Why Informed Delivery Might Be Your New Multichannel Best Friend

Want to turn your traditional mailing into a multichannel, multi-touch campaign at no extra cost? All you have to do is send it. That’s right. To create an effective multichannel campaign, you don’t have to do anything extra beyond sending out your mail. The United States Postal Service does the rest.

 

How does this work? It’s called USPS Informed Delivery, a free service from the Postal Service. The USPS scans images of the mail as a regular part of mail processing. When mail recipients sign up for the Informed Delivery service, the USPS takes those images and puts them into a daily email digest delivered to subscribers every morning. This allows postal customers to see what is coming in their mailbox that day.

 

This information will appear in the user’s email digest, the USPS Mobile App, or their dashboard at USPS.com.

Currently, nearly 30 million Americans have signed up for the free service. Open rates for Informed Delivery Digest emails average 60%.

 

Benefits of Informed Daily Delivery

Not only does Informed Delivery generate excitement by allowing mail recipients to see images of the mail they are about to receive, but it enables them to respond to offers immediately, even before the mail arrives.

 

How does this work?

 

  1. They can view the image.

By placing teasers or offers on the front of the postcard or the outside of the envelope, your offers will be visible within the recipient’s email. Recipients can respond by taking a subsequent action, such as making a phone call or going to your website.

 

  1. They can click a promotional link. 

For a truly interactive campaign, you can add full-color custom images and links to promotional landing pages that will appear underneath the image of the mailpiece. These images might look like colorful banners, for example, or miniature advertisements. If recipients see something that catches their eye (“Donate now!” or “Take advantage of this FREE offer!”), they can click through immediately—right from within the email.

 

Multiple interactive campaigns for the program can be conducted at one time for a single mailing. For example, you might send out a static mail piece but create different interactive links for other geographic regions.

 

To qualify for the enhanced Informed Delivery service, mail pieces must contain a valid IMb (Intelligent Mail barcode). For most marketers, working with a qualified printer or mail house will make the most sense for these campaigns.

 

Want to learn more? Let’s talk!

 

LINK to Informed Delivery page:

https://www.usps.com/business/informed-delivery.htm