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EDDM or a mailing list: which fits this mailing?
EDDM sends the same flat piece to every address on the carrier routes you choose, with no list. An addressed mailing goes to the households you pick and can carry a name and an offer for each. Answer the questions below and see which one fits, with the reasons.
What decides it
- Specific households or everyone in an area
- Names or personalized offers
- Targeting by homeowner, income, age or children
- A postcard or a flat
Six questions
Tell us about the mailing
The first question is enough for an answer, and each one you add makes it more specific. Nothing is saved.
The short answer
What is the difference between EDDM and addressed mail?
EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail) sends the same flat piece to every residential address, and optionally every business, on the USPS carrier routes you choose, with no mailing list. Addressed mail goes to the specific households on a list, your own customers or a list built by area and household traits, and each piece can carry a name and an offer of its own.
| Topic | EDDM | Addressed mail |
|---|---|---|
| Who it reaches | Every residential address on the carrier routes you choose, and the businesses too if you include them. No household filters. | The households you choose: your own list, or a list built by radius, ZIP, city, county, district or a drawn shape and filtered by homeowner or renter, income, age or children. |
| Mailing list | None needed. | Your list, CASS processed with duplicates removed, or a list Plavidian supplies through licensed data providers. |
| Postage basis | The USPS Marketing Mail EDDM saturation price per piece, lower the closer to the routes the mail enters: origin, SCF or DDU. | The USPS Marketing Mail price per piece at the level the presort of your list earns: automation prices, or carrier route prices where the list is dense. |
| Piece size | Flat-size only: 6.5 x 9, 8.5 x 11 or 9 x 12 at Plavidian. A 4 x 6, 6 x 9 or 6 x 11 postcard does not qualify. | Postcards, letters in envelopes, folded self-mailers and flats. |
| Minimum | 200 pieces at Plavidian. | USPS Marketing Mail needs at least 200 pieces or 50 pounds in a mailing. |
| Personalization | None: pieces carry a simplified address instead of a name. | Names, variable offers and personalized letters. |
| Permit | Mailed on Plavidian's own permit through the business mail entry unit (BMEU), so the EDDM Retail limit of 5,000 pieces per ZIP Code per day does not apply. | Mailed on Plavidian's own permits. You need no permit of your own. |
| Address and barcode | No individual address: every piece is the same. | Each piece carries its own address and a unique Intelligent Mail barcode, which piece-level tracking follows. |
| Tracking and proof | No barcode, so Plavidian Insight cannot track the pieces. The Plavidian Assurance Report is the proof the mailing was delivered to USPS. | Plavidian Insight follows each piece by its Intelligent Mail barcode through USPS scans. |
The long read: How to choose between EDDM and a targeted mailing list. Plavidian Insight™, included with every Plavidian mailing, follows addressed pieces through USPS scans. EDDM pieces carry no barcode, so for an EDDM drop the Plavidian Assurance™ Report is the proof the mailing was delivered to USPS.
Questions
Questions about EDDM and mailing lists
Is EDDM cheaper than mailing to a list?
Per piece, EDDM postage is a saturation price and there is no list to buy. But EDDM pays for every address on a route, so when only some of those homes are prospects, an addressed list can cost less for the people you actually want.
Price both ways with the same quantity to see the difference for your mailing.
Can EDDM target homeowners, income or age?
No. EDDM reaches every residential address on the carrier routes you choose, and optionally every business. To reach only homeowners, an income range, an age range or households with children, use an addressed list.
Choosing routes is the targeting EDDM has: the EDDM Route Builder shows the median household income and the share of owners for the routes you select, from US Census data.
What size does an EDDM piece have to be?
Flat-size. Plavidian mails EDDM on 6.5 x 9, 8.5 x 11 and 9 x 12 flats; a 4 x 6, 6 x 9 or 6 x 11 postcard is letter-size and does not qualify.
USPS treats a piece as a flat when it is more than 11-1/2 inches long, more than 6-1/8 inches high or more than 1/4 inch thick (USPS DMM 201).
Do I need an EDDM permit or a trip to the post office?
No. Plavidian mails EDDM on its own permit through the business mail entry unit, so the Retail limit of 5,000 pieces per ZIP Code per day does not apply, and the bundling and paperwork are Plavidian's.
Plavidian EDDM jobs have a 200-piece minimum.
Can I mail my own customer list?
Yes, as addressed mail. Plavidian CASS-processes the list, removes duplicates, households it when you want one piece per household, and runs NCOALink move update when the mailing needs it.
Does EDDM reach businesses too?
Only if you choose. The EDDM Route Builder shows the residential and business deliveries on each carrier route, and an EDDM mailing can go to residential addresses only or to both.
Leaving businesses out lowers the piece count and the postage for the same routes.
Sources
Still deciding?
Tell us the area and the offer. A mail specialist will say which approach fits and price it.
Related
Planning a local direct mail campaign
Where the households are, how USPS sorts the mail, and the tools that open on your area.
- printing and mailing in San Diego County
- direct mail and printing in North County San Diego
- direct mail across Southern California
- the Direct Mail Planning Center
- direct mail cost: printing, mailing services and postage
- direct mail guides by industry
- city direct mail market guides
- household counts by area with the Mailing List Builder
- EDDM carrier routes and delivery counts
- mail date planning backward from the in-home date
- EDDM or a mailing list: how to choose
- carrier route density and saturation mail guide
Related
Data, addresses and postal optimization
Planning a list before it mails: Mailing Blueprint, address checks, list processing, postage optimization, maps and district data.
- mailing list analysis and postage planning with Mailing Blueprint
- address list cleanup: standardization and deduplication
- CASS address standardization
- NCOALink move update processing
- how to prepare a mailing list
- EDDM or a mailing list: how to choose
- the main direct mail formats and how to choose
- direct mail ideas and campaign examples
- mailing lists and audience targeting
- drop shipment planning and destination entry
- nationwide mailing and USPS drop shipping
- carrier route density and saturation mail guide
- addressing and Move Update requirements guide
- data processing, lettershop and logistics services
- cascade priority data merge case study
- municipal unit-level list reconstruction case study
- political mail printing built on voter data