n With EDDM, printers and other mail service providers benefit from increased mail volume and revenue.
n Seventy-seven percent of small businesses in the United States do not use a Postal Service product for advertising or marketing.
n EDDM provides small and midsize companies an opportunity to use a mail product to promote their businesses. EDDM and EDDM Retail were developed to provide an easy-to-use on-ramp into the mailstream at a reasonable cost, with fewer barriers to participation.
n Initial EDDM Retail sales have averaged $280, or approximately 2,000 pieces, reflecting the true local nature of the product.
n Marketing efforts during the first 3 months of the program have focused on small businesses with little or no mailing history. EDDM has been the marquee product at more than 1,400 GYBD events nationwide from April to June 2011. Local business professionals were invited to these events via an EDDM mailing in the respective geographic areas. A targeted effort also was made to printers and mail service providers to participate in the GYBD events; the majority of the events included a printer or mail service provider.
n The Postal Service’s first major EDDM direct marketing campaign, scheduled for June 2011, will include over 90,000 printers and mail service providers nationwide. The driving force behind these efforts is to build more mail volume through the network of print and mail service suppliers who produce and manage saturation mail products.
n EDDM is an option that can educate prospective customers about other direct mail products and can be used to increase overall print volumes.
n EDDM Retail makes it easy for printers to offer direct mail if they don’t already include it in their portfolio of services.
n Saturation mailers will no longer need to maintain an updated database of delivery-sequenced specific addresses.
n EDDM has attracted businesses that have found cable TV, Internet, or private delivery advertising to be less effective than the mail. In fact, the largest new EDDM customer moved its advertising from private delivery to EDDM.
n Expansion of the Simplified Addressing option is a positive step for consumers, businesses, mail service providers, and the Postal Service. Consumers will be educated about new businesses, products, and offerings of local businesses. Business owners can get the most from their advertising dollars by targeting customers in their local areas. Mail service providers and the Postal Service benefit from increased mail volume and revenue.
n Mail service providers could expect reduced income from list sales, list processing fees, and less complex mail preparation with simpler and less costly address application on mailpieces. However, some, if not all, of the lost revenue may be offset by new business, as advertisers respond to the improved cost per thousand (CPM) that EDDM allows.
n Once new EDDM mailers experience the power of mail, many will want to begin using targeted mail that requires lists. EDDM will grow the number of businesses using mail for marketing purposes.
n Market research indicates that requests for nondelivery will be very minor. However, customers who do not wish to receive this mail will follow the effective procedures now in place on rural routes: Customers make these requests through the mailer. The mailer will then notify the local delivery unit through the same processes established for rural routes.
n To reduce the chance of undeliverable as addressed mail, the Postal Service will require EDDM mailpieces for distribution to city routes (or to PO boxes in a Post Office with city delivery service) to include the city, state, and ZIP Code (when not being drop-shipped directly to the destination delivery unit.)
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Name
Date (O) xxx-xxx-xxxx
(C) xxx-xxx-xxxx
xxxxx@usps.gov
usps.com/news
Release No. 11-xxx
It’s Never Been Easier to Send Direct Mail
[Name of Post Office] Offers Free ‘Grow Your Business’ Seminar
[City] — It’s now easier for [Name of City’s] small-business owners to harness the power of direct mail to drive traffic, attract new customers and increase revenue. That’s because the U.S. Postal Service recently introduced Every Door Direct Mail, a simple, low-cost service that allows local businesses to market to every address in their neighborhoods without the need to rent mailing lists.
Every Door Direct Mail uses mail-delivery route information, instead of names and exact addresses, to reach targeted groups in specific geographic areas. Businesses use a simple online tool at https://smp.usps.gov to identify neighborhoods and number of households, prepare mailing documentation and calculate postage.
To teach local businesses about Every Door Direct Mail — including a demonstration of the online tool — the [Name of Post Office] is holding a free Grow Your Business Days seminar on [date, time, location].
“Direct mail has long been a proven advertising tool of choice of successful large businesses and Fortune 500 companies to promote products and drive sales,” said [Name and Title]. “Direct mail has strengths other advertising media can’t claim — it’s personal, tangible, portable (to re-read later and share with others), manageable and measureable.
“And with Every Door Direct Mail, no permits are needed and there are no special fees.”
According to the Direct Marketing Association, every $1 spent on direct mail generates $12.57 in sales.
Every Door Direct Mail is ideal for restaurants, doctors’ offices, hair salons — or any kind of local business that is not currently using the mail. The mail can be addressed to “Postal Customer,” “Residential Customer,” or “PO Boxholder” and dropped off at the Post Office. Every Door Direct Mail saves mail preparation time and money, and is delivered by the local, trusted Postal Service carrier.
For more information about Every Door Direct Mail, visit www.usps.com/everydoordirectmail.com.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
We’re everywhere so you can be anywhere: www.uspseverywhere.com.
# # #
Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/news.
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.
Sample Media Advisory
Date Contact:
Phone Number:
first.last@usps.gov
usps.com/news
It’s Never Been Easier to Send Direct Mail
[Name of Post Office] Offers Free ‘Grow Your Business’ Seminar
It’s now easier for [Name of City’s] small-business owners to harness the power of direct mail to drive traffic, attract new customers and increase revenue.
WHAT: [Name of Post Office] is holding a free Grow Your Business Days seminar for local businesses to learn about Every Door Direct Mail, a simple, low-cost service that allows local businesses to market to every address in their neighborhoods without the need to rent mailing lists.
The seminar will include a demonstration of an easy-to-use online tool at https://smp.usps.gov that businesses can use to identify neighborhoods and number of households, prepare mailing documentation and calculate postage.
WHO: Name, Postmaster, City [list all key presenters, including any co-hosts from other organizations]
WHEN: [Date and Time]
WHERE: [Location Address]
BACKGROUND: According to the Direct Marketing Association, every $1 spent on direct mail generates $12.57 in sales.
Every Door Direct Mail is ideal for restaurants, doctors’ offices, hair salons — or any kind of local business that is not currently using the mail. Every Door Direct Mail saves mail preparation time and is delivered by the local, trusted Postal Service carrier. No permits are needed, and there are no special fees. For more information about Every Door Direct Mail, visit www.usps.com/everydoordirectmail.com.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
We’re everywhere so you can be anywhere: www.uspseverywhere.com.
# # #
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.
Audio News Release
Grow Your Business Days
Free Seminar From the U.S. Postal Service
[Date]
Intro:
The U.S. Postal Service is reaching out to local businesses to help them attract new customers. [City/Town] Postmaster [Name] says a free Grow Your Business seminar will show small business owners how to harness the power of direct mail.
Soundbite:
Our seminar will include a demonstration of an easy-to-use online tool as part of Every Door Direct Mail. That’s a new low-cost service that will help businesses in our area to grow. We will show them how they can easily market to every address in their neighborhoods — reaching more potential customers at a lower cost.
Close:
You can get more information about the free seminar by contacting your local Post Office.
# # #
Postal Service Brochure Ordering Information
Postal Service publications make perfect handouts for customers during Grow Your Business Days events. They also are good resources for postmasters and managers when preparing for events. Postmasters, supervisors, and authorized personnel may order the below publications from the Business Connect® website. Sales personnel may order these from the Sales Force Resource.
— Public Relations and Promotional Communications, Corporate Communications, 6-2-11
