By Published On: March 24, 2021

If you’re not partnering with the postal service already on your direct mail initiatives, you should be. The USPS is offering marketers promotions and incentives to help increase customer engagement and drive higher response rates with their mail pieces.

Informed Delivery

One of the easiest ways for businesses to take advantage of USPS offerings is to incorporate Informed Delivery into their direct mail campaigns. When a residential consumer signs up for Informed Delivery, they receive a scanned image of the exterior of their incoming mail. They can then access these images through email, an online dashboard or a mobile app. When a sender participates in Informed Delivery, they can provide supplemental content that includes custom images and a URL. In doing so, they have now created an integrated marketing campaign by providing the consumer with a digital experience. Best of all, participation is free!

Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Surprisingly, many mailers are still not participating. If you need further convincing, here are some updated stats:

  • Informed Delivery enrollment has surpassed 33.5 million users
  • The average daily email open rate ranges from 60% to 70%
  • 82% of users engage in the morning and most emails are opened within one hour of receipt

The following baseline results achieved by participating businesses as reported by the USPS:

  • 13% more reach
  • 39% more attention
  • 37% higher response
  • 20% increase in conversions

For details on registering a campaign, talk to your agency partner or your printer or go to usps.com/informeddeliverycampaigns.

USPS Yearly Promotions

Each year the USPS publishes a marketing calendar that outlines the promotions and incentives being offered to mailers for the year.

The 2021 promotions encourage marketers, printers, and mailers to utilize new technology and print techniques that enhance the traditional benefits of direct mail – effective, tangible, portable, rising response rates over other channels, and popularity with Millennials. This in turn can drive higher response rates and increase the overall return on the mailer’s investment (ROI).

The current post office promotions include the following categories:

Tactile, Sensory, and Interactive Mailpiece Engagement  – Enhance customer engagement with the mail through the use of advanced print innovations in paper stock, inks, interactive elements, and finishing techniques. Eligible pieces receive a 2% postage discount upfront.

Emerging and Advanced Technology – Incorporate emerging technologies such as AR, VR/MR, NFC, Video-in-Print, multichannel mail integration with voice assistants into your direct mailpieces. Eligible pieces receive a 2% postage discount upfront.

Earned Value Reply Mail – Earn postage credits for using Business Reply Mail® (BRM), Courtesy Reply Mail™ (CRM), and Share Mail® pieces.

Personalized Color Transpromo – Enhance the value of First-Class Mail® bills and statements by incorporating color messaging and personalization to foster a better connection and response from your customers. Eligible pieces receive a 2% postage discount during the promotion period.

Mobile Shopping – Integrate your DM pieces with mobile technologies that create a convenient and seamless online shopping experience for consumers. Many new mobile barcode formats can be leveraged to qualify for this promotion, including the use of Payment QRs.

Informed Delivery Campaigns –  Use the Informed Delivery omni-channel tool – see above for more details. Mail that meets the promotion requirements may be eligible for an upfront 2% postage discount during the promotion period. Eligible pieces receive a 2% postage discount upfront.

Check out their website to download the marketing calendar containing more promotion details along with registration deadlines and promotion timelines.

As you work through the details of campaign planning for your direct mail initiatives, check out the USPS resources and see if you can take advantage of what the post office has to offer. Not sure where to start? We’re direct mail experts, reach out to us on our website and we can help.

About the Author: Sheryl Doyle

Sheryl Doyle
A problem solver by nature, Sheryl loves working with clients to solve a tough marketing challenge. She gets to the heart of it by first uncovering their real business needs and then works to develop marketing-based solutions. As if they were an extension of her family, she strongly advocates for her clients and keeps their best interests at heart. With her broad base of marketing knowledge and experience, ability to see the big picture, and knack for managing the details, Sheryl marshals the right resources and confidently wrangles the process to ensure a successful outcome every time.
Bank Branding and Marketing
Megan meets with her peers, and then gets judgy (in a good way)