EDDM in a small town: how to make a short run pay off

Why a small town pays more per home

Printing gets cheaper as the run gets longer. Our 6.5″ × 9″ EDDM postcard is $889 for 10,000, under nine cents a card, but the shortest run we print is 2,500 cards for $379.

A city business mails all of those cards in one go. A shop in a town of 800 homes uses a third of them, so the cost per home on that first mailing is roughly three times higher.

Our county cost study puts numbers on it. Across all US counties, the median cost to print and ship one card per home is 13.2 cents, yet 22 counties come to more than a dollar a home, and Loving County, Texas has just 35 housing units.

What USPS needs from a small mailing

The post office side is friendlier to small towns than the print side. An EDDM Retail mailing needs only 200 pieces, and one Post Office accepts up to 5,000 a day, so a village of a few hundred homes qualifies.

Postage is charged per piece at the EDDM Retail rate, whichever type of route you pick. Check the current rate on usps.com before you budget, because USPS sets it and changes it.

Count the rural routes and PO boxes

In many small towns, a large share of residents never get mail at the house. They collect it from a PO Box at the post office, or it arrives on a rural route that runs far past the town limits.

The USPS EDDM Online Tool lists every carrier route by type: city, rural, highway contract and PO Box. Select all of the ones that serve your town, or many of your neighbors may never see the card.

Rural routes are often long, with a few hundred stops spread over many miles. That is exactly where mail beats knocking on doors, because the carrier drives the route for you.

Five ways to use the spare cards

A 2,500-card run in a town of 900 homes leaves about 1,600 cards. Plan for them before you order, and the extra cards stop being waste:

• Mail the same routes again three or four weeks later. A second drop of the same card reminds people who meant to call.
• Add the next town over. Neighboring towns often shop at the same hardware store, diner or garage.
• Keep a stack at the counter and tuck one into every order, invoice and delivery.
• Ask the feed store, café or church office to leave a few out, with their permission.
• Save a batch for the county fair, a home show or a booth at a ball game.

Share a run with a neighbor business

Two businesses that do not compete can split one run. A plumber and a landscaper, or a diner and a salon, each take one side of the card and share the bill.

Both still reach every home on the routes, and each pays for half the print. Agree on the routes and the drop date first, then call us so one design team lays out both sides together.

Pick the cheapest card that qualifies

Every EDDM card has to count as a flat, so it must be longer than 10.5″ or taller than 6.125″. The slimmest flat we print, the 4.25″ × 11″ postcard, costs $349 for 2,500 and $519 for 5,000.

That card holds one strong offer, a phone number and a short list of services. For a photo of your work or a small menu, step up to the 6.5″ × 9″ at $379 for 2,500.

A sample plan for a town of 1,200 homes

Order 2,500 6.5″ × 9″ cards for $379. Mail all 1,200 homes in the first week of the month, including the rural and PO Box routes.

Four weeks later, mail the same 1,200 homes again with the same card. The last 100 go on the counter and into every invoice.

One print bill covers both drops, which brings printing to about 16 cents a card. You pay USPS postage on each drop, and shipping is shown for your ZIP before you pay.

When EDDM is the wrong tool

Below 200 homes, EDDM Retail is not an option at all. If you already know most customers by name, a short mailing to a list of addresses reaches them without paying for houses that will never buy.

If you can walk the whole town in an afternoon, door hangers cost nothing to deliver. Our 4.25″ × 11″ hanger is $409 for 2,500.

Not sure which fits your town? Call 512-573-1977 with your route counts, and Corey will tell you how he would split the run.

Questions

Is EDDM worth it in a small town?

Yes, when you plan to use the whole run. Mail the town twice from one order, add the next town, or split the card with another business, and the cost per home drops to city levels.

What is the minimum for an EDDM mailing?

USPS takes EDDM Retail mailings from 200 pieces, and one Post Office accepts up to 5,000 pieces a day.

Can EDDM reach PO boxes and rural routes?

Yes. The USPS EDDM Online Tool lists PO Box and rural routes alongside city routes, and you can select them the same way.

Can I order fewer than 2,500 EDDM postcards?

Our shortest EDDM run is 2,500 cards, priced as you pay for 1,000. Call 512-573-1977 if you need help planning how to use them all.