Expanding Sales with Informed Delivery
April 27, 2018   Dave Lewis

Informed Delivery is like a rising tide – slow and unavoidable.  Right now it’s only getting your toes wet, but at some point your clients will expect you to provide an ID component to their mailings just as they expect you to CASS certify their mailing list – it’s just something that is done as part of a mailing. Today, nearly 10% of households subscribe to Informed Delivery.  It’s enough that we are starting to see real results.  Getting a second impression makes a difference. ID is a fairly simple program in which to participate, but as you scale it up it can get complex.  The Postal Service has developed a decent tool to create the ID posting itself, but there remain many details that need to be managed.  Naturally SnailWorks has some services to help, but let’s first take a look at what is involved: Image Management Any ID effort involves at least one image, often two, maybe a lot more for different versions and test panels.  The Representative Image is a fixed, non-clickable image that can replace the image of the envelope in the ID email or app.  The Ride-Along Ad is the image that will include a clickable link in the email or app.  The image is no more complicated, but it will need to be associated with a URL – a web destination for clickers. The images are both JPEGs – not HTML, but they do have to meet certain specifications, and of course your clients will need to go through their approval process to be sure they are happy with the image and that the correct image is used.  Keeping track of those images, making sure they have been approved, and that the right image is associated with the correct mailing list and URL are the administrative challenges of ID. Pre and Post Reporting – and During Your clients may want to know how many of their prospects will receive an ID image in addition to the mail piece.  USPS provides this reporting, but it is not yet fully developed or particularly user-friendly.  USPS may also provide data on how many prospects have opened the email, and how many have clicked on a Ride-Along Ad, if applicable.  Keeping these reports up-to-date and accessible for your clients is a significant challenge of ID. Clients will also want to know exactly which prospects got the ID email, so response can be measured.  Finally, clients want to know exactly who clicked the ads and whether or not they converted.  Did a transaction go through?  The Postal Service is in the process of refining this reporting – we expect it will be late summer before a full reporting suite is available. Managing this reporting is a natural extension of SnailWorks services – and exactly what our Informed Delivery service – Direct2Digital ID™ was designed for. Starting Simple So, OK, it can get a little complicated, but the basics are really simple – and affordable.  Start with the Representative Image.  All you need is one jpeg image from your client.  For self-mailers, it couldn’t be simpler – an image of the mail piece.  Inserting packages take a bit more creativity, but there is art related to any mail piece.  Your client can work with existing art to create their representative image.  Once that image is created it is a simple matter to create a Representative Image only campaign.  You can create it yourself in the Business Customer Gateway, or work with our Direct2Digital ID™ service to create it.  If you provide the art we can create a simple campaign for as little as $35.  This is a very easy, affordable way to start.  Instead of a black and white image, your clients’ prospects will see a nice colorful ad, generally at the top of their ID email.  If you work with us, we can provide you with a pre-mailing report of how many of their prospects get ID, and post-mailing reports. Most of your clients seed themselves on their lists, so they will see their ads, as will – typically – 5-10% of their prospects.  It is a very inexpensive way to increase exposure and lift response.  Effort is as close to zero as possible – get an image from your client, send it to SnailWorks. That Was Easy…Now Let’s Try… Once you have shown your clients how easy it was to get started with ID, the next step is a natural one, add a Ride-Along ad with a web link.  If they have a web page to which they are driving prospects, this is easy to add to the ID campaign.  All we really need is one more jpeg image, which should be a call-to-action – “Click Here to Shop Now!”  We’ll create a “pass through” landing page that will redirect right to your client’s site.  Why the pass-through?  To capture response stats.  Even these more advanced campaigns are very affordable – starting at as little as $125.  And that includes the pass-through page and reporting. Both of these steps are profitable on their own, and help distinguish you from your competitors.  More important, they help your clients be more successful. Like all things Postal, SnailWorks makes creating Informed Delivery campaigns easy and affordable.  Our Direct2Digital ID™ product is your one-stop tool for creating campaigns today.  Contact us to learn more, and read our new white paper on Informed Delivery here.

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