Are you considering doing a saturation or bulk mailing? For those not familiar with what a saturation mailing is, it is simply a mailer that is sent out by targeting all of the addresses in an entire carrier route (further breakdown of a zip code). This type of mailer is utilized by businesses whose target audience is everyone in a specific area. Saturation mailings are the most cost effective way to target prospective customers in a specific area as you receive the lowest postage rate possible.
That said, there are quite a few intricacies when it comes to saturation mailers that you should be aware of before executing your direct mail campaign. One of the most important and not so well known things you need to understand are drop stops and drop addresses. By definition here is what they are.
Drop Stops or Drop Address: A delivery point where a postal employee drops a bundle of advertising material.
For example, an apartment building equals 1 drop but could have 100 housing units within the building. This means 1 stop for 100 drops which results in singular address for everyone living in the apartment building.
In essence the postal carrier can take a stack of however many addresses there are for that particular drop stop and drop them off at a point of destination whether it be a table in front of the mail boxes, an office, etc. In our experience the vast majority of these pieces will not be delivered to each individual mailbox.
**See example image to the right for how the are typically delivered.
Now that you understand what a drop address is, let’s take a look at why drop addresses can diminish your return and what you can do to avoid mailing them.
Drop stops and drop addresses can diminish your return for the obvious reason that they are not guaranteed to get into the hands of the intended recipient. What’s even worse is your direct mail piece is more than likely to be sitting out in the open and exposed to everyone that passes by. Who knows is someone will open them up and take all the coupons or even worse, throw them in the trash!
So what can you do to avoid drop addresses? You must work with an experienced direct mail company that has the proper software to identify drop addresses. If you don’t have drop addresses in your area, then you are in the clear. However, if you do have drop addresses in your area, it is critical that you consult with your direct mail account expert. You need to make sure you should remove the drop addresses and inquire if there are any additional costs of doing so.
At Mail Shark, we can identify drop addresses, tell you where they are, and how to remove them. This is only possible through our full service direct mail option.
With the new post office EDDM program you may not remove drop addresses. Furthermore, the post office website does not give you the ability to identify drop stops with their EDDM software.
Contact Mail Shark today for a free evaluation of your mailing list and mail program. We would be glad to help remove drop stops and optimize your direct mail campaign for maximum efficiency.