Electronic direct mail (EDM)
Electronic direct mail, almost always shortened to EDM, is the Australian marketing term for a marketing email sent to a subscriber list. Despite the name, an EDM is email: nothing is printed and nothing goes through the post. The term borrowed the language of postal direct mail when email marketing adopted its playbook of targeted lists, offers and measurable response.
EDM vs direct mail: the actual difference
An EDM arrives in an inbox alongside dozens of other marketing messages the same day, costs close to nothing per send, and is measured in opens and clicks. Physical direct mail arrives in a letterbox that receives a handful of marketing pieces a week, costs a per-piece print and postage rate, and is measured by QR scans and unique discount code redemptions. One is cheap and crowded; the other costs real money per piece and is handled physically. They are different tools, not competitors for the same job.
When each channel earns its place
- EDM — frequent, low-cost contact with subscribers who still open your email: newsletters, product drops, routine promotions.
- Physical direct mail — the customers email can no longer reach: lapsed buyers, unsubscribed segments, and inboxes where your open rate has collapsed. A postcard does not land in a spam folder.
Most Australian DTC brands run both: EDM as the always-on channel, postal mail as the triggered channel for win-back and unengaged segments. The revenue comparison between the two is covered in direct mail vs email ROAS.
Why the confusion persists
Australian agencies and job ads use "EDM" so routinely that many marketers have never connected it to the postal channel it was named after. If a brief asks for an EDM, it is asking for an email. If it asks for direct mail with no qualifier, in Australia that usually still means the physical kind: printed, addressed and delivered by Australia Post. TouchDrop automates the physical kind for Shopify brands, covered on the direct mail automation for Australia page.
Related terms and reading
Want to see these concepts in action?
Try TouchDrop free