Small businesses have inexpensive advertising option
The U.S. Postal Service’s promotion of Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is producing results. Since its introduction, USPS has closed millions in annualized sales with hundreds of customers who are using the product to promote their goods and services.
EDDM – a form of Simplified Addressing used by the Postal Service for years – allows business mailers to use mail delivery route information, instead of names and exact addresses, to reach target customer groups in urban areas. It has long been an accepted addressing option on rural routes and for government mailings.
With EDDM, businesses can send advertising mail without acquiring an address list or printing addresses on each mailpiece. Instead, letter carriers deliver EDDM along with the day s mail to every address on routes customers want to reach.
EDDM is simple and cost-effective. There is no postage permit required, no mailing list is needed, and plenty of room is available on the mailpiece for the business message. The target audience can be identified by a specific neighborhood or a specified distance from the business. Mail is dropped at the Post Office that services the carrier routes being targeted. Payment can be made for postage via cash, check, or debit card. The cost is 14.2 cents per piece.
Standard mail flat-size requirements must be used it must be more than 11 1/2 inches long or more than 6 1/8 inches high, or more than 1/4 inch thick. It can weigh up to 3.3 ounces. A minimum of 200 mailpieces must be used and up to a maximum of 5,000 mailpieces can be mailed per day.
Every Door Direct Mail information is available at usps.com/everydoordirectmail. To obtain letter carrier route information visit smp.usps.gov. A mapping feature is available that will identify letter carrier routes within 1-5 miles of a specific address when the location feature is selected. For more information call Debra Mitchell at 573-9638.
For more information about purchasing stamps, stamps by mail, postal regulations, a free subscription to USA Philatelic magazine, Post Office events, the location of the nearest postal store or contract unit, or for answers to your specific Postal Service questions, contact USPS at 1-800-275-8777, or visit www.usps.com‘>www.usps.com. To schedule a presentation for your community, club or group on how the Postal Service brings the Post Office to your home or office computer, call 239-573-9638.
Mr. Zip’s Tip: There are more than 42,000 Zip Codes in the U.S.
A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.