Targeted Direct Mail Campaigns

We’ve said it before – Direct Mail remains a powerful marketing tool in the digital age. But as with any advertising, a direct mail campaign works best when properly strategized. Having good graphic design, high-quality printing and especially, a well-targeted direct mailing list will maximize your return on investment. And here, we’re going to explore just how easy it is to target your audience with your next direct mailing

Options for Targeting Your Mailing

The old phrase in marketing is that you should fish where the fish are. But to take this metaphor a little further, a targeting mailing list is the difference between an expensive net and well-cast lure. Mailing lists offer an enormous array of selection options, making it easy to drill down on the sweet spot in your target audience.

USPS targeted mailing lists will allow you to select anywhere in the United States. This can mean entire counties, cities and zip codes. If targeting an area is most essential, you can select a radius from an address or even get custom drawn maps through neighborhoods and districts. But don’t limit your list to just geography before having a look at the demographic options.

With a targeted consumer list, you’ll be able to select the age, income, home value, gender and lifestyle interests of your direct mail recipients. But the options go even further, and in fact there are too many selections to list right here. Things like presence of children or elders in the home, religious interests, political affiliation, donation activity, net worth and pet ownership, cat or dog, are all selections you’ll find readily available.

Business to business mailers also get an array of options, including employee size, sales volume, SIC and NAICS codes and even minority or veteran ownership. All of this allows you to dive deep into your desired audience and pinpoint your direct mailing efforts.

How Targeting Mailing Lists Work

All that may sound too good to be true, so let’s explain how it all works. First off, the United States Postal Service keeps an extensive list of every address and occupant in the nation. This information alone creates Occupant Lists, which allows mailers to send to addresses without demographic data. And it allows mailers to verify the current occupants through the National Change of Address (NCOA) Database.

Then you have publicly available records such as phone directories, government records, licenses and so forth. And then you have more proprietary sources, like organization memberships and media subscriptions, for example. All these sources are then compiled into huge address databases, which are matched against the information USPS has for verification. You’re able to access these enormous compiled databases through list brokers, who help manage the selection process. Once you have what we want and you’re happy with the address record count, you’re free to rent or purchase this compiled information for your direct mail campaign.

What Selections Should I Use?

This kind of question speaks to the heart of your marketing campaign, and that’s a much bigger topic than this article is really meant to go into. But if you’d like help answering that, the guys at Freedom Creative Solutions are more than willing to help with all your marketing needs. Give us a call at 336-602-1901, to learn more about targeted direct mailings, and about how to design and print an effective mailpiece.

Is EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail) right for your business?

If you’ve heard that EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail) is a great way to promote and grow your business but didn’t know if it was a fit for your business, you’ve come to the right place! If postage cost is the reason you haven’t been utilizing direct mail, then this article is for you. The United States Postal Service has all kinds of ways to help you send mail for less. True, you can go mad trying to understand the post office bureaucracy, but since we’ve already gone there ourselves, we might as well save you the trip.

Is EDDM right for my business?

Blanket-targeting a carrier route is a strong strategy for local businesses with mass consumer appeal and regularly used services. Churches, landscapers, car washes, fitness studios, repair shops, pizza joints and of course many other businesses fall into this category. Basically, if most people in a community could use your business, then EDDM is a great way to market your services to that community.

EDDM marketing is also good during seasonal events like tax-time, holiday sales and of course, grand openings. New businesses with small budgets can affordably announce their presence to their immediate neighborhoods and generate store and online traffic.

Why is EDDM used by so many businesses?

Simply put, EDDM is one of the least expensive but most impactful methods to surgically target geographical areas with your marketing messages. Every USPS mail carrier in the country follows an intricate system of delivery routes. EDDM allows you to choose one or more of those carrier routes and send to every address on it. Meaning while the mail carrier is already out, he just adds one of your mail pieces at each stop. It’s a very simple idea, but it saves the guys at the post office a lot of time and manpower. And those savings get passed on to you.

As of February 2021, EDDM Postage Rates range between $0.163 and $0.225 a piece. An authorized nonprofit may even see postage drop to between $0.076 and $0.137. Contrast that to your First-Class letter stamp ($0.55), or even Bulk Letter Rate ($0.285 Presorted AADC) and the savings are already pretty substantial. But EDDM also means you’ll be sending flats, which makes the savings even better. (Bulk Rate Flat Postage: $0.663 Presorted ADC)

That’s not all. Since you’re selecting routes instead of addresses, you won’t pay for any address lists. EDDM even allows you to select routes based on basic demographic data, like average income and age ranges within the selected carrier routes,

Alright, I want to do an EDDM! What now?

EDDM was designed so that – theoretically – you could prepare the mailing yourself. But there are a lot of little regulations that can make the process frustrating, and sometimes expensive. Nobody wants to be stuck with 2000 flats they can’t mail because they missed some little detail. Many businesses feel it is worth getting a professional mailhouse involved.

A print-shop/mailhouse like Freedom Creative Solutions will not only design and print high-quality, USPS regulation compliant pieces, but they’ll maximize your response rate. As a flat, your EDDM mailer will already have the size advantage when it hits the mailbox. But with professional graphic design and some strategic marketing tactics to further engage your audience, they’ll get you the highest return on your investment. And, as a permit-holding mailer, they’ll even get you better postage than if you do it yourself.

If you want to know more, call Freedom Creative at 336-602-1901.