Registration for the 2022 Informed Delivery promotion has opened, even though the actual discounts aren’t available until August 1. We have written, talked and webinared on it for months now, so, as the actual event approaches here are a few things to keep in mind:
The Basics
- Critical dates and facts:
- June 15, 2022: Registration opens
- August 1, 2022: Promotion period opens
- December 31, 2022: Promotion ends
- Discount amount: 4% discount on postage for approved eligible mailings
- Eligible mail types:
- First-Class Mail: Cards, letters, and flats
- USPS Marketing Mail: Letters and flats
- Nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail: Letters and flats
- Ineligible mail types:
- Non-automation
- Saturation mail flats
- Destination Delivery Flats
- Every Door Direct
- Business-to Business
- The Promotion Process:
- The mailer needs to be registered in the program. This is generally going to be the mail service provider – whoever is creating the eDoc.
- Every campaign needs to be reviewed by USPS and approved before mailing to be eligible for the discount.
- The eDoc preparer must claim the discount in the eDoc, and the CCR file must be populated with the two-letter characteristic code PI.
- The mailer must keep a copy of the mail piece for 60 days after the campaign has completed.
Keep in Mind
- Approval process timing may be tricky. The Postal Service is encouraging that campaigns be submitted for approval at least a week early. We are concerned about their ability to approve the high volume they are likely to receive. If you can build in extra time, do.
- Don’t leave flats out of the picture! While the Postal Service is still working to improve the “trigger” rate of Informed Delivery for flats, you will still get the full 4% discount for 100% of the eligible flats in the mailing, trigger or not. In some cases that can be more than $20/M!
- Make sure you have a good serial number strategy for your IMbs. It is always best to use contiguous numbers in a campaign, and if you don’t know what “contiguous” means, or how to do that, ask! They just told me!
- Be sure to make your ride-along ad a clear call-to-action. “Click here!” is popular with USPS.
- You may find there’s more to this Informed Delivery stuff than just a postal discount. Track response! SnailWorks provides all kinds of detailed post-campaign data you can use for this.
- Timing is everything on this promotion, and probably the number one reason some campaigns are not approved. Here’s the times and dates we look at:
- Give plenty of time to the campaign preparer – even SnailWorks. Plan on having all contents to SnailWorks at least two weeks before the mail date.
- Expect at least a week for USPS approval.
- The approved campaign must be entered in USPS no later than 2:00 p.m. ET the day before the mail date…sooner is better.
- When you set your campaign date range, make sure your mail has time to be delivered before the campaign closes. Sounds obvious but…
- When you have your campaign approved by USPS, they’re going to check the campaign URL. Make sure the web page is up and is active – if it’s not, they will not approve the campaign.
- Informed Delivery cannot be used as an email gathering tool. If your target web page prominently requires an email address, it will not be approved.
The Most Important Thing
This all may be harder than you thought. Let SnailWorks do it for you!