Bulk mail without a mailing permit? Yes, it’s now possible. Postage as low as 22.3 apiece? Yes, that’s how the Every Door Direct Mail program from the USPS works.
Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is perfect for local businesses, marketing professionals or real estate agents. This bulk mail option is effective for anyone trying to reach a target audience in a defined geographic area.
Targeting by radius
One option for targeting EDDM is to select a target-area by radius. Using the USPS EDDM site, you simply enter in your business address, and you can view a map that highlights that carrier routes that fall within a specified radius of your business. The site will actually calculate the exact postage for you and even generate the necessary paperwork.
Targeting by neighborhood
Although you can send EDDM to specific neighborhoods, the USPS EDDM site does not make it easy to do this. You’ll want to read this post which explains how to determine carrier routes, or feel free to contact us, and we’re happy to help for free.
Regardless of size, EDDM postage is always 22.3 cents apiece
What are the restrictions?
- The EDDM program applies to flat-sized pieces only, as defined by the USPS. This means that traditional postcards and standard size letters do not As defined by the USPS, to qualify for EDDM a mail piece needs to be either taller than 6.125″ or longer than 10.5″, but smaller than 12″ x 15″. Regardless of size, EDDM postage is always 22.3 cents apiece. This makes it an especially cost-effective way to mail out larger sized bulk mail. Some of the most common approved sizes include:
- 6.5″ x 9″
- 6″ x 11″
- 8.5″ x 11″
- Your bulk mail piece must weigh less than 3 ounces
- You must meet minimum thickness requirements of 0.007 inches. To give you a perspective, this is just a hair thinner than a standard business card and substantially thicker than a sheet of copy paper.
- Your marketing piece must contain the approved EDDM Postage indicia and simplified addressing format (see example below)
- You cannot mail more than 5,000 pieces per zip code, per day using EDDM.
- You must insert a “facing slip” between every 50 or 100 copies of the piece that you plan to send. A copy of the “facing slip” is generated for you by the EDDM website.
What’s the minimum? You have to mail to at least one carrier route as defined by the USPS. A “carrier route” is essentially a sub-set of a zip code. In most cases, a single carrier route will contain somewhere between 400 and 1,200 addresses.
…if your best prospects are located near your business or in particular local neighborhoods, then EDDM may be the perfect bulk mail vehicle for you.
What if I want to take advantage of these low prices, but I don’t want to do the work? You can still take advantage of this low-cost, geography-based program by working with a local bulk mail professional like Naples Print Source. We’ll help you choose your target area, print your marketing piece, make sure that it meets all of the postal requirements, prepare all of the EDDM paperwork and deliver the mail to the post office for you. Contact us if you’d like more information about this service.
While EDDM is an attractive marketing option presented by the USPS, it may not be a good fit for all businesses. On the other hand, if your best prospects are located near your business or in particular local neighborhoods, then EDDM may be the perfect bulk mail vehicle for you. The USPS has provided the double-incentive of very low postage, and they have removed many of the barriers to entry associated with traditional direct mail.
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