About a year and a half ago a new Italian restaurant opened in my town. Almost everyone tried it and it was so crowded it was hard to get in. The food was good, but the menu was nothing special. You can get the same dishes at other places in the area. In about two months the crowds got smaller and it wasn’t long before the owner, Joey, was suffering from a lack of business. The problem was that the novelty had warned and there was a lot of competition from other local restaurants.
Joey was smart and changed his strategy with a new modern Mediterranean menu using seasonal local produce and adding specialties like lamb, pork belly and more fish options. The plan was to change the special offers each month to attract new and old customers.
To get the word out, Joey decided to find a cheap color printing service online to print her custom postcards each month announcing the new items on the next month’s menu. He offered new special discounts with each mailing. Joey explored different ways to distribute the cards and decided to use Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM), an inexpensive USPS mail delivery service that costs much less than standard direct mail, to promote his new marketing promotion. At the end of each month, everyone in my neighborhood, including me, received personalized printed postcards in their mailbox at Joey’s Little Italy Italian Restaurant.
Within three months, the postal brand began to be recognized. Now Joey’s business is up and running. She can even keep track of customers using her takeout and delivery service, as she prints a special coupon with a discount code on all postcards. As a continuing promotion on her tenth order, she offers him a free flatbread pizza. Postal shipments also offer dinners at fixed discount prices on weekdays. The restaurant has become so popular that on weekends it is difficult to get a reservation. Business is doing so well that she is remodeling and expanding to take over the store next door. Joey is now able to sponsor local sports teams, which also strengthens his brand. His only complaint is that he doesn’t have time to spend money on himself, but his wife and children are very happy.
The value of printing cheap postcards online and distributing them using Every Door Direct Mail is that you can target your shipment by mile radius, ZIP code, or even individual carrier routes. Your local post office can provide maps of the area, and you don’t need an expensive mailing list. Your custom printed postcards go to every home or home and business in the area you select. The best part is that printing 1,000 postcards is inexpensive and only costs $0.175 to send each card. That’s 1,000 custom printed EDDM postcards mailed for just $175. Another advantage is that it saves money because direct mail postal permits are not needed. All you have to do is print “Local Postal Customer” and a little indication in the top right hand corner of the postcards, select where you want them delivered and they are delivered in about 2-3 days, much faster than regular bulk mail. . Contact the post office for the EDDM Mail Form or for more information on Every Door Direct Mail Retail.
There are some easy rules that must be followed. There are 8 standard sizes for printing custom postcards, 4.5 X 12, 6 X 12, 6.5 X 12, 6.5 X 9, 8.5 X 11, 8.5 X 7, 9 X 11, 9 X 12 and 4.5 X 14 trifold menus or brochures The maximum weight of each piece is a generous 3.3 ounces, which is more than any standard size postcard. You can send up to 5,000 personalized postcards per day from any post office of your choice. Cards must be packaged in quantities of 500 or 1,000.
For more information on Every Door Direct Mail Retail, click https://www.usps.com/business/every-door-direct-mail.htm
There are many other businesses that can benefit from printing affordable Every Door Direct Mail retail postcards as an ongoing local marketing campaign. Some businesses that can benefit are real estate firms, lawyers, pharmacies, florists, dry cleaners, home improvement companies, dentists, and health professionals. Do you want to improve your business? Joey wasn’t lucky to be smart. Any local or small business can get a high return on investment by printing custom postcards online and distributing them using EDDM.
