Make your postcard
actually work.

A direct mail postcard has about three seconds to earn attention from someone standing over a recycling bin. The difference between a campaign that pulls and one that gets ignored is almost always in the design and the offer, not the size of the mailing list. A 5,000-home mailing of a bad postcard is just a more expensive way to get tossed.

Most of what follows is obvious in retrospect. Most of it gets ignored anyway, because writing a clear postcard is harder than writing a busy one. The rules below are the ones that hold up across every campaign I run.

Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is the USPS program behind most local postcard campaigns, including most of mine. Instead of buying a mailing list, you pick mail carrier routes, and the Postal Service delivers one postcard to every home on them. Cards are addressed to "Local Postal Customer," so there are no names or addresses to manage.

Routes are chosen on the USPS EDDM map, which shows the household count for each route along with census data like age, income, and household size. That's how we target a neighborhood instead of a whole town.

What qualifies for EDDM.

What EDDM costs.

Two parts: printing and postage. EDDM postage is a flat per-piece rate set by USPS, well below the price of a stamp, and it's usually adjusted each July. Printing depends on size, paper, and quantity. Every Utah Flyer price includes print, postage, and drop-off, starting at $625 for a Simple Mailing. See the full EDDM cost breakdown, or see pricing.

EDDM or addressed mail?

EDDM reaches everyone on a route, which suits businesses that serve a whole area: trades, restaurants, real estate, local retail. If you need to reach a specific list, like past customers or new movers, that's addressed mail. It costs more per piece and takes a mailing list. Not sure which fits? Ask me.

There is no universal answer. The right number depends on what you sell, who you serve, and what you're trying to accomplish. As a general guide:

A bigger mailing isn't automatically better. A 1,000-home mailing to the right neighborhoods will outperform a 5,000-home mailing to the wrong ones. Route selection matters more than route count. We work this out together during the quote.

A postcard arrives, sits on a counter for a day or two, and either gets acted on or thrown away. That window matters. Mail two weeks before a promotion ends, not the day of. Mail before the season, not during it. HVAC tune-ups land in early spring and early fall, not in July. Real estate listings land before the buying season, not in November. Restaurant promotions land before the weekend, not after.

For most campaigns, that means thinking about the calendar at least a month ahead. From the day you say yes, expect 14 to 18 days before the postcard hits mailboxes. Plan back from your event or season accordingly.

Simple Mailing clients provide their own design. Here's what we need to print it cleanly. Send your designer or print provider this list, or send the file and I'll review it before submission.

Submit final files at least two weeks before the mailing date. Need design help? Just ask.

If your offer, design, and call to action aren't where you want them, that's exactly what the Custom Campaign tier is built for. I'll handle the strategy, the design, the copywriting, and the production. You bring the business and the brief.