Geo-Targeting with Every Door Direct Mail: A Comprehensive Guide

Welcome to our comprehensive guide on geo-targeting with Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM). If you’re a small business owner looking to make a big impact in your local community, you’ve come to the right place. EDDM is a cost-effective, easy-to-use service offered by the USPS that allows you to reach every door in your selected postal routes, without the need for a mailing list.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the ins and outs of EDDM, from understanding USPS Marketing Mail to implementing a successful direct mail campaign. We’ll explore the key features of EDDM Retail, show you how to use the EDDM mapping tool, and even guide you on how to find a local printer for your marketing piece. Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or a small business owner dipping your toes into direct mail, this guide will provide you with the tools and knowledge you need to launch a successful EDDM campaign.

So, let’s dive in and start reaching those mailboxes!

Understanding USPS Marketing Mail and EDDM

USPS Marketing Mail and Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) offer businesses a cost-effective way to reach a broad audience without needing a traditional mailing list. Let’s delve into these concepts and understand how they can be leveraged for successful marketing campaigns.

What is USPS Marketing Mail?

USPS Marketing Mail, formerly known as Standard Mail, is a cost-effective service offered by the United States Postal Service. It is designed for businesses looking to send large volumes of advertising or promotional materials. This service is ideal for distributing flyers, circulars, advertising, newsletters, bulletins, catalogs, and small parcels.

The USPS Marketing Mail service is not intended for personal correspondence or time-sensitive mail. Instead, it’s a go-to solution for businesses aiming to reach a broad audience with their marketing message.

The pricing for USPS Marketing Mail is based on the weight of each piece and the distance it travels, making it an affordable option for businesses to send their marketing materials across the country.

The Concept of Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM)

Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is a unique service offered by the United States Postal Service (USPS). It’s designed to help businesses reach potential customers in specific geographic areas without the need for a traditional mailing list. Instead, businesses can select postal routes and the USPS will deliver their marketing pieces to every address within those routes.

EDDM is a cost-effective solution for businesses looking to expand their reach. It allows for a targeted approach to marketing, ensuring that your message gets to the right people. Whether you’re a small business owner looking to promote a sale, or a larger corporation aiming to boost brand awareness, EDDM can be a valuable tool in your marketing arsenal.

The beauty of EDDM lies in its simplicity. You don’t need to know the names or addresses of your recipients. All you need is a clear understanding of the area you want to target. This makes it an ideal choice for businesses looking to saturate specific neighborhoods with their marketing message.

Benefits of Using EDDM for Small Businesses

EDDM is a cost-effective marketing strategy, eliminating the need for purchasing mailing lists and individual address labeling.

It allows for targeted marketing, ensuring your promotional materials reach the intended audience within a specific community or neighborhood.

EDDM is easy to implement, making it an accessible tool for small businesses with limited resources and marketing expertise.

Exploring EDDM Retail Features and Mapping Tools

In this section, we’ll delve into the unique features of EDDM Retail and its mapping tools. These tools are designed to streamline your marketing efforts, making it easier to reach your target audience.

We’ll also discuss how to find a local printer for your EDDM campaign, a crucial step in ensuring the success of your marketing efforts.

Key Features of EDDM Retail

• EDDM Retail is a cost-effective direct mail marketing channel, allowing businesses to reach all addresses along selected USPS postal routes.
• It eliminates the need for acquiring a mailing list, making it a more affordable option compared to traditional direct mail.
• EDDM Retail permits larger formats such as flyers and jumbo postcards, providing more space for your marketing message.
• The EDDM Retail Indicia, a postage payment mark, is used instead of a regular postage stamp or meter stamp.
• EDDM Retail offers an online tool for mapping ZIP Codes and neighborhoods, with the ability to filter by age, income, or household size using U.S. Census data.
• It also provides a Mailpiece Size Checker to ensure your flyer or postcard meets the requirements for marketing mail.
• EDDM Retail mailpieces are simply addressed to “Postal Customer”, ensuring your mail reaches every address on your selected routes.

Using the EDDM Mapping Tool

The EDDM mapping tool is a powerful feature that allows businesses to target specific neighborhoods, ZIP codes, or carrier routes. This tool uses U.S. Census data to filter by age, income, or household size, ensuring your marketing materials reach the right audience.

The process is straightforward. You start by entering a full address, city/state, or ZIP Code™. The tool then provides detailed information about the neighborhood routes. You can narrow and filter your targeted audience using the categories at the top: Route, Residential, Total, Age, Size, Income, and Cost.

Once you’ve selected the final neighborhood(s) you’d like to target, you can review your selections under your Order Summary. The EDDM mapping tool is not only easy to use but also offers postage discounts for most businesses, making it a cost-effective solution for local marketing.

How to Find a Local Printer for Your EDDM Campaign

The USPS provides a Printer Directory that can assist you in locating a printer in your vicinity. This resource can be invaluable, especially if you’re new to EDDM and need guidance on complying with USPS regulations for mailpieces.

The success of your EDDM campaign largely depends on the quality of your mailpieces. Therefore, finding a reliable local printer is a step you shouldn’t overlook. They can provide the support you need to create effective, visually appealing mailpieces that will catch the attention of your targeted audience.

Implementing Direct Mail Marketing with EDDM

Implementing a direct mail marketing campaign with EDDM can be a game-changer for businesses. It’s a strategic approach that combines the power of traditional direct mail with the precision of geo-targeting.

This method allows businesses to reach their neighborhood audience effectively, without the need for a mailing list. It’s all about selecting the right neighborhood, designing an impactful marketing piece, and executing a successful mail campaign.

Steps to Create an Effective Direct Mail Marketing Campaign

Creating an effective direct mail marketing campaign involves a series of steps that ensure your message reaches the right audience. Here’s a brief overview:

1. Define Your Target Area: Identify the specific geographic area you want to target. This could be specific neighborhoods, ZIP codes, or carrier routes.
2. Design Your Mailpiece: Create a visually appealing and informative mailpiece that effectively represents your business. Ensure compliance with USPS guidelines for EDDM mailpieces, including size and design specifications.
3. Choose Your EDDM Mailing Routes: Use the USPS EDDM online mapping tool to select the mailing routes that align with your targeted area. This tool helps you select routes based on demographics.

These steps are crucial in ensuring your direct mail marketing campaign is successful. By defining your target area, you can ensure your mailpieces reach the right neighborhood audience. Designing an appealing marketing piece that aligns with USPS guidelines ensures your mailpiece stands out. Lastly, selecting the right neighborhood route using the USPS EDDM online mapping tool ensures your message reaches the right demographics.

Location-Based Marketing with EDDM

In this section, we’ll delve into how EDDM facilitates location-based marketing, and provide effective ways to implement this strategy.

Understanding Location-Based Marketing

Location-based marketing, often referred to as geo-targeting, is a strategy that leverages geographical information to target potential customers. It’s a powerful tool that allows businesses to deliver personalized and relevant content to consumers based on their physical location. This approach can significantly enhance the effectiveness of marketing campaigns by reaching the right audience at the right time.

The concept of location-based marketing is not new, but its importance has grown exponentially with the advent of digital technology. Today, businesses can use sophisticated tools and data to pinpoint their audience with remarkable precision. This strategy is particularly effective in local marketing, where businesses aim to attract customers within a specific geographic area.

In the context of Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM), location-based marketing takes on a unique dimension. EDDM allows businesses to select neighborhood audiences and deliver their marketing materials directly to their mailboxes. This approach combines the power of direct mail with the precision of geo-targeting, providing an effective way to reach potential customers in a specific area.

How EDDM Facilitates Location-Based Marketing

Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is a powerful tool that simplifies location-based marketing. It allows businesses to select a neighborhood audience based on carrier route information, eliminating the need for individual address labeling. This unique feature of EDDM makes it an effective way to deliver your marketing message to a specific geographic area.

EDDM’s ability to target specific neighborhoods is a game-changer for businesses. It ensures that your promotional materials reach the intended audience within a specific community or neighborhood. This targeted approach not only increases customer interaction but also enhances customer retention.

Moreover, EDDM is cost-effective and easy to implement. With postage rates as low as 16 cents, it’s more affordable than ever to incorporate direct mail into your marketing strategy. Whether you’re a retailer or a service-based business, EDDM can help you geographically target potential customers, offering incentives and information unique to their location.

Effective Ways to Implement Location-Based Marketing with EDDM

1. Define Your Target Area: Start by determining the specific geographic area you want to target. This could be a select neighborhood or a particular carrier route. EDDM allows you to be precise in your targeting, ensuring your promotional materials reach the right neighborhood audience.
2. Design Your Mailpiece: Create visually appealing and informative mailpieces that effectively represent your business. Ensure compliance with USPS guidelines for EDDM mailpieces, including size and design specifications.
3. Choose Your EDDM Mailing Routes: Use the USPS EDDM online mapping tool to choose the mailing routes that align with your targeted area. This tool helps you select routes based on demographics, providing you with valuable route information.
4. Print and Prepare Your Materials: Print your EDDM mailpieces as per the USPS regulations. Bundle your mailpieces according to USPS requirements and prepare the necessary paperwork with requisite postage statements.
5. Visit the Post Office: Take your bundled mailpieces and paperwork to the local post office designated for EDDM drop-offs. Pay the postage; your materials will be delivered to every address on the chosen routes.

By following these steps, you can implement an effective location-based marketing strategy with EDDM, reaching your select neighborhood audience with ease.

Measuring the Success of Your EDDM Campaign

Understanding the effectiveness of your EDDM campaign is crucial for refining your marketing strategies. This section will guide you on how to measure the success of your EDDM campaign, providing insights into key metrics to track, how to measure results, and determining the frequency of your mailings.

Key Metrics to Track in an EDDM Campaign

Engagement Rate: This is the percentage of recipients who interact with your mail piece in some way. It could be visiting your website, calling your business, or redeeming a coupon.

Response Rate: This is the percentage of recipients who respond to your call to action. This could be making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or attending an event.

Conversion Rate: This is the percentage of recipients who become customers. This is a crucial metric as it directly impacts your revenue.

Repeat Purchase Rate: This is the percentage of customers who make another purchase after their initial one. This metric is important for understanding customer loyalty and the effectiveness of your customer retention strategies.

Tracking these key metrics will help you understand the effectiveness of your EDDM campaign and guide your future marketing strategies.

How to Measure the Results of Your EDDM Campaign

To measure the results of your EDDM campaign, you need to be proactive and strategic. Start by implementing response tracking mechanisms. This could be through designated channels such as phone numbers, email addresses, or website forms. Record and monitor these responses to gauge the overall impact of your campaign.

Next, leverage the geographic data provided by the EDDM campaign. Analyze the areas with the highest response rates and use this information to refine your future targeting strategies. This will ensure that your mail campaign is being sent to the most effective areas, producing measurable results.

Determining the Frequency of Your EDDM Mailings

Determining the frequency of your EDDM mailings is a crucial aspect of your direct mail marketing strategy. It’s not just about sending out a single mail piece and hoping for the best. Instead, it’s about creating a consistent and effective way to reach your target audience over time.

The frequency of your mailings can significantly impact the measurable results of your campaign. Too infrequent, and your audience might forget about your brand. Too frequent, and you risk overwhelming your audience and causing them to disengage.

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to how often you should send a marketing mail piece. It depends on various factors, including your business goals, audience response, and the nature of your offerings. However, tracking and measuring success through key metrics can provide valuable insights to guide your decision-making process.

Wrapping Up: Leveraging EDDM for Geo-Targeted Marketing

In conclusion, Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is an incredibly powerful tool for small businesses aiming to target specific neighborhoods with precision. It’s a cost-effective and easy-to-use method that can dramatically enhance your brand awareness and customer engagement. The key to a successful EDDM campaign lies in meticulous planning—from choosing the right postal routes to crafting a compelling marketing piece.

Don’t forget to track your results and refine your approach as needed. While EDDM might seem complex at first, with the right guidance and resources, it can quickly become a cornerstone of your marketing strategy.Ready to unlock the full potential of EDDM? Cactus Mailing is here to help you every step of the way, from design to execution, ensuring your targeted direct mail marketing campaign delivers results. Start today and watch your business grow!