EDDM^® mailings allow you to advertise locally without purchasing a mailing list or permit, but it has its limitations when it comes to targeting. In many cases, a full-service saturation or full-service targeted campaign via a direct mail company or commercial printer is a smarter choice. In this blog, we’ll compare the targeting capabilities of these three mailing options to help you make an informed decision about which one is best for your business.

Who Can I Target with EDDM^®?

You don’t need a mailing list to do an EDDM^® mailing, which means your pieces mail to every address along a carrier route (a further breakdown of a zip code). Hence the name, “Every Door Direct Mail^®.” However, just because you’re mailing to every home in an EDDM^® carrier route doesn’t mean you don’t have targeting capabilities. With EDDM^®, you can do the following:

• Mail to most residents in a carrier route
• Remove business addresses and PO boxes
• Target carrier routes based on median demographics

The USPS Every Door Direct Mail^® tool allows you to filter carrier routes by median age, household size, and income. This means you can select routes that meet the median demographics you’re targeting, rather than those that don’t. Keep in mind that you’re dealing with median numbers (the figures in the middle of a data set), so your pieces will go to some households that fall outside your desired demographics. For example, even if you select all carrier routes with a median age range of 25-30, your pieces will still reach many individuals outside that age range.

EDDM^® marketing isn’t the best choice for businesses offering a product or service that’s not applicable to everyone or companies looking to target very specific people. But the good news is there are other service options besides EDDM^®, which we’ll explore below.

What’s the Difference Between EDDM^® and Saturation Mailing?

Technically, EDDM is a type of saturation mailing, but it’s more limited than a full-service saturation mailing you could get from a direct mail company. With a full-service saturation mailing, you can filter your carrier routes by median age, household size, and income – just like EDDM^®. But there are some additional targeting options you can only get from a full-service saturation mailing. With a saturation mailing, you can:

• Remove residential addresses (like apartments, drop addresses, seasonal dwellings, and mobile homes)

The biggest benefit of a full-service saturation mailing is the ability to remove certain residential addresses in addition to business addresses and PO boxes. For example, home service providers looking to drum up new business wouldn’t want to mail to renters, since landlords typically take care of maintenance. In this case, they could remove all apartments and drop addresses to make sure they’re only mailing to people who can actually use their services. This ability to remove residential address types sets a full-service saturation mailing apart from EDDM^® and makes it a better choice when you need more targeting options.

If you’d like a more detailed breakdown of the differences between these two services, check out our saturation mailing comparison.

Should I Choose EDDM^® or a Targeted Mailing List?

Saturation mailings like full-service and EDDM^® are great for targeting broad groups of people. But if your audience is very specific – or if you want to mail to your current customer list – you may need to go with a targeted mailing. With a targeted mailing list, you can:

• Mail to a very specific list of consumers or businesses

Targeted mailing lists are made up of people and/or businesses who match the exact criteria you’re looking for. This means you don’t need to remove any address types (like business addresses or PO boxes) since the list you get already matches your desired criteria. For example, if you want to mail to female golfers between the ages of 45 and 50, you’ll get a list that contains only individuals who meet those requirements.

Targeted campaigns aren’t right for everyone, though. For consumer-facing businesses that offer services anybody can use (like restaurants and auto shops), EDDM^® or saturation mailings through a direct mail company are usually a better choice for marketing to prospective customers. Targeted mailing lists can be significantly more expensive than saturation lists, and in some cases, saturation mailings offer the targeting capabilities businesses need at a lower price point.

Conclusion

It’s important to understand the targeting limitations of EDDM^® mailings when planning out your direct mail campaigns. While EDDM^® can be an affordable and effective option, there are plenty of times when saturation or targeted mailings are the better choice. Ultimately, you should consult with a direct mail expert before choosing a mailing option. They’ll help you figure out the most cost-effective solution for your business and work with you to choose the right service and mailing list to get you the best results.

The post Every Door Direct Mail^® Targeting Limitations appeared first on Best4mailing.

The 6 Types of Auto Data Available on Consumers

1. Make
2. Model
3. Year
4. Fuel Type
5. Auto Class
6. Auto Style

The Impact of the Shelby Amendment

Before 2000, this auto data was available from the DMV. As of June 1, 2000, if any DMV sold or shared this data, they would not get federal highway funding. This was due to the Shelby Amendment (or Data Access Act) to the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) of 1994. This made it hard for marketers and list providers to get this data from driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations.¹

Where Does Vehicle Owner Data Come From?

Where consumer auto data comes from seems to be the most confusing point for shop owners. Since the DMV does not release this data, the actual data that is available is compiled using multiple sources. The following are the primary sources of this information. This list includes but is not limited to:

1. Co-Registration Data: Auto service shops record VIN numbers and car info, and sell this data to list compilers. Over 90% of lists come from service shops that report VIN information. But there is a lack of information on new models because the vehicle owners haven’t gone to a service provider that releases their data.
2. Responder Info: This data comes from people who fill out surveys, forms in magazines, and other forms.
3. Online Insurance Quotes
4. Warranty Companies
5. Transactional Data: This info comes from people who buy something for their car, like a stereo or running boards.
6. Major Car Clubs of America
7. Aftermarket Repair Companies

What to Ask Before Buying a Targeted Vehicle Mailing List

1. Is your list triple verified? This means your list must have come from, and been verified by, three of the sources listed above in order for the record to be included.
2. Is your list NCOA certified? To NCOA certify a list involves using USPS National Change of Address data to make sure the recipient’s name matches their current address. This confirms that vehicle owners haven’t moved and are in fact located at the address on your list.
3. Is your list Shelby compliant? This means that the consumers agreed to release their personal information. And the list provider must have obtained their information in the context of the sale of a service or product no more than twelve months before sending any direct marketing communications.

I can tell you firsthand that not all list providers are equal. I vetted more than 10 of the top list vendors when choosing our resource for targeted lists. I recommend doing your research, asking all the questions above, and comparing list counts from more than one vendor.

Sources

1. Update: DPPA Ruling Sinks in With Marketers

The post Where Targeted Auto Lists Come From (And What You Need To Know Before Purchasing One) appeared first on Best4mailing.

Is there such a thing as being too targeted with your mailing list options?

This seems like an odd question that would have a simple answer. Of course you want to drill down and mail only to the people that represent your target audience and are most likely to buy from you!

Direct mail is a top choice for advertisers because it allows for a very targeted approach to getting your message into the hands of the right consumer. The options for purchasing a specific mailing list are endless, and data can be very powerful. It’s easy for marketers to get lost in this and forget about the fundamental reason for doing direct mail marketing in the first place.

Return On Investment!

It is important that the company you choose to help you with your print and direct mail campaign understands your business, who you want to target, and knows all the costs associated with executing a proper direct mail campaign.

Let’s take a look at the three primary costs for running a direct mail campaign and how they can impact your ROI:

1. Graphic Design & Printing: For the sake of this article, let’s lump these two services together. The bottom line is that you need a company that understands how to create a strategic and impactful design AND lands you the best price for printing. Not all graphic designers, agencies, and direct mail facilities are created equal. Choose wisely.
2. Mailing List: A good mailing list is critical to a successful direct mail campaign. It is important to understand that the deeper you dig into specific data, the more expensive the mailing list becomes. Additionally, if the audience you are looking to target is more obscure, there is a greater chance that the mailing list will be compiled using data modeling. This means the mailing list may not have consumers that are guaranteed to fit your desired profile. Model driven data uses buying trends and behaviors that match what the list provider deems similar to your target market. It is critical that your direct mail provider has a deep understanding of the available options for developing a mailing list.
3. Postage: Did you know that there is a direct correlation between your mailing list and postage rate? Understanding postage rates and how to get the best pricing can be extremely complex. Generally speaking, the more targeted your mailing list is, the higher the postage rate will be. Depending on your target audience and mailing list, postage could be anywhere from $0.16 to $0.48 per piece. This is wide range, which means it is extremely important that your direct mail company understands how the post office works, how to process your list, and how to acquire the lowest postage rates available through the USPS.

Now that we understand the main components of a direct mail campaign, let’s get back to the original question posed.

Is it possible to be too targeted with your direct mail approach?

Let’s take the example of the hair salon that focuses on advertising to higher income females. We will assume in following 2 scenarios that we will be mailing a postcard that includes a holiday promotion for purchasing gift certificates to 10,000 recipients.

Scenario 1: Targeted Mail Strategy
In this scenario, we will buy a mailing list that only includes females between the ages of 25 and 65 with an income level greater than $60,000 a year.

Due to the nature of purchasing a specific list and only targeting females that fit the demographic, the cost to mail 10,000 postcards would be $0.49 per piece. The total cost of the mailing is $4,900 including mailing list and postage.

Scenario 2: Saturation Mail Strategy
In this scenario, we use a saturation mailing list and base our strategy on the demographics within the carrier routes in our mailing area. We will review the average income levels of the carrier routes surrounding the hair salon and strategically select the routes that have higher income levels. We can’t guarantee that we will only target females within the desired demographic since we will be including lower income homes that reside within the carrier routes we select.

Because we are using a saturation (bulk) mailing list, we are now paying a much lower postage rate. The cost to mail 10,000 postcards is now $0.33 per piece landing us at a grand total of $3,300 including mailing list and postage.

Yes, a saturation mailing list is less expensive, but let’s say we increase our saturation mailing budget to $4,900 as shown in Scenario 1. The increase in budget now allows us to mail to 15,300 addresses instead of only 10,000.

So after looking at these two scenarios, we have to ask ourselves one key question. If we decide to maximize the $4,900 budget, would we get a better return on investment by:

• Mailing 10,000 targeted addresses to the specific customer profile? or
• Mailing 15,300 saturation mailers to strategic carrier routes?

The answer is not always black and white. A few things to keep in mind. 

1. It is important to have a full understanding of all the available options before proceeding with any direct mail campaign.
2. It is essential to partner with a direct mail company that you can trust to work with you closely. They need to have a true understanding of your business, audience, and the message you wish to convey.
3. You need to understand the exact costs of your campaign. Choose a mailing list option that will provide you with the greatest return on investment. This is the name of the game.

Too targeted? The lesson learned here is that you need to target your audience AND find the most cost effective way to do so within your mailing list options. This way you drive the highest amount of sales and profit possible!

So which strategy works best for your type of business?
Contact us today for a free consultation. We would be glad to discuss the available options for targeted and bulk saturation mailings.
Brian Johnson – President

The post Can Your Mailing List Be Too Targeted? appeared first on Best4mailing.

When it comes to direct mail, one of the critical elements to success is that your message gets into the hands of your very best prospects.

If you are considering doing a bulk mailing (aka saturation mailing) that targets everyone in a particular area by carrier route, than it is of utmost importance that carrier routes are chosen strategically.

It’s also critical that you choose a direct mail expert to partner with that has the knowledge and who will spend the time to educate you about all of the demographics available in order to help you choose the best carrier routes.

Below is a list of some demographics that we can provide you to help you best choose or exclude potential mailing areas. It is important that you look at each demographic available and see how each could have an impact on your businesses and the results of your direct mail campaign.

Let’s take a look at one as an example. % Renter Occupied

Obviously if you are a home service related business like a plumber, contractor, heating & AC company, etc. you would want to stay away from renters as they will simply call their landlord to fix their issues. Therefore, you can use this demographic data to help choose carrier routes that have a smaller % of potential renters.

In addition, if you are targeting areas that have a high percentage of renters, you may need to retarget these areas more frequently . The reason being is that renters do not stay in their residences as long as homeowners and you may be turning over potential customers faster in these areas. Utilizing this information will help you better plan and execute targeting these specific areas.

One important note is that the demographics listed below are available for bulk/saturation mailings. If your clientele is a very specific demographic, or if you are looking to target a very specific customer profile, we can purchase any type of targeted mailing list possible.

For example, if you only wanted to target homeowners with incomes over $100,000, that own homes over 20 years of age & and have the presence of a pool, than you would want to utilize a different strategy and purchase a mailing list that only contains these addresses. Learn more about targeted mailing lists.

One last consideration is that many of the bulk mail demographics are based on medians NOT averages.

The median is halfway or “middle” point within a set of numbers. Below are 7 new car prices. The median would be number 4 at $34,000 since it’s the middle number between 1 and 7.

1. $18,000
2. $22,000
3. $29,000
4. $34,000 (Median)
5. $44,000
6. $76,000
7. $250,000

An average would be the total number of all car prices divided by the total number of cars. In the case above, our average price would be $67,500. That’s a big difference from the median which is $34,000.

Available Demographics for Bulk Mailing Lists

• Median Income
• Media Age
• Median Home Value
• Median Year House was built
• % Owner occupied
• % Renter Occupied
• % Families With Children
• % African American
• % Asian
• % Hispanic
• #Snowbirds
• #College Addresses
• #Trailers
• #Drop Addresses

For a complete demographic profile of your area and “no strings attached” direct mail consultation, contact us today for more information.
Josh Davis – VP of Sales

The post Bulk Mailing: Take Advantage of Demographics appeared first on Best4mailing.

That said, there are quite a few intricacies when it comes to saturation mailers that you should be aware of before executing your direct mail campaign. One of the most important and not so well known things you need to understand are drop stops and drop addresses. By definition here is what they are.

Drop Stops or Drop Address: A delivery point where a postal employee drops a bundle of advertising material.

For example, an apartment building equals 1 drop but could have 100 housing units within the building. This means 1 stop for 100 drops which results in singular address for everyone living in the apartment building.

In essence the postal carrier can take a stack of however many addresses there are for that particular drop stop and drop them off at a point of destination whether it be a table in front of the mail boxes, an office, etc. In our experience the vast majority of these pieces will not be delivered to each individual mailbox.

**See example image to the right for how the are typically delivered.

Now that you understand what a drop address is, let’s take a look at why drop addresses can diminish your return and what you can do to avoid mailing them.

Drop stops and drop addresses can diminish your return for the obvious reason that they are not guaranteed to get into the hands of the intended recipient. What’s even worse is your direct mail piece is more than likely to be sitting out in the open and exposed to everyone that passes by. Who knows is someone will open them up and take all the coupons or even worse, throw them in the trash!

So what can you do to avoid drop addresses? You must work with an experienced direct mail company that has the proper software to identify drop addresses. If you don’t have drop addresses in your area, then you are in the clear. However, if you do have drop addresses in your area, it is critical that you consult with your direct mail account expert. You need to make sure you should remove the drop addresses and inquire if there are any additional costs of doing so.

At Best4mailing, we can identify drop addresses, tell you where they are, and how to remove them. This is only possible through our full service direct mail option.

With the new post office EDDM program you may not remove drop addresses. Furthermore, the post office website does not give you the ability to identify drop stops with their EDDM software.

Contact Best4mailing today for a free evaluation of your mailing list and mail program. We would be glad to help remove drop stops and optimize your direct mail campaign for maximum efficiency.

The post Don’t Let Drop Stops Ruin Your Direct Mail appeared first on Best4mailing.