As of July 14, 2024, the USPS increased postal rates, which significantly impact the First Class Presorted Automation Letter and Flat Rates as well as Non-Profit Marketing Drop-Shipped letters and drop-shipped flats weighing 4 ounces or more.
While these changes may seem daunting for marketers and businesses that operate on lean mailing budgets, there’s still time to take advantage of existing USPS 2024 Promotions and begin strategizing ways to qualify for USPS 2025 promotions. These promotions can provide benefits and discounts offered to businesses and provide savings on marketing mailing campaigns.
2024 USPS Promotions to Capitalize On
The Emerging and Advanced Technology Incentive is available year-round and runs for six consecutive months. This promotion rewards marketers and businesses that are using emerging and advanced print technologies integrated with digital platforms using QR codes and URLs, augmented reality, integration with voice assistance, and mobile shopping opportunities. This incentive offers either a 3 percent or 4 percent discount depending upon the level of technology used and the effectiveness in enhancing the mailing. Marketers have the flexibility to customize and align the incentive with a marketing campaign start date at any point throughout the year, ensuring it runs for six consecutive months.
Qualified Business Reply Mail (QBRM) savings are available through a specialized service where marketers are only charged for First-Class mail replies that are actually returned, rather than paying postage upfront. This program is beneficial for high-volume marketers who mail surveys, order forms, or request customer feedback and expect to have up to 1,000 pieces returned annually.
The Reply Mail IMbA (Intelligent Mail barcode Accounting ) Incentive encourages marketers to embrace automated mailing process by adding IMbA static or serialized barcodes on business reply mail. Marketers that use static IMbA barcodes can expect a discount of 3 percent. Those that employ a serialized barcode that is unique and identifies both mail house and individual sender can expect savings of 6 percent. The mail pieces must have USPS approval. Registration for Reply Mail IMbA occurs from May 15 to July 1, 2024, and the promotion runs from July 1 to Dec 31, 2024.
The Informed Delivery Promotion encourages marketers to enhance the mail experience for households by providing an email digital preview of the mailing piece upon delivery. When businesses integrate the physical mailbox with the digital mailbox, recipients get a sneak peak of what’s waiting for them. Eligible mailing pieces include First-Class automated letters, postcards, and flats, USPS approved Marketing Mail and DDU-entered carrier saturation flats, Nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail automation letters and flats, and Nonprofit Marketing Mail DDU-entered Carrier Route Saturation Flats. Marketers can receive a 4 percent discount using a ride-along image with a compelling call to action, and an additional 0.6 percent discount when postal statements are submitted in an approved eDoc format.
The 2024 Catalog Incentive does not require enrollment and gives marketers a discount of $0.001 per piece when the mailer is identified as a catalog upon submission to the USPS. The USPS has published a definition of a “catalog” that many pieces of classified mail, flats, or even parcels would qualify as a Marketing Mail catalog (except EDDM-Retail mailings.)
The Retargeted Mail Incentive encourages marketers to follow up on website visits with personalized postcards that are triggered when a desired action is not completed, i.e. failing to finish a purchase and abandoning a shopping cart. The promotion integrates physical mail with digital marketing efforts for a more complete customer experience. First-Class Mail® postcards are eligible for the promotion. The registration period is from July 15 to Sept 1, 2024 and the promotion runs from Sept 1 to Nov 30, 2024.
USPS 2025 Promotions for Incentives and Cost Savings
The Continuous Contact promotion encourages marketers and businesses to mail more frequently to the same household. It will provide a three percent discount for mailers who send qualifying USPS marketing mailers (letters and flats) to the same address two or more times over the course of the Continuous Contact promotion. Pieces must not be the same and should build upon what came before as well as complement the previous messaging and offers. The registration period is from Feb 15 to Dec 31 and the promotion runs from April 1 to Dec 31, although the timeframe may change per USPS reconsiderations.
Mail Growth Incentives will continue in 2025, with two special promotions to induce marketers and businesses to increase business marketing mailings for mailers that had a minimum volume of 1 million pieces mailed over the previous year.
- The 2025 First-Class Mail Growth Incentive includes First-Class Mail Presort Letters, First-Class Presort postcards, and First-Class Mail Presort flats.
- The Marketing Mail Growth Incentive includes marketing mail letters and HD/Saturation letters, marketing mail flats and HD/Saturation flats, marketing mail carrier route, and marketing mail parcels and saturation parcels.
The very popular Informed Delivery promotion will undergo a transition from the 4 percent incentive in 2024, to a 1 percent add-on incentive in 2025 when used in conjunction with another promotion. Informed Delivery is still available through 2024 with the 4 percent postal discount.
The USPS 2025 Sustainability Promotion is another add-on incentive to encourage the use of certified recycled materials in mailers. Like the Informed Delivery promotion, the Sustainability discount of 1 percent can only be claimed when used with another USPS mailer promotions. Mailers must comply with recycled certification requirements and include the appropriate sustainability logo. This promotion not only results in lower mailing costs, but also enhances brand image with households.
As add-on promotions, both the Informed Delivery and the Sustainability Promotion can be double stacked to result in even greater discounts. For instance, stacking these promotions with the Integrated Technology promotion will give marketers the total savings of 5 percent when the discounts are bundled over the 6-month Integrated Technology promotion receiving a 3 percent discount. Even better for marketers, at the conclusion of one stacked promotion run, the two promotions can be added onto another core promotion that’s running throughout the year.
Another nice perk available to marketers in 2025 is the Full Service Discount (which is only available when using a Full Service Provider like Marketing.com). In 2025, the incentive will increase 66.7% from $0.003 to $0.005. This discount does not require enrollment, and will automatically be deducted from qualifying full-service postage at the time of mailing.
The USPS 2025 First-Class Mail Advertising Promotion offers marketers and businesses a 3 percent discount for eligible, outgoing First-Class Mail, replacing the 2024 Personalized Color Transpromo promotion. Registration is from July 15 to Dec 31. The promotion runs from Sept 1 to Dec 31, 2025. As a USPS core 2025 promotion, it can be combined with add-on promotions such as Informed Delivery and Sustainability incentives.
Change is not always easy to navigate. With the many USPS promotions and incentives available to mitigate increases in postal rates and costs, trusting an experienced, full-service mail provider like Marketing.com. We make sure you leave no USPS incentive unexplored and no promotion ignored to maximize your postage discounts and savings.