EDDM vs. Targeted Mail: Which Works Better on the South Shore?

A Kingston print shop's plain-English guide to Every Door Direct Mail vs. targeted mailing lists — with real numbers from South Shore campaigns.

By We Print Today · Published 2026-07-20

If you run a business anywhere from Weymouth to Plymouth, you've probably heard both pitches: "Just do EDDM — it's cheap" and "Buy a targeted list — it's smarter." Both can work. Both can also waste money. After 46 years of running mail campaigns for South Shore businesses, here's how we actually decide.

What EDDM actually is

Every Door Direct Mail is a USPS program that lets you mail to every address on a carrier route — no mailing list, no permit, no addressing. You pick a route (say, all 412 homes on a Kingston mail carrier's route), print your postcards, drop them at the Post Office, and the USPS delivers one to every mailbox for about 20¢ per piece in postage.

Where EDDM shines

• Restaurants, pizza shops, salons, dentists — anyone whose customers come from within a 3-mile radius.
• Grand openings and "we moved down the street" announcements.
• Seasonal offers (spring cleanouts, holiday menus, tax season).
• Anything where reaching 100% of a neighborhood beats reaching a curated few.

Where EDDM falls flat

• B2B — you'll pay to mail to hundreds of homes to reach a few offices.
• High-ticket services (custom kitchens, financial advisors) where 90% of the route can't afford you.
• Anything requiring a specific age, income, or homeowner profile.

When a targeted list wins

A targeted mailing list costs more per address — usually 6–15¢ per name — plus first-class postage (currently 56¢ per postcard vs. EDDM's 20¢). So the same 1,000-piece drop that costs about $300 in postage on EDDM is closer to $700 with a targeted list. That premium only pays off when the list is genuinely more relevant.

A real example: a Duxbury landscaper wanted to reach homeowners with properties over half an acre and household income over $150K. EDDM would have blanketed apartments and starter homes. We pulled a list of 1,847 matching households across Duxbury, Marshfield, and Cohasset — his 3.4% response rate on that list would have been closer to 0.4% on EDDM.

The rough math we use in the shop

For most local retail and service businesses on the South Shore, EDDM wins on cost-per-customer-acquired if more than about 15% of the neighborhood is a plausible customer. Below that, buy the list.

What we print and mail in-house

We handle the full campaign under one roof in Kingston — design, printing on the exact EDDM-compliant sizes (6.25×9, 6×11, 8.5×11), bundling, and delivery to the Post Office next door. For targeted mailings we also handle list rental, addressing, and NCOA cleaning so you don't pay to mail to people who moved to Florida three years ago.

Not sure which fits your business? We'll look at your target customer, your neighborhood, and your budget — no pressure, no sales pitch. Get a free mail-campaign quote