We’re always looking for new ways to expand the power of your direct marketing dollars – and we love it when the Postal Service joins in with new services and discounts. As 2019 gets underway, we’re especially excited about Informed Delivery, a digital notification service that lets residential customers preview their mail even before it hits home.
Informed Delivery is an optional service that delivers images of regular mail headed for a residential customer’s mailbox. USPS customers who sign up will receive a daily digital preview that can be viewed on smartphones, computers or tablets. They can also track incoming packages and interact with mail on a secure online dashboard.
Just like a physical mailbox, the Informed Delivery feature is provided at a household level based on a unique delivery point code for each address. Multiple residents can sign up.
Right now there are nearly 15 million residential customers signed up for Informed Delivery, and USPS is promoting the program with the goal of reaching 40 million by 2020.
What Informed Delivery will do for your direct mail campaigns?
Informed Delivery offers you an unprecedented opportunity to increase your omnichannel presence by connecting with residential customers who’ve already signed up. Using the various features of Informed Delivery will generate more consumer impressions, interactions and insights – all great ways to boost revenue.
You can use Informed Delivery to:
• Get more mileage from your traditional mailings with digital images that arrive ahead of time. Since open rates for this email-driven service are as high as 60%, you will greatly expand the number of customers who see your message twice!
• Generate more impressions from other household members who sign up for Informed Delivery. Multiple residents at same address can sign up, so they’ll also see your preview image when they check the mail electronically.
• Deliver bonus messages to users when you conduct an official Informed Delivery campaign. These custom images, also called representative or ride-along images, are submitted when you create a new campaign. Just imagine what this extra messaging can do for you! You can feature anything from details on an upcoming sale, discount or loyalty program to previews of new products and services. The ride-along image contains a target URL of your choosing, so you can send customers through to any other web-based content you choose, creating even more engagement opportunities.
Here’s how Informed Delivery looks
Why running an Informed Delivery campaign is the key to best results
With Informed Delivery, USPS will generate previews of your mailer whether you create an official campaign or not. However, there are real advantages to running a campaign each time.
✔ You can submit an enhanced image of your mail piece, ensuring maximum eye appeal.
✔ Customers can respond to your digital message immediately. When they click on the ride-along image, they will go directly to the web content you choose, giving them the chance to engage with you even before they’ve received your mailing!
✔ You can coordinate other multichannel campaigns with Informed Delivery — linking the release of new web content with your mailing, for example, or timing social media campaigns to expand your message.
✔ You can collect information on campaign reach and results, including open rates, click-through rates and more, through data analytics.
And if that’s not enough to convince you, how about a 2% postage discount?
Regular and nonprofit Marketing Mail letters and flats and First-Class Mail presort or automation letters, cards, and flats that meet USPS requirements can earn this upfront discount from September 1 to November 30, 2019. Just one more reason to work this new option into your omnichannel marketing plans for the months ahead.
We’ll be happy to show you how Informed Delivery campaigns can enhance your current direct marketing program. Send us a message here and we’ll reach out with free ideas and illustrations to help you get started.
Looking for more information about Informed Delivery and postal savings?
Give us some details about your next project – we’re ready to work with you!
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