Author: Brandon Jacklin, Manager of Logistics and Postal Affairs

Exciting news for all marketers – the 2023 USPS Postal Promotions have been approved! The annually released Postal Promotions are a valuable resource for marketers to save money by mailing smarter.  

For your easy access, you can download our promotions guide here. The guidebook provides a quick glance over each promotion’s most important information including eligibility and effective dates. For more detailed information on each promotion, please visit https://postalpro.usps.com/promotions. 

Let’s dive into the most important changes in this year’s Postal Promotions and how you can use them to your advantage.  

What’s Changed? 

The 2023 Postal Promotions include a few notable changes and additions that marketers should be aware of. 

• Mobile Shopping has moved under the Emerging and Advanced Technology category, and now qualifies for a 3% discount (up from 2% this year). (May 2023 – November 2023) 
• The Tactile and Interactive (TWI) Engagement promotion is increased to 5% and  will include applying scent to the outside of the mail piece as an eligible technique. (February 2023 – July 2023)
• New to 2023 is the Reply Mail IMbA promotion. A new automated accounting system for Business Reply Mail (BRM), the USPS is encouraging mailers to use the system, offering a 3% discount to mailers that use static IMbA on their BRM and a 6% discount for mailers that use serialized IMbA. (July 2023 – December 2023)
• Another new promotion for 2023, is focused on Retargeting Mail, providing a 5% discount to mailers of First-Class Mail automation postcards that are mailed in connection with website or app behavior. (September 2023 – November 2023) 

Save Money With Informed Delivery 

Marketers who utilize Informed delivery will once again receive a 4% discount in 2023. Informed Delivery is a free program for consumers who wish to participate that allows them to see photos of the mail before it arrives.  

It consists of two main elements: 

1) A large grayscale image of the piece or a 4-color representative image of the mailer. 

2) A smaller, accompanying image that offers interactive marketing potential. Clicking on this image or on the “Learn More” call to action opens the URL associated with the campaign. It can also be used to open a marketer’s phone app for the recipient to call. 

With over 44 million consumers signed up for Informed Delivery, there is major potential for marketers to take advantage of that audience with links and Call-To-Actions accompanying the user’s mail images.  

Save with Postal Promotions in a Changing Economy  

It’s no secret that the economy has changed, throwing many marketers into a whirlwind of trying to pinch pennies and be smarter about their strategy. One of the best ways to do this with direct mail is, as we like to say at Nahan, to mail smarter. Plan ahead with the Postal Promotions to strategize what you mail and when. Incorporate ride-along images with mail pieces to utilize with Informed Delivery. With so many possibilities, there’s always a way to save.