What is EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail)?

EDDM, or Every Door Direct Mail, is a USPS service that delivers a single mail piece to every residential and business address along chosen postal carrier routes, so a mailer can saturate a geographic area without buying a mailing list or printing individual names and addresses.

How it works

The mailer selects target carrier routes on a map, often by zip code, city, or radius around a location, and can see the approximate household count per route before committing. A flat-size piece is designed within USPS EDDM dimensions and printed in the quantity needed to cover those routes. Each piece carries a simplified indicia instead of a personalized address, since it goes to every door rather than a named person. The pieces are bundled by route, paperwork is filed, and they are dropped at the post office that serves the selected area. Because there is no list to rent or addresses to print, the per-piece cost is among the lowest in direct mail.

When and why it is used

EDDM is used when a business wants broad neighborhood reach at the lowest postage rate and does not need to name specific recipients, which makes it popular with restaurants, home services, retail openings, and local events. It trades precision targeting for saturation and cost efficiency, so it works best when nearly everyone in an area is a potential customer. A common pattern is to saturate the routes immediately around a location, where drive time makes a response most likely. Mail Processing Associates serves businesses in all 50 states from a single Lakeland facility, handling route selection through postal drop. To run a campaign, see our EDDM mailing services.

Reviewed by the Mail Processing Associates production team, 35 years in business and over 10 million mail pieces a year.