What is the difference between direct mail and EDDM?

Traditional direct mail and Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) are both direct mail strategies. Their primary difference is in their ability to target recipients. Traditional direct mail can be directly targeted to recipients of a certain demographic and a mailing list. EDDM, while less expensive, targets every house in chosen neighborhoods.

For example, a lawncare company looking to target suburban neighborhoods would benefit from EDDM while a childcare organization would gain better results by using a mailing list that targets homes with children present.

Targeted Direct Mail

Traditional direct mail targets a specific demographic. You can use it to send Letters, Catalogs, Post Cards, and more to a mailing list that consists of people that fit your target age, gender, income, and many other variables.

On the other hand, EDDM targets a specific geographic area. No mailing list is necessary. Using mailing routes from the United States Postal Service (USPS), you can choose a specific area that you want to cover with your direct mail. You can, however, target EDDM based on the average demographic of each neighborhood. Your direct mail piece will be sent to every house in your chosen neighborhoods. When choosing EDDM routes, make sure you consider the neighborhoods you’re targeting and that it’s a viable area to market your product or service. For example, if you are promoting your pool and spa business, you don’t want to target an area that is predominantly apartment complexes.

Printing Requirements

Traditional direct mail has no restrictions on size and quantities. You are free to customize your direct mailers however you want. EDDM has specific size requirements. Your mailers should be more than 11 1/2” long, more than 6 1/8” wide. They should not exceed 15” in length, 12” in width. 

EDDM postage costs less than traditional direct mail. Contact us and share what you would like to accomplish with your direct mail and we would be happy to provide a detailed estimate. 

EDDM 

Pros
•  Postage Cost
•  Production Cost
•  No List Cost
•  Current addresses
•  Geographic based
•  Allows oversized post cards

Cons
•  Mailing to all addresses within the carrier route
•  No specific demographics to sort by, but the USPS provides the average demographics for every Carrier Route. With this, you can gauge the average data. 

Regular Direct Mail

Pros
•  Control over your good leads – mail to who most likely will respond gaining a higher conversion rate
•  Variable custom text
•  Powerful for high-level conversion rates
•  Multiple designs/looks associated with a particular name (personalization)

67% of marketers say that Direct Mail is their highest ROI.

66% of consumers surveyed engaged with or acted on the Mail they received.