Marketers who utilize direct mail have a wide variety of tools available to them to reach their audience. Targeted Direct Mail & EDDM are two popular methods to conduct direct mail campaigns, but what are they exactly? What distinctions do they have? Let's dive into the pros & cons for each method.
When creating a mail campaign, marketers have a few options at their disposal: Targeted Direct & EDDM. Every product or service offering is different and it is best to review your overall objectives before running your mail marketing playbook. While technically speaking both Targeted Direct and EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail) are both direct mail, they have differences between the two campaign types. Below we’ll dive into the pros & cons of each, but first what are they?
Targeted Direct mail is exactly what you think it is- direct mail collateral delivered t a specific prospect customer or client. This method allows you to delivery a marketing piece based on the target list you create or generate.
EDDM (Every Door Mail Marketing) is a service USPS provides to marketers with mail marketing that delivers in a certain geographic region. A specific mail route can be picked and a certain quantity of collateral is required for the postal service to deliver to all recipients.
The specific method of mail depends on your specific campaign needs and budget. Here’s a quick breakdown of the differences each method in these categories: Cost, Design, Audience Segmentation & Campaign Timeline.
Targeted Direct Mail: Varies, but Affordable
The cost of building a targeted direct mail campaign depends on the artwork, data generation & postage speed you select for the particular campaign. While the postage for a direct mail typically cost more than an EDDM campaign (Approx. .40c per mailer vs .20 per mailer for EDDM) the cost is still affordable if factored into your budget.
EDDM: Varies, but Cost Effective Postage
The postage rate for EDDM is on average .20 per mailer, which is considerably lower than a targeted direct mailer postage. In additional to this attractive price point, EDDM postage is the same price regardless of the mailer size (as long as it meets USPS requirements).
Targeted Direct Mail: More Variety
Targeted mail allows your design team more flexibility when creating a mailing piece for your campaign. Designs layouts can be more flexible as there are 3 categories: postcards, letters & flats.
EDDM: Less Variety
While the mailer size can be flexible, EDDM only offers one format category: flats. This might limit the way you present your service or product message.
Targeted Direct Mail: Highly Customizable
Targeted Direct Mail offers the most variety of audience segmentation options to build into your mailing list. Address types, demographics, interests are all levels of segmentation you can use to build your laser focused audience. The audience can be as broad or tailored as your campaign & budget permit.
EDDM: Geography is the Only Segmentation
Building a specific tailored segmentation is not an option in EDDM campaigns. Marketers must provide their mail pieces to be delivered to every recipient within a specific geographic area. Certain business mind find this saturation a positive or a negative.
Targeted Direct Mail: Long
Building a targeted direct mail campaign will take longer to implement than an EDDM campaign, as there are more steps to take, such as mailing list generation, postage priority selection & delivery routing.
EDDM: Quick
If your mailing piece has been printed & bundled, your campaign timeline will be drastically shorter as all the sorting and routing has been done handled beforehand with your geographic area selection.
Each mail campaign has a uniqueness based on the product, market size & ROI desired. EDDM campaigns can be a great way to saturate a specific geographical area. If your business recently opened a new location in a new market and you need to create rapport based marketing the EDDM might be best for you. If your customer profile is larger or more specialized, targeted direct mail campaigns might be the option for you, as it provide the focus you might need to present your offerings to the right prospect.
If you have any additional question about EDDM & Targeted Direct Marketing, or how DirectMailer.io can cover your direct mailing needs from the note pad to the mail box, and everywhere in between please schedule a free consultation or send us a message here.
