One of the basic tenets of successful direct mail is making sure that you’re talking to the right audience. You don’t want to bombard cat owners with offers for dog grooming services. It’s a waste of time and money.
But what should you do if the product or service you’re offering really does apply to (almost) everyone? What if you’re a pizza shop, trying to find customers in your neighborhood? There’s no list out there for “People Who Like Pizza.” In a case like that, you want to target a geographic area, because even pizza lovers probably aren’t going to drive 15 miles to pick up a pizza (no matter how good it is). What you want to do in this case is hit every door within a 3-mile radius of your shop.
And that’s why the USPS developed Every Door Direct Mail®. It allows you to deliver your message to every door in a specific area or neighborhood—and you get to choose the specific area you want to target.
You can map out a target area, use demographic data (such as age, household income, and size if that’s helpful) to select a delivery route. You can choose a mailing drop off date, and even pay online—all from your computer. This service offers a flexible range of sizes, making it ideal for anything from a quick sales announcement to an in-depth product story. You can include coupons, menus, event calendars, store maps, or anything else that helps get customers to your door.
Of course you can’t just send anything to the people living in a 3-mile radius and expect to get good results. If you want good results, you need to send out good direct mail. If you’re looking for help with that, we’d recommend you download our free Best Direct Mail Practices in an Evolving Marketplace e-book. You’ll discover a lot of tips for creating the kind of direct mail that will deliver the results you want.
Good marketing is always about getting the right message to the right audience. And this new service from the Post Office is a great tool to use when that audience is right next door to you!
