PostKnock doesn't offer EDDM. Here's a straight guide to it anyway, including the jobs it does better than we do.
DIRECT MAIL GUIDE
EDDM vs. Targeted Direct Mail
Every Door Direct Mail is the USPS product that drops a postcard on every address along a carrier route: no list, no names, cheaper postage. For the right job it's genuinely hard to beat.
What EDDM is
You pick a ZIP on a USPS map, then pick carrier routes inside it. A carrier route is the loop one letter carrier walks, usually a few hundred to a thousand addresses. You buy the whole route: every address on it gets a piece, and you can't skip the house that already bought from you or add the one prospect on the next street over. Pieces are addressed to "Postal Customer," not to a person.
Two things make it appealing:
- Postage is much cheaper. USPS lists EDDM Retail at about $0.26 per piece versus about $0.65 for a single-piece First-Class postcard: roughly $1,950 saved on a 5,000-piece drop. (Rates change; confirm at usps.com.)
- You don't need a list. Nothing to upload, buy, or clean.
The trade-off is in the name. Targeting is geographic only. You can't pick "homeowners with kids ages 5–12" the way you can with a purchased list. And since no name is ever captured, there's nothing to personalize and nobody to call afterward.
When EDDM wins, and when it doesn't
EDDM wins for:
- ✓ Brand-new businesses with no customer list yet
- ✓ Restaurants, dry cleaners, and salons announcing a grand opening
- ✓ Hyperlocal services with a tight radius: pizza, plumbers, mobile auto repair
- ✓ Low-ticket offers where nearly any household on the street is a plausible buyer
- ✓ Awareness campaigns where reach matters more than precision
- ✓ Real-estate farming a specific subdivision before a listing comes up
EDDM is NOT a fit for:
- × Existing customer recall: you have their address already, so mailing the whole route wastes most of the spend
- × Anything that needs a follow-up phone call, since no recipient list exists
- × Niche or high-ticket services where most households aren't the buyer: CPAs, specialty medical, B2B
- × Any campaign with a do-not-mail list to honor: a route is all-or-nothing
- × Offers that only land when personalized (a first-name greeting, a call that knows who it is calling)
That second column is why PostKnock doesn't offer EDDM. We mail to individual addresses, because a recipient on file is what makes address correction, do-not-contact suppression, personalization (when we have a name) and a follow-up phone call (when we have a number) possible. EDDM trades all of that for cheaper postage: a good trade for some jobs, just not the one we're built for.
Addressed, targeted mail, not EDDM. This card goes to one named client whose pet is due, which is what makes a follow-up call and a do-not-mail list possible.
If EDDM is the right tool, here's how to run it
EDDM is a USPS product, not a vendor product, no account and no bulk-mail permit needed. (Retail is capped at 5,000 pieces per ZIP per day.) Three ways in:
- Do it yourself. Map routes and pay postage on usps.com, print anywhere, then bundle and drop at the post office serving those routes. Cheapest path; costs you an afternoon.
- Use a full-service EDDM printer. Most local print shops will design, print, bundle and drop for you. Expect a design fee, and check they're quoting the EDDM Retail rate rather than a bulk permit rate.
- Run both. EDDM for blanket awareness in a tight radius, targeted mail for the named people you actually want to book. They answer different questions.
If it's the second one you need, we'll mail you a real sample postcard.
Want the addresses, not just the drop? Count the homes in your ZIP →
EDDM FAQ
Does PostKnock offer EDDM?▼
No. PostKnock mails to individual addresses, because a recipient on file is what makes address correction, do-not-contact suppression, personalization (when we have a name) and a follow-up phone call (when we have a number) possible. EDDM trades all of that for cheaper postage.
What does EDDM cost per piece?▼
USPS lists EDDM Retail postage at about $0.26 per piece, versus about $0.65 for a single-piece First-Class postcard. Add printing on a qualifying flat-size card and an all-in EDDM piece commonly lands around $0.35–$0.45. USPS rates change, so confirm the current figure at usps.com.
Which postcard sizes qualify for EDDM?▼
EDDM Retail requires flat-size mail: the piece has to exceed at least one of 10.5 in long, 6-1/8 in high, or 1/4 in thick. A standard 4x6 postcard (6 × 4 in) and a 6x9 postcard (9 × 6 in) clear none of those thresholds, so neither qualifies. A 6x11 (11 × 6 in) is long enough.
Is EDDM cheaper than targeted direct mail?▼
Per piece, clearly. Often half the cost or less. Per booked customer, it's arithmetic: if a targeted piece costs three times an EDDM piece, it has to earn three times the response to break even. Mailing a known list for a high-ticket service, that bar is usually easy to clear. For a low-ticket impulse offer, EDDM often wins outright.
See what targeted mail looks like
We'll print and mail one real PostKnock postcard to your address. Free, no credit card.
Get a free sample postcardOr see pricing, from $0.91 per card on Pro.