
USPS mailing lists are a powerful tool for businesses looking to reach their target audience effectively. With the right list, you can increase brand awareness, drive sales, and build customer loyalty.
The USPS offers a range of mailing lists that cater to different industries and demographics. For instance, the National Change of Address (NCOA) list helps businesses update their customer databases with accurate addresses.
By leveraging these lists, businesses can personalize their marketing efforts and improve response rates. The USPS also provides tools like the Address Management System (AMS) to help businesses manage their customer data more efficiently.
Using USPS mailing lists can save businesses time and money by reducing the need for manual data entry and minimizing the risk of incorrect addresses.
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What is EDDM?
Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is a direct mail service offered by the United States Post Office (USPS) that allows you to send mail to every home and address in a particular area. This service is specifically designed for small businesses that want to reach a wide audience.
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You can use EDDM to send mail to every address in a particular carrier route or zip code. Some people refer to this type of mailing as a 'Saturation' mailing.
EDDM campaigns can be a cost-effective way to reach a large number of people, but it's essential to consider your marketing goals and audience carefully. If you're not targeting the right people, you may end up wasting money on mail that doesn't get any conversions.
Benefits and Advantages
EDDM mailings offer great cost-effective pricing for small businesses, with marketing flats costing just $0.20 per piece.
This affordable pricing is a major advantage for businesses on a budget, making it easier to reach a large audience without breaking the bank.
You can also mail to entire postal routes with EDDM, allowing you to target specific neighborhoods or areas.
This targeted approach can be especially effective for businesses that serve broad audiences, such as local pizza places, new grocery stores, family restaurants, convenience stores, hardware stores, and local pharmacies.
These types of businesses benefit from letting everyone know they exist, and EDDM makes it easy to do so without requiring a special mailing permit.
In fact, you can even pay with a bulk mailing permit, making it easy to manage your EDDM campaign.
Here are some examples of businesses that can benefit from EDDM:
- Local pizza places
- New grocery stores
- Family restaurants
- Convenience stores
- Hardware stores
- Local pharmacies
Disadvantages and Limitations
One major disadvantage of using USPS mailing lists is that they can be outdated, which can lead to poor delivery rates and wasted resources.
USPS mailing lists are only updated periodically, and this can result in incorrect or incomplete addresses.
The cost of maintaining accurate mailing lists can be high, especially for small businesses or organizations.
This can be a significant limitation for those on a tight budget or with limited resources.
Inaccurate mailing lists can also lead to a loss of credibility and trust with customers, which can be difficult to recover from.
USPS mailing lists often require a significant amount of time and effort to set up and manage, which can take away from other important tasks and responsibilities.
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Direct Mail Marketing
Direct Mail Marketing can be a powerful tool for small businesses looking to reach a large audience. Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is a service offered by the USPS that allows you to send mail to every home and address in a particular area.
This type of mailing is often referred to as a 'Saturation' mailing, and it's used by businesses that want to send mail to every address in a carrier route or zip code. You can design your direct mail piece, print it, and then use the EDDM tool to select a list of residents and businesses to send it to.
To use EDDM, you'll need to go online and pay for your list and postage on the USPS website. Then, you'll drop off your direct mail pieces at a Post Office, and they'll handle the delivery.
Response rates for direct mail marketing vary, but the average rate is between 2.7-4.4%. This means that for every 100 pieces you mail, you can expect 2-4 responses.
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Direct Mail Marketing Response Rates
The average direct mail response rates are between 2.7-4.4%. This means that for every 100 direct mail pieces you mail, you can expect a response rate from around 2-4 recipients.
These numbers are a great return on investment, considering that gaining even one new customer who turns into a loyal repeat customer is a big win.
According to Postary, the average response rate of direct mail is around 2.7-4.4%.
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11 Steps for Direct Mail Marketing
To create a successful direct mail marketing campaign, start by designing your direct mail piece. This is the first step in getting your message out to your target audience.
Next, you'll need to print all your direct mail pieces. This can be done in-house or outsourced to a professional printing service.
The USPS Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) program allows you to select a list of residents or businesses that you want to send your mail to online. This is done using the EDDM tool on the USPS website.
You'll need to pay for your list and postage on the USPS website. This is a straightforward process that can be completed online.
Once you've paid for your list and postage, you'll need to drop off your direct mail pieces at a Post Office. This is the final step before your mail is delivered to your target audience.
Here's a summary of the steps involved in the USPS EDDM program:
- Design your direct mail piece
- Print all your direct mail pieces
- Use the EDDM tool to select a list of residents/businesses
- Pay for your list and postage on the USPS website
- Drop off your direct mail pieces at a Post Office
By following these steps, you'll be well on your way to creating a successful direct mail marketing campaign.
Targeted Mailing Lists
A targeted mailing list is a curated database of recipients selected based on specific characteristics like age, income, buying behavior, or other demographics that match your ideal customer profile. This approach is a game-changer for businesses looking to maximize their marketing efforts and minimize waste.
The effectiveness of targeted mailing lists depends heavily on data quality and proper demographic selection. You really have to know who your ideal customer is to cut the list to as few individuals as possible.
Here are some examples of demographics you can target:
- Life Events: New parents, recent movers, newly retired
- Digital Behavior: Online shoppers, mobile gamers, streaming service users
- Car Ownership: Luxury vehicle owners, electric car drivers, classic car collectors
- Home Details: Solar panel owners, pool owners, historic home owners
- Hobbies: Bird watchers, home brewers, gardening enthusiasts
- Pet Ownership: Multiple pet households, specific breed owners, exotic pet owners
By choosing the right list, you can drill deep into demographics and increase the chances of converting customers.
What Is a Residential List?
A residential list is an index of addresses within a certain ZIP code, neighborhood, or mail delivery route. It's a type of mailing list that marketers use to reach every mailable residential address within a given geographical area.
Residential mailing lists are also known as Resident/Occupant, Res/Occ, or Saturation lists. They're used for general offers that don't require extensive personalization or targeting.
Resident/Occupant data is updated monthly and is sourced directly from the United States Postal Service. This type of data offers marketers an opportunity to receive substantial postal discounts based on the level of carrier route saturation that is achieved.
You might already be familiar with residential mailing lists if you receive coupons and flyers for local businesses at your home. That's because your address is likely included in a Resident/Occupant mailing list.
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Residential mailing lists allow you to target an audience based specifically on geographic location. You can choose the areas you want to target based on a specific mail carrier route, ZIP Code, city, county, state boundary, congressional district, or general radius.
Residential lists are not the same as consumer mailing lists, which contain lists of individuals.
What Are Targeted Lists?
Targeted lists are curated databases of recipients selected based on specific characteristics like age, income, buying behavior, or other demographics that match your ideal customer profile. This approach prevents wasting mailpieces on people who are unlikely to be interested in your product or service.
A well-executed direct mail marketing campaign relies on targeting the right audience, and targeted lists let you mail only to people who are most likely to be interested. Unlike EDDM, which goes to every address on a route, targeted lists help you drill deep into demographics.
For example, if you want to target households based on wealth, you can select a list that includes households with a specific income level. This level of precision helps you cut the list to as few individuals as possible, making your campaign more effective.

Targeted lists can be sliced and diced based on various demographics, such as life events, digital behavior, car ownership, home details, hobbies, and pet ownership. Here are some examples:
- Life Events: New parents, recent movers, newly retired
- Digital Behavior: Online shoppers, mobile gamers, streaming service users
- Car Ownership: Luxury vehicle owners, electric car drivers, classic car collectors
- Home Details: Solar panel owners, pool owners, historic home owners
- Hobbies: Bird watchers, home brewers, gardening enthusiasts
- Pet Ownership: Multiple pet households, specific breed owners, exotic pet owners
However, not all lists are created equal. Many lists are riddled with bad phone numbers, out-of-date company information, or names that no longer live at the address. List quality problems can significantly impact campaign success rates and cost efficiency.
Comparison and Decision
Choosing the right mailing list can be a challenge, but understanding the costs and benefits of each option can help you make an informed decision.
Sending 5,000 mailpieces in an EDDM campaign can be expensive, even if it's a great rate.
You can send EDDM and eliminate the cost of the mailing list, but you'd better be sure that everyone on that route wants your product.
A well-curated targeted list might net you more conversions, even with fewer mailpieces.
Sending 1,000 targeted mailpieces could cost you only $357, compared to nearly $1,100 for an EDDM campaign.
Carefully considering your marketing goals and audience will help you decide between EDDM and targeted lists.
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Sources
- https://www.leadsplease.com/mailing-lists/usps-mailing-list
- https://www.precisionprintkc.com/products/every-door-direct-mail.html
- https://www.melissa.com/direct/mailing-lists-sales-leads/saturation-occupant
- https://deepsync.com/resident-mailing-lists-guide/
- https://blog.click2mail.com/2024/12/19/every-door-direct-mail-eddm-vs-targeted-mailing-lists-making-the-right-choice/
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