It’s no secret that the USPS loves commercial mail. While last year’s first-class mail volumes fell to their lowest since 1971, marketing mail was on the rise in 2021. That must be one of the reasons why the postal service is encouraging marketers to innovate and save with six special promotions throughout the year. Many of these special promotions are offering increased discounts compared to last year.
Some quick facts on these programs and why you may want to take advantage:
4% Tactile, Sensory & Interactive Promotion (now through July 31): Perhaps you’ve always wanted to test an interactive pop-up format or a mailer with special textures, visuals, or sound? With this discount, which has been doubled for 2022, you can help offset the added production and first-class mailing costs. Besides making a big impression in the mail, you may discover the added cost is worth the boost in response/sales regardless of the discount. Get the details here.
2%-3% Emerging and Advanced Technology Promotion (now through Aug 31): This promotion encourages the use of technology (i.e. smart phones and voice assistants) to create highly interactive mailers. Depending on the tech that’s involved, you can earn different levels of savings.
- 2% Emerging Technologies discounts include mail pieces which incorporate augmented reality (3-D renderings on your phone) or voice assistance via Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, etc.
- 3% Enhanced Emerging Technologies discounts include a variety of tech from mixed reality (3-D sight, sound and touch) to 3-D Virtual Reality, both of which require VR goggles or headsets. Get the details here.
$0.02 Earned Value Promotion (April 1 – Jun 30, register by Mar 31): You can earn a $0.02 per mail piece credit by using Business Reply Mail, Courtesy Reply Mail, and Share Mail to help customers respond easily by mail. Then, you can apply those credits to future mailings using presort and automation First Class Mail® and USPS Marketing Mail®. Get the details here.
3% Personalized Color Transpromo Promotion (July 1 – Dec 31, registration begins May 15): Discover the value of color personalization in your billing, statement, or account summary content in your customer communications. Eligible mail pieces include First-Class Mail® presort and automation letters which have a full color marketing message or visualization of account data in two or more colors not including black, white, or grayscale. Get the details here.
4% Informed Delivery Promotion (Aug 1 – Dec 31, registration begins Jun 15): As featured in our January post, the USPS Informed Delivery service allows people to get a preview of what’s arriving in their mailbox via email, web or mobile app. This service also allows marketers to run small digital ads on the Informed Delivery platform which coincide with a mail piece appearing in a customer’s mailbox. This steep discount is all the more reason to see how an Informed Delivery campaign may perform for you. Get the details here.
2% Mobile Shopping Promotion (Sept 1 – Dec 31, registration begins July 15): Many mailers already qualify for this program. Simply use a QR code, scannable image or voice assistance call to action in your mailer, encouraging consumers to use their mobile device for response. Get the details here.
Now’s the time to learn more and start planning.
As you can see in the descriptions above, these promotions run for a limited time and require registration with the USPS. You’ll find the promotional calendar and how to enroll for each promotion at postalpro.usps.com/promotions.
