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Internet marketers will use the popularity of the internet in order to make traditional methods of advertising look bad. But the truth is traditional methods work just as well as other methods of advertising, especially direct mail.
Mailing still works. People check their mail every day, just like eating, sleeping and breathing. In fact, direct mail can be even more effective than internet advertising. The competition isn’t quite as fierce, and the learning curve is much less demanding. In fact, if you use EDDM, you’re bound to find your results surprisingly positive.
What Is EDDM?
EDDM stands for Every Door Direct Mail. This program is run through the United States Post Office. It allows marketers to send mail to people. You choose the route you want the mail to be delivered to. You pay the postage online, and then take the mail down to the post office. They mail it out for you.
One great feature about EDDM is that they show you the demographics of each route in the area you select. They’ll show you the number of houses in the route, age demographics and the average annual household income. You can target routes based on the demographics you want.
Some routes have 500 houses. Other routes have 100 or less. The demographics also show the number of businesses on the routes. One route may have only 10 houses but 100 businesses. Another may have 400 houses and no businesses. Each route is different. The numbers will not ever be the same.
Routes are targeted by location. Each location has a certain number of routes on it. If you’re doing it by city, you’ll find a lot more routes. If you’re doing it by zip code, you’ll find a lot less. If you’re a local business, you may want to only target routes in your area, then branch outward.
The information is free – you don’t have to pay to access it. You only have to pay to send off your mail. You don’t get detailed information, like names or birthdates, but you get enough to make important decisions about where to send your mail.
How Much Does EDDM Cost?
It costs 17.5 cents per piece of mail. That price is surprisingly low, especially when you compare it to other direct mail prices.
The reason it’s so cheap is because you are using the post office services directly. There is no middle man. So you can get the lowest flat rate. Mailing more or less doesn’t mean that the prices will go up or down. That’s just the flat rate.
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How You Can Use EDDM to Increase Sales
The EDDM page on the United States Post Office website says to create your mailing however you see fit. That means you can mail whatever you want. We’re going to tell you want to mail and how to mail it.
For starters, you want to mail out a popular format: an 8x10 post card. Those are the giant post cards that always get your attention in the mail. You’ve seen a lot of businesses use them. That’s because they work. They’re big and eye-catching. They demand attention. They’re the best thing that you can use to immediately grab a person’s attention.
The most effective offers on post cards are coupons. People love clipping coupons and saving money. So use coupons or an offer they can’t refuse.
You’ll have to have the post cards designed and printed up. You’ll probably save more money having this done online than having it done locally. Doing it locally is convenient, but if you’re looking to save, do it online. The prices are much cheaper. Sometimes you can get post cards printed for as little as a penny a card. It does depend on how much you order.
If you want to cut costs even further you can start a co-op. Get together with non competing business owners and pt offers for all of your businesses on one postcard. Each business should have a section of their own filled with offers. Then send them out to certain routes and split the costs.
The reason this works is because householders will now have a number of offers to choose from, instead of just one. Noncompeting businesses won’t have to worry about trying to make their offer better than someone else’s. There will only be one ice cream shop, one bbq joint, one spa, one car wash, one dentist, etc. on every card.
To increase interest, and sales, you may want to group similar businesses together. For example, pizza parlor may advertise next to a liquor store or an ice cream shop. A spa may advertise next to a health food store or a gym. Grouping coupons together like this will get people thinking “I can redeem this, then turn around and use this one.” It increases the chances of them visiting more than one business and spending money at all of them.
One more thing: don’t overburden your card with one type of business. You don’t want a card that only has restaurants on it, or one that only has health and spa deals on it. Use the cards to advertise a variety of businesses. You want to make sure it’s something that people want and are interested in. Try to tailor your offers to the areas you’re targeting. For example, if your route contains mostly businesses, then put out an offer that will appeal to business owners. If it’s residential, put out something that appeals to homeowners or people with families. You can mail out a post card once a month to keep a steady stream of customers coming in.
Direct mail is far from dead. You don’t have to spend an arm and a leg on it either. Bypass the marketing companies and do all of the work yourself. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how easy and effective it is once you put it in place.