Add Informed Delivery to Your Direct Mail Marketing Strategy

Are you taking advantage of Informed Delivery, the FREE postal service program that makes your direct mail marketing multichannel?

Introduced in Spring 2017, Informed Delivery gives consumers and businesses a digital sneak peek of their direct mail before it arrives in their home, post office box, or business. It’s an important tool that the USPS has been giving marketers and brands to reach customers across several channels at once.

These important stats (as of late January 2025) demonstrate its growth in only 7 years:

• 70.4 million users
• 49 million households
• Average 58.9% open rate for Daily Digest emails
• 44.5 billion impressions created
• Nearly 915,00 campaigns completed

In this post, I’m going to break down what Informed Delivery is all about and why you should use it in your omnichannel marketing mix.

How recipients experience Informed Delivery

Consumers and businesses must first enroll online for a verified, free, password-protected Informed Delivery account. This will serve as a digital mailbox for the direct mail they receive at their house, PO Box, or business.

Every day, usually by 9 a.m., the customer gets a USPS email with “Your Daily Digest” at the start of the subject line. Before delivery to their house or business, they may review that email or log in to the USPS portal online (or via the app). There, they view a scanned grayscale image of the address side of a letter-size mail piece, such as a #10 envelope or postcard.

How Informed Delivery creates value for consumers

USPS Informed Delivery bridges the gap between the instant convenience of a digital impression and the tactile experience of a physical direct mail piece.

With banking, shopping, and so many other routines routinely performed via digital devices, ID creates a space for mail. Now, customers with an internet connection can get an advance notice – wherever they are – of personal letters, statements and bills, legal documents, and other important or meaningful mail pieces. Informed Delivery builds anticipation for your direct mail and generates peace of mind, especially when done right.

How Informed Delivery creates value for marketers

There are two main ways for your mail piece or campaign to stand out to customers in their inbox.

Standard Image

An automation-compatible letter-sized or smaller piece that gets scanned by USPS’s equipment shows up in the body of the customer’s email and on the portal. It is a grayscale image of the address side of the mail piece.

Informed Delivery Campaign

To make a bigger impression in the Daily Digest or web dashboard, USPS gives marketers another way to drive customer action: the Informed Delivery Campaign.

This interactive effort must be submitted through USPS’s Mailing Promotions portal in the Business Customer Gateway.

It consists of two main elements.

First is a large grayscale image of the mail piece, or a substitute 4-color “representative” image. This must be either a color reproduction of the address side of the mailing (without the address showing) or the non-address (obverse) side.

Second is a smaller, “ride-along” image. It can show anything, as long as it is tied to the content of the mailpiece or directly related to the promotion or offer. Tapping or clicking on this image or on the “Learn more about your mail” call to action opens the URL associated with that campaign. It can also activate a mobile device’s phone app for the recipient to call.

Either way, it means that the recipient can take action and respond to your campaign immediately, rather than wait to get home and read the mail.

Below, two example emails are shown. The one at left has a grayscale scanned image with a color ride-along. The right image has a full-color representative image with a color ride-along.

We know that adding a digital component synched with your direct mail campaign involves learning new requirements and details.

It’s OK.

At mailing.com, we can work with you to set up the right accounts and get your campaigns ready for the entire process.

4 Best Practices for an Informed Delivery Campaign

An Informed Delivery campaign provides an additional touchpoint that engages customers and expands your reach. Here are some tips for an effective Informed Delivery campaign:

1. Use the right URL

To be approved by USPS, all URLs associated with a campaign must begin with “https”, meaning it is a secure web address.

You can swap out that landing page for another, to direct your customer to a new and improved offer a day, a week, or a month after the initial drop. This gives you an opportunity to test your offers quickly and improve your campaign’s ROI.

2. Maximize your images and copy

Remember, direct mail in Informed Delivery is being viewed through a screen – and it’s a small one if it’s a smartphone.

Although you might have a lot more real estate for your message on the other side of the mailer or inside the envelope, the front face is where you can first engage the prospect. At the very least, your copy and graphics can build anticipation for what the rest of the mailing might reveal and offer to them.

Use clear, high-definition images, and easy-to-read, intriguing copy. You’ll be getting an additional bang for the buck from the impression your outer creates.

Keep in mind that your customers don’t need all that much from you even if you just maximize your grayscale image. By putting a web address, discount code, or phone number on the part of the mailing that gets scanned, you can make it more convenient for them to respond immediately.

3. Get the analytics

Every Informed Delivery direct mail campaign is grounded in data before the campaign starts. USPS can cross-reference a supplied list with one of Informed Delivery users, and give you an aggregate response on how many match. It then provides a report on your reach with raw numbers and saturation percentage for the supplied target list.

So, before you mail a single piece, you’ll already know if you’re targeting the right audience.

Once a campaign drops, you can access both summary and detailed reports with several metrics to monitor its performance, such as:

• Number of users/mail recipients that were sent an email
• Number & percentage of email opens
• Number & percentage of click-throughs
• Time email was sent & opened
• Time & source of click-throughs

4. Use the 2025 USPS promotion discount

In 2025, the Informed Delivery discount is available only as an “add-on” for campaigns using any of the 5 main promotional discounts (exception: IMbA).

Eligible Mail Classes: First-Class Mail; Marketing Mail

Discount: 1% discount on campaign; additional 0.5% credit for e-Doc submitters

When it runs: Now through Dec. 31, 2025

When to register: Now through Dec. 31, 2025

Cost: Free

More information on the Informed Delivery promotion for 2025 can be found on USPS Postal Pro.

Wrapping it up

Informed Delivery is real integrated marketing of direct mail with digital. Because it’s all built on data, mailers have many production elements and reporting options to choose from at any point along one of these synchronized campaigns.

Giving customers a preview of your message before they even physically touch the mailing offers you a powerful opportunity to reach a target audience with a vivid, memorable, and tangible printed direct mail campaign. And then, multiple ways to respond to an offer or message.

In 2025, when used with one of the main promotional programs, Informed Delivery can save you an additional 1% on your approved campaign.

And a last reminder of that one big benefit of Informed Delivery direct mail: it’s FREE.

At mailing.com, our postal experts have the experience to help you to figure out your best options to meet your brand’s goals.

Please reach out to us! We’d love to show you how you can put today’s direct mail to work in your next campaign.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in May 2020 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness as of February 2025.