoods/routes that are in close proximity to their location.
• A senior community center advertising their services may be able to find a neighborhood that is mostly made up of an older population.

4. Is your business a small business

Despite not fighting perfectly into the other questions, EDDM can sometimes be worth it for small businesses. This is because small businesses can’t afford to hire a marketing service and EDDM is an easy and inexpensive marketing tool. 

Since small businesses may not have the resources to find the names and addresses required to use Direct Mailing nor the money or need to buy a large enough order to qualify for discounts, EDDM is a better alternative to direct mailing. EDDM is cheap and easy and this is why it is a good resource for small businesses that don’t have as much money or resources than for example, a larger company.

5. Is it worth it for you?       

The last question to ask your self before choosing EDDM is, is it worth it for your business specifically? All businesses are different and so is the goal for each advertising campaign, you need to evaluate these questions closely and decide if it is worth it for you. Look at other advertising mediums and compare it to EDDM and see which is a better fit for your company and what it is trying to accomplish

If you have any questions about if EDDM is right for you contact us 

If you have any questions about other marketing strategies contact Cornerstone Services

Take a Look at Our Simple Flow Chart!