Informed Delivery Campaigns – What Are They and How do They Work?

Nov 16, 2020

We understand that a lot of thought, time, and energy goes into coming up with the perfect marketing plan for your business or organization. With the world dialed into digital marketing, there is a constant flow of data, insights, and the never-ending stream of available tools to help optimize your campaign. To get the most out of your marketing goals, your business has probably done hours upon hours of market research; diving into your target audience to determine which platforms and means of delivery are going to be most effective. One avenue to consider when aiming for the biggest ROI comes in the form of Informed Delivery® campaigns.

Informed Delivery® campaigns are an integrated tool made available through the United States Postal Service. It enhances the mail experience once consumers with residential addresses sign up to receive a digital preview of their household’s mail on a daily basis. If a marketer (as the mailer) participates in an Informed Delivery® campaign, they can include custom images and a URL that, if clicked, then takes the recipient to a digital experience on a website. It’s a unique approach to integrated marketing that is driven through the USPS and mail tracking, plus opt in’s by consumers. ProList’s sister company, SnailWorks, works in conjunction with the direct mail production team to seamlessly build these campaigns for clients. All we need is the representative image and the URL to link to and we’ll do the rest!

Informed Delivery® Campaigns – How They Work In Conjunction With Direct Mail Marketing

Informed Delivery® is a program provided through the United States Postal Service. It allows consumers and organizations to track their mail throughout the mailing process. It allows users to check in on mail pieces, and also allows the option to receive notifications to their phones or inboxes, alerting them whenever their piece of mail reaches specific points throughout its journey.

To get the most out of your direct mail marketing campaigns, ProList utilizes integrated marketing technology from SnailWorks. This technology is paired with Informed Delivery® services and gives companies the ability to put into action additional touch-point opportunities, follow up communications, and even helps trigger additional mailers and emails. Here’s how it works:

1. Creating your perfect direct mail piece – Your company pairs up with ProList to create the perfect, high-quality, color-print piece of direct mail to reach your target audience. Our experienced staff can also help design and prepare your mailers for shipping.
2. Utilizing mail tracking software like SnailWorks – As your mailers are prepared for shipping, each of your mail pieces is assigned its own unique IMb barcode (intelligent mail barcode). Consider the IMb as the license plate for an individual piece of mail. When your company pairs with ProList for its direct mail campaign, SnailWorks technology is automatically included. That means your direct mail campaigns are already optimized for complete analytics and data reporting, and the ability to include digital triggers for follow up communications and integrated digital marketing options – like Informed Delivery® – throughout your mailer’s travel.
3. Informed Delivery® Campaign – Along with all the benefits and optimization included with mail tracking and data reporting like that provided by SnailWorks, each campaign may also have the Informed Delivery® option added by utilizing that technology. That means specifically that the physical mail piece is tied into the digital marketing component provided to you through the USPS Informed Delivery® services.
   

   Photo by Lukas from Pexels Informed delivery for direct mail opens up new opportunities to get the most out of your marketing budget. Utilizing SnailWorks mail tracking and IMb technology, physical campaigns are tied in to digital marketing efforts via mail piece scans and a link to a relevant website driving the recipient to take a specific action. The combination helps companies trigger more interaction with their campaign, and allows businesses to maximize their marketing efforts in a very cost-effective manner.

4. Digital triggers for increased touch-point opportunities –  Knowing your business will have access to so much cohesive data regarding the where, why, when, and how of your mail piece’s delivery is going to open up a whole new world of opportunity. By using the technology that comes from mail tracking and options like Informed Delivery®, business owners can proactively attach notifications and automatic digital triggers to reach consumers at a time when their physical mail pieces will as well. Other options for additional marketing touches beyond just Informed Delivery® can use the same mail tracking/scans to do things like sending emails to customers once they’ve received a mail piece, or direct them to a personalized landing page for a response online. Or perhaps to trigger the sending of an additional mailer, with follow-up information or perhaps a special offer or coupon, would be most impactful if sent to the consumer 5 days after they received the initial mail piece. Does your business utilize physical phone calls to reach out to your customers? SnailWorks technology can even initiate notifications that alert your staff to make that phone call based on Informed Delivery® notifications provided by the USPS.
5. Targeted digital ads – Even better, the data and reporting you receive when using services like ProList, SnailWorks, and Informed Delivery® means you can advance to an even higher level of audience targeting and marketing campaign coordination. By observing trends in engagement, return on mail pieces, and even responses to Informed Delivery® campaigns in terms of click throughs and consumer participation, businesses are better able to dial in on digital efforts and other cross platform campaigns.

At the end of the day, more data means better targeting, more informed directives, and increased campaign options. With ProList, you’ll get an extensive and inclusive package of resources to maximize your reach. Think your business is ready to kick off your direct mail campaign and add an Informed Delivery® campaign along with it? Let us help you create fully coordinated campaigns that reach your target audience in a variety of ways while providing you with detailed mail delivery and ID campaign results, plus reporting that can help you take your returns to the next level. Give us a call at 1-888-PROLIST or check out our website for more information.