The Value in Informed Delivery

You probably don’t like spoilers for movies, but how about for your direct mail?

A few weeks ago, I talked in this blog about the “mail moment,” that special experience created by data and print technologies when a customer holds a mailer in their hands and looks at it.

It can be, I said, “a powerful way to engage with them.” And many times, it is. I’ve experienced it myself.

But as much as I like that element of surprise, I also like to know if that check, birthday card, or tax form that I’m expecting will show up in my mailbox today. I want just enough of a sneak preview to whet my appetite, and not make me feel disappointed when there’s nothing.

This is a big reason why the U.S. Postal Service introduced its Informed Delivery service.

The first time I heard of it was in September 2015, when I was a speaker at the National PCC Day event in New York. Then-USPS CMO Jim Cochrane talked about a program undergoing trials that would let people see their mail before it gets delivered.

It sounded great to me! So I registered when it rolled out in 2017.

How Does Informed Delivery Work?

It’s pretty simple. Consumers and businesses sign up online for a verified, free, password-protected Informed Delivery account.

Each morning, the customer gets a Daily Digest email with images of some of the letter-size mail pieces scheduled to show up in their mailbox that day.

These grayscale address-side images are generated when your mail pieces are scanned as they pass through USPS’s automation equipment.

It’s a passive experience. But much more is possible.

Informed Delivery Campaigns Drive Immediate Action

With an Interactive Mail campaign, you can make more of a first impression on the customer as they’re reviewing their notification email or scrolling through their USPS app or account on the USPS portal. And potentially, you’ll be able to include non-letter sized First-Class, Marketing Mail, and Periodicals, such as flats, catalogs, and periodicals.

How? By using substitute images to help the customer bridge the gap more easily to a digital experience such as:

• Going to your website
• Visiting a personalized landing page
• Activating their phone app

You’ve got two campaign options.

A basic campaign pairs the black-and-white image with a smaller clickable ridealong image.

A dual campaign swaps out the grayscale scan with a large 4-color image or graphic, and the ridealong image is used for the call-to-action here as well.

You want more details? USPS has a terrific ID campaign guide that explains all of the requirements and processes, from pre- to post-campaign.

So I’ve been a fan of Informed Delivery since Day 1 because of how it creates more impressions for your or your client’s mail. Mail campaigns that can target and reach audiences in the digital and physical worlds simultaneously increase their odds of success.

And Informed Delivery campaigns are FREE. You just have to set them up.

According to the most recent stats, Informed Delivery has achieved impressive growth:

• 71.5 million registered users
• 69.9 million email-enabled users
• 34.1% saturation rate of U.S. households
• Average 58.9% open rate for Daily Digest emails
• 44.5 billion impressions created
• Nearly 915,00 campaigns completed

Here are a few questions you should be asking when planning, designing, and producing mail that works well in Informed Delivery:

1. How does your direct mail look in a grayscale image on the small screen in your email or USPS app?
2. How does the campaign create anticipation for receiving the mail piece?
3. How will you and your vendor partners apply the analytics from the reporting to improve your interactive campaign?
4. Did you know that adding on an Informed Delivery campaign to an approved USPS promotion can save you an additional 1% until the end of the year? (And a 0.5% credit for e-Doc submitters)

And one last question:

Are you signed up for Informed Delivery?