Over the past couple of years the post office has offered incentives to mailers that participate in postal promotions; such as, Holiday Shopping promotion, Summer Sale promotion and Emerging Technologies promotion. So why should you care? It’s free money!! Okay, we all know the cost of mailing continues to increase, but why not offset some of the cost by participating in these incentive programs. Or, better yet, use the planned savings to build your mobile optimized site now so you can take advantage of these programs later.
Are you ready?
You’ll need your website to be mobile optimized in order to qualify for these promotions. Mobile optimized websites are designed for smartphones and tablets that have small screens, usually featuring a single column layout, with simple navigation. They often contain far fewer features than the desktop version.
Here’s a list of some of the potential postal incentive programs they are talking about for 2014:
Earned Value Reply Mail Promotion – This is for mailers who send qualifying First-Class Mail Business Reply Mail (BRM) and Courtesy Reply Mail (CRM) enclosures. You’ll earn a credit on each piece that is returned during the promotion period.
Mail and Digital Personalization Promotion – Both the mail piece and PURL/website must be personalized to qualify for this promotion.
Branded Color Mobile Technology Promotion – Your mail piece must contain a creative QR code or other mobile barcode. The code or tag must be functional and incorporate at least one of the following:
- Two or more colors set against a background (other than black or white)
- Trademark or graphic and at least one color (other than black or white)
Emerging Technology Featuring NFC Promotion – The mail piece must incorporate the use of stand NFC technology or other emerging technology (like augmented reality).
Mail Drives Mobile Commerce Promotion – Must utilize mobile purchasing technology with mail to facilitate state of the art mobile purchases.
Once these postal programs are approved we’ll provide more detailed information.
