Did you hear that cheer? That was real estate agents across the country going craaaaaaaaazy over the United States Postal Service’s EDDM program. What’s EDDM? Great question. EDDM stands for Every Door Direct Mail. EDDM is a great program for reaching a large percentage of people for a small percentage of the “normal” cost of using direct mail marketing.
Life Before EDDM
Before EDDM the option to use direct mail in your real estate business was an expensive one. The cost to mail a postcard was .33 (it’s now gone up AGAIN to .34). Do the math on that. You take a new listing in a master planned community. You want to let all the residents know the property is for sale AND of course show your seller you are working for them and get leads – of course. Before the EDDM program, mailing to a master planned community of, lets say, 1000 homes would cost you $340.00. Through the EDDM program you can reach the same 1000 homes (and likely a lot more) for approximately $200.00 – or LESS.
Now, not all mail is created the same. I’m sure you have noticed how you treat direct mail. You may not even look at it – instead electing to chuck it straight into the garbage or recycle bin. I have clients who’s bread and butter was direct mail. Back in the day, 2007 and before, they would send 5000 pieces (or more) every single month. One of my clients told me he knew for every 1000 postcards he mailed, he would get 2 listings. Fast forward to today and the increase in postage (and shift in consumer behavior towards the intenet) has made it cost prohibitive to mail that amount of pieces.
Direct Mail Still Relevant
Regardless, direct mail STILL plays a vital part in real estate marketing IF it is used correctly. By “used correctly” I am talking about the most important aspect of any marketing program – the message. In the short video below I explain what the EDDM program is, how to register for it, selection of your carrier routes, cost, facing slips, bundling, post office drop off and most importantly – the message.
So now that you know how to use EDDM, you want to use it to share messages that consumers actually care about. Not why you are the best real estate agent in the worrrrrrrrrld but instead, market updates, homes for sale, local business spotlight, lifestyle, testimonials, home values and more. The rate of return of direct mail marketing is traditionally low, but the rate of return does increase many times over if you are using direct mail to market to a “list”, that list being people who already know you and/or your product.
