Winning Tactics for Political Campaign Marketers

U.S. Postal Service Offers Proven Direct Mail Tips to Edge Out the Competition

• Integrate a mobile barcode or QR code to increase the value of the mailpiece with a new way to engage your audience. Between now and the end of August, sign up and take advantage of the Postal Service's upfront 2 percent postage discount on Standard Mail and First-Class Mail letters, flats and cards (presort and automation) that include a two-dimensional barcode or print/mobile technology that can be read or scanned by a mobile device.*
• Streamline the process of getting last-minute campaign information into the hands of potential voters with a saturation mail product such as Every Door Direct Mail by the U.S. Postal Service. Every Door Direct Mail is a new and easy-to-use way for campaign managers to get their messages to every address in a specified ZIP Code or neighborhood, without the need for individual addresses, for less than 15 cents per piece. For additional information on Every Door Direct Mail visit: www.usps.com/everydoordirectmail.
• Instead of mass-producing single mail pieces, with a "one-size fits all" message, consider using variable data, a new form of on-demand printing, to customize the messages represented on each mailpiece. The result will be a faster, more economical way to send personalized messages and increase the read and response rate.

"According to our most recent data, 81 percent of households read their mail daily.** This reinforces that mail continues to be one of the most powerful ways to reach intended audiences," says Cliff Rucker, vice president, Sales. "With the new interactive technologies available to marketers, including QR codes, messages are easily customized for specific audiences thereby increasing the chances of positive engagement."

To help marketers learn more about Every Door Direct Mail and quickly get started with their first campaigns, USPS is offering a free direct mail information kit. To receive a copy, enter your information at: https://www.usps.com/business/every-door-direct-mail.htm

Commercial mailers may register for the 2012 Mobile Commerce and Personalization Promotion now through Aug. 30, 2012. For more information, visit https://www.usps.com/mobile-barcode.htm

For additional information on election and political mail offerings with the U.S. Postal Service visit:  https://www.usps.com/gov-services/gov-services.htm

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

* To qualify, when scanned, the technology must activate a link directly to either a mobile-optimized Web page that allows the mail recipient to purchase a product or service, or to a mobile-optimized and customized Web page uniquely tailored to the mail recipient and accessible by a personalized URL.

** Source: U.S. Postal Service 2010 Household Diary Study.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office™ Boxes. The Postal Service™ receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com®, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.  

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