EDDM vs a targeted mailing list: when each one makes sense

Two different jobs

Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) sends a piece to every address on the carrier routes you pick. No names, no list. A targeted mailing goes to specific addresses on a list, each piece addressed to a person or business. Both end up in a mailbox, but they solve different problems.

EDDM is saturation. A targeted list is selection. Most businesses that mail regularly end up using both at different times.

When EDDM is the better choice

The cost of that simplicity is waste. You pay to reach renters if you sell roofs, and households with no kids if you run a daycare. Carrier route demographics in the USPS EDDM tool help you pick better routes, but you still mail every door on each one.

• Your customers are everyone within a few miles: a pizza place, a dentist, a lawn service, a church, a new hardware store.
• You are opening, moving or announcing something to a whole neighborhood.
• You do not have a list and do not want to buy or build one.
• You want a bigger piece, since EDDM uses flat sizes like 6.25 x 11 inches.
• You want to keep the mailing simple, with no addressing or list processing.

When a targeted list is the better choice

Your own customer list is usually the best list you will ever mail. People who already bought from you know your name.

• Your buyers are a slice of the population: homeowners with older houses, businesses in one industry, people over 65, recent movers.
• You are mailing your own customers, members, donors or past inquiries.
• You want to personalize the piece with a name, a past purchase or a specific offer per segment.
• Your customers are spread over a wide area, not clustered on a few routes.
• You need the piece to reach a named decision maker at a business.

Where the list comes from

You can mail your own list, or rent or buy one from a list provider who selects records by geography, demographics or business type. Check what you are allowed to do with a rented list. Many are licensed for one use only.

Commercial Printing Services works with the list you provide. Whatever its source, a list needs cleaning before it is mailed: standardized addresses, duplicates removed, and updated for people who have moved. USPS has address quality requirements for presorted and discounted mail, including CASS-certified address matching and a move update process such as NCOA. The exact requirements change, so check the current USPS rules or ask us when you send the list.

Postage, minimums and permits

EDDM Retail needs no permit and is dropped at the local post office within USPS daily limits. EDDM BMEU and presorted list mailings go through a business mail entry unit with a permit.

Presorted USPS Marketing Mail has a minimum quantity per mailing, commonly 200 pieces or 50 pounds, and presorted First-Class Mail has a higher minimum. A small list of 80 customers simply mails at single-piece prices. Postage rates and minimums are set by USPS and change, so check usps.com for the current figures before you budget.

How the two work together

A common pattern for a local business: use EDDM to blanket the routes around the shop a couple of times a year, then mail named customers more often with offers tied to what they bought. Another: mail EDDM to find new customers, collect names from the responses, and move those people onto your own list.

Track each one separately with its own phone number, web address or code. Then you know which list earns its postage.