Most marketers will tell you the average response rate for any kind of direct mail is 0.5 to 2 percent. While correct, these numbers should be your minimum range of ROI for a campaign to be worth the investment.
You must understand that the ideal response rate for every EDDM® campaign differs based on the industry-type, marketing goal, and company budget.
How do you measure the average response rate for EDDM?
The response rate is one of the key performance indicators for measuring an EDDM® campaign’s result.
The ‘rate’ of response indicates the ‘percentage’ of people who have responded to a specific EDDM initiative.
Based on your tracking tools, you need to count the number of responses your EDDM® mailer garners, and later divide them by the quantity of mailers delivered.
- Number of responses = People who responded to your EDDM postcard
- Quantity of mailers = Number mailers delivered
For example:
Your response tracking tools for an EDDM campaign with 5,000 mailer deliveries are phone calls and website visits.
Here is the number of responses received:
Calls – 322
Website visits – 178
Total quantity – 500
Here’s the response rate for this EDDM initiative:
Quantity of Mailers Delivered/Number of Responses = Response Rate
5000/500 = 10 percent
Therefore, the response rate for the specified campaign is 10%.
What is the average response rate for EDDM?
A response rate of 2 percent is feasible in the following conditions:
- You’re targeting a new set of customers who are not actively looking for your service offerings
- You’re using a generic offer which requires little brand commitment from your audience
The breakdown is simple. The more you target responsive customers with high brand retention and loyalty, the better your response rates will be.
Remember, a 0.5 to 2 percent is just the universal average response rate for EDDM. If your marketing is ineffective, it can go even lower. Whereas appropriate branding and a strong marketing message can help you garner more responses.
