Targeted Mailing Lists vs. Saturation

Targeted and Saturation mailing lists both save you money on traditional first class postage but which type of mailing list would get your business better results? Which mailing list would reach the customers you want to reach? Do you have a regional focus with local customers? Do you have a broad geographic market but a subset of certain individuals that your product or services are designed for? There are a lot of specifications for each type of mailing list and the options are endless, but here is a simple breakdown of the difference between targeted and saturation.

Targeted Mailing Lists

• Requires 200 + customers
• Choose a specific demographic
• Pay more in postage

Targeted mailing lists usually require at least 200 pieces that are sorted and prepared according to the standard of the USPS. With a targeted mailing you get to choose exactly who you want to mail to so your campaign only goes to your chosen demographics.

The more specifically targeted your list, the better your response rate will be. You may pay a little more for targeted postage than saturation but it is still much less than the price of a first class stamp and you get the benefit of specifically targeting who you want to reach. With a targeted mailing list you can hit your target market dead-on!

The type of businesses that benefit from a targeting mailing lists are businesses that are offering a product that is only beneficial for a certain demographic. With saturation postage, your mail piece will hit every home but if you offer a product or service that is specific to a certain demographic you could be wasting a lot of money by mailing to every household. For example, if you own a pet grooming shop, you will only want to mail to households who own a pet. With a targeted list you can choose more specific demographics  – such as household income, gender, children, ages, pet ownership, etc.

Saturation

• ALL addresses on a carrier route
• Lower postage cost
• Access complete zip code area

Saturation is different from a targeted list because instead of targeting a specific person, it hits every single household in a certain carrier route. They are normally addressed to “current resident” and must stay in a walk sequence order. The postage is significantly less than a targeted list because the mail pieces go to every single house. This is efficient for the USPS because the mail is already set up in the sequence that the mail carrier delivers the mail and takes a lot of work off of them.

The benefits of using a saturation mailing list is that you reach every potential customer in your target market. If you know that you are advertising a service or product that every household or business in a certain neighborhood could benefit from, saturation postage is the way to go. Saturation postage allows you to easily saturate neighborhoods by zip code with your message.

The type of businesses that benefit from saturation postage are businesses that offer services or products that benefit a wide range of people. For example, if you are a restaurant, it would be beneficial for you to send out a saturation mailing to the neighborhoods that are a couple of miles away from your location. Everyone likes to eat out so hitting each home in a certain area would benefit you.

The best way that you can determine what type of mailing list to use is to know your product and know your customer. The more you know about the people you want to reach and how what you are offering can help them, the more successful you will be.