Effective Local Marketing for Your Martial Arts And Fitness Business with EDDM

As a martial arts studio or fitness center owner, one of your biggest challenges is reaching potential new members in your local area. With so much competition and noise from other businesses, how can you cut through the clutter and get your message in front of the right prospects?

One highly effective and affordable solution is to use Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) from the United States Postal Service.

What is EDDM?

EDDM is a direct mail service offered by USPS that allows you to send your marketing materials to specific mail carrier routes without needing names or addresses on the mail pieces. Instead of renting or purchasing mailing lists, EDDM allows you to reach every address in your targeted neighborhoods.

The process is simple: You choose the carrier routes that correspond to the areas around your martial arts school or gym, then have your promotional materials (flyers, menus, postcards, etc.) printed and delivered to your local Post Office's handling facility. From there, the Post Office does all the work of bundling and delivering your mail pieces to every active address on those routes.

Why EDDM Works for Local Businesses

Several key advantages make EDDM an excellent marketing tool, especially for locally focused businesses like martial arts schools and fitness centers:

Affordability - With rates as low as $0.192 per piece (plus printing costs), EDDM provides an extremely cost-effective way to reach a wide audience compared to other forms of advertising. You can affordably saturate entire neighborhoods.

Laser Targeting with Census Data - To take your targeting even further, you can use census data to identify the carrier routes with the highest concentrations of your ideal prospects. For a martial arts school focused on families, you can pinpoint routes with a high number of households that have children. For a high-end fitness studio, you can select routes in affluent areas based on income levels. The Census Bureau's data provides incredibly accurate demographic details down to the city block level. Combining this invaluable data with USPS's EDDM mapping tools allows you to create hyper-targeted campaigns aimed at the households that fit your prime audience.

Tangibility - Physical mailers have more impact than emails or online ads that are easy to ignore. A well-designed print piece catches the recipient's attention.

Frequency - EDDM campaigns can be run repeatedly, ensuring your business stays top-of-mind with your local community through consistent marketing touchpoints.

Getting Started with EDDM

Using EDDM is relatively straightforward, but there are some key steps to get it right:

1. Define Your Target Area - Identify the specific neighborhoods or zip codes you want to target based on demographics, proximity to your location, etc. Use census data to pinpoint routes with a high concentration of your prime prospects like families with children or high-income households.

2. Design an Attention-Grabbing Mailpiece - Work with a designer to create an eye-catching flyer, postcard or other self-mailer that compels the recipient to be interested. Highlight your key offerings, pricing, and a strong call-to-action. \

3 Prepare Your Materials - Have your pieces printed according to USPS requirements for size and address placement. EDDM mail doesn't have individual names/addresses.

4. Submit Your Order - Work with your local Post Office to submit your order correctly bundled by carrier route with facing slips and postage.

5. Review Results & Adjust - Track any promo codes or offers to gauge the response rate for your EDDM campaign. Refine your design, targeting, and demographics as needed.

Use QR codes to send customers directly to a specific landing page with your offer. This allows you to direct real life traffic online. 

By following EDDM best practices and leveraging census data for precision targeting, martial arts schools and gyms can cost-effectively reach thousands of households in their local area that match their ideal customer profile.

This drives awareness, attendance at events, and ultimately new student/member sign-ups. When used as part of an integrated local marketing strategy and an online social media marketing strategy, EDDM can be a powerful way for fitness businesses to grow.