Informed Delivery for Business 

Marketing has always relied on sending direct mails as a means of communication. However, due to the growth in technology, marketing experts have resorted to using digital methods to reach out to prospects.

Every business needs a reliable interaction channel. One of the best features that have been integrated to improve direct mail is the informed delivery for business service offered by the USPS.

Informed delivery allows users to view digital versions of their mail by linking direct letters to your email and other digital messaging channels.

The purpose of the informed delivery services is to allow users to interconnect with various functions, bonuses or products that have been provided before your physical mail arrives.

Linking physical mail to the digital platform has increased positive customer feedback and sales.

According to an insurance company that fused direct mail with digital methods, the results of the integration led to a 34% increase in the rate of conversion and a 26 % lift in sales.

Using digital methods, together with physical mail delivery helps increase the response rate.

Compatible Digital Methods 

Several digital methods are compatible with physical mail. One of the most natural ways is attaching a QR code on the letter. A smartphone can be used to scan the code, and the user can view their bonus or other services available for them.

Virtual reality and augmented reality are technologies that are taking the industry by storm due to their capabilities.

The mailing process can be used together with the VR or AR to provide the user with a fantastic interacting experience with their mail provider.

One of the companies leveraging the power of augmented reality in their sales process is IKEA. The technology allows users to scan images of the home products available on IKEA's catalog using a smartphone and lets them view how the item would look at their homes.

 To attract customers through various digital platforms, fusing physical mail with online channels such as Social Media is vital for a business.

The informed visibility platform is a feature offered by USPS to allow users to track their mail through the delivery process.

The platform also uses GPS to allow a sender to track the mail to its recipient and confirm that it has been safely delivered.

The feature is vital for marketers to track emails to their prospects and then post an offer after confirming the mail has been received.

This is achieved by giving the postal service a colored picture to replace their black and white one and also include a URL and a message on the mail to prospects.

Informed delivery service also notifies the users of service about the mail they should in a day through email.

Benefits of Informed Delivery 

There are many benefits associated to informed delivery for business, especially for mailers and marketers. In a mailing business, clients who use the service get their daily mail and find direct mail an efficient service.

Additionally, informed delivery for business can be used to notify clients about offers and bonuses. Usually, mails with a marketing advert are generally first in the email list. Therefore, it makes it easy for users to see.

According to research, in January 2019, the rate of users opening daily mail was 64.4% higher than other advertising campaigns linked to the service, and CTR was 6% above average standards.

Before the end of that month, companies that were using the informed delivery service were 1,589, and in February, the number of subscribers of the service exceeded 15.5 million.

Currently, the rate of subscription is 166,000 per week. The USPS is looking to hold a campaign to promote subscribers using the informed delivery service. Any mailer subscribed to the informed delivery program will be entitled to a 2% discount on total mailing.

Research also indicates that printed physical mail boosts the response rate of adverts on social media campaigns. The analysis also noted that direct mail had a 33% higher response rate than email and 35% higher than social media campaigns.

Direct mail has also been associated with improving the memory retention rate of the brain, which helps in creating effective campaigns and adverts on online platforms.

Both the informed delivery and visibility programs are perfect for promoting products and services in a multi-channel world.

Disadvantages of Informed Delivery 

Currently, one of the drawbacks is that not many subscribers have subscribed to the informed delivery program. It is estimated that only 10% of your mailing list will have subscribed to the program even though that number is increasing daily.

The postal service is working on developing the program to be a one on one experience where a recipient gets his/her unique message.

You must consider the future possibilities of informed delivery when implementing the program. The informed delivery for business has already proved to be a success and is still developing to make delivery of physical mail an efficient service.

For companies to increase the number of customers, they must choose an active digital mode of communication to integrate with their mailing service while reducing mailing cost.

People subscribed to the informed delivery service are also being warned that the service is an excellent target for scammers and hackers who want to steal sensitive data which could be used for impersonation.

Security is always a concern when in any new tech that involves sharing of confidential data. However, an employee in the USPS inspection service says that they will continue to improve the program to make it criminal proof.

To sign up for the informed delivery service is easy and only requires one to answer some questions such as the areas where you live, the mortgage price for your home e.t.c.

This information can be easily found on the dark web and used by a hacker to create an account and receive your mail. Hopefully, developers will make it more secure so that users can enjoy informed delivery without fear of becoming targeted by criminals.

Conclusion

Informed delivery seeks to digitize mailing operations and ensure an efficient mail delivery and notification system.

A robust positive message or offer should accompany the mail to help increase the rate of response.

It is vital to integrate the informed delivery for business to your mailing service to monitor and improve the prospect response rate.