2019 Promotions & Incentives

Building upon the success of the Promotions Calendars over the last few years, the Postal Service has developed a Promotions Calendar for Calendar Year (CY) 2019. The 2019 Promotions continue to encourage marketers, printers, and mailers to utilize new technology and print techniques that enhance the traditional benefits of a physical mailpiece. This in turn can drive higher response rates and increase the overall return on the mailer's investment in mail. By encouraging the use of technologies integrated in mail, the Postal Service expects to increase the value of direct mail and retain the volumes of transactional mail, thereby ensuring long-term product growth. The 2019 Promotions range between 3 to 6 months in duration, starting in February. Ultimately, the Postal Service decided to focus the 2019 Promotions on the following areas: USPS Informed Delivery, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Near Field Communication and Beacons, Shoppable Video, Video in Print, Programmatic and Retargeting Mail, Mobile and Social Media Shopping, Tactile, Sensory and Interactive Print, and Transpromotional Messaging on bills and statements.

The promotions for 2019 are:

• 2019 Tactile, Sensory & Interactive Mailpiece Engagement Promotion
• 2019 Emerging and Advanced Technology Promotion
• 2019 Earned Value Promotion
• 2019 Personalized Color Transpromo Promotion
• 2019 Mobile Shopping Promotion
• 2019 Informed Delivery Promotion

Business Customer Gateway (BCG) and Registering For Promotions/Incentive Programs

USPS® promotions and incentive programs can play a powerful role in an integrated marketing campaign, helping to drive sales and deliver a solid ROI for businesses. Each program requires enrollment through the Business Customer Gateway (BCG). Once you enroll in a program, you'll gain access to reporting that enables you to track the success of the program throughout the promotion period. Click here to find out how to register.

2019 Tactile, Sensory, & Interactive Mailpiece Engagement Promotion

Promotion runs February 1 through July 31, 2019
Registration: December 15, 2018 - July 31, 2019

The print industry continues to develop innovations in papers/stocks, substrates, finishing techniques and inks. New print elements can be incorporated in a mail campaign to engage a multi-sensory experience through special visual effects, sound, scent, texture/tactile treatments, and even taste. In addition, interactive mailpiece features (such as pop-ups, infinite folds, or other dimensional treatments) can help drive customer engagement. Neuroscience and neuromarketing research suggests that marketing materials that engage tactile experiences and/or other senses lead to potentially significant impacts on brand recognition and message recall. By leveraging advances in print and finishing technology, marketers and mailers can enhance the way consumers interact and engage with mail to drive customer engagement and response rates.
Further questions about the Tactile, Sensory and Interactive Promotion can be directed to TactileSensoryPromo@usps.gov

2019 Emerging & Advanced Technology Promotion

Promotion runs March 1 through August 31, 2019
Registration: January 15, 2019 - August 31, 2019

As mobile and other print technologies evolve, mail has the potential to offer greater value by engaging customers in new and exciting ways. In order to ensure that Direct Mail continues to be a relevant part of the marketing mix, the Postal Service is offering another promotion encouraging customers to incorporate technologies such as "Enhanced" Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality, Near Field Communication (NFC), Video in Print (ViP) featuring Shoppable Video, Integration with Digital Assistants, and Addressable TV technology application in their direct mail campaigns.
Further questions about the Emerging & Advanced Technology Promotion can be directed to emergingtechpromo@usps.gov

2019 Earned Value Promotion

Promotion runs April 1 through June 30, 2019
Registration: February 15, 2019 - March 31, 2019

The 2019 Earned Value Reply Mail Promotion is intended to help slow the decline of First-Class Mail including Business Reply Mail (BRM) and Courtesy Reply Mail (CRM) pieces. As technology continues to disrupt mail volume, the Postal Service would like to encourage mailers to continue distributing BRM, CRM, and Share Mail pieces. Mailers who register their Mailer ID (MID) information and use eligible Intelligent Mail barcodes on their BRM, CRM, and Share Mail pieces may receive a postage credit for each mailpiece that is placed in the mailstream by the recipient and scanned during the promotion period.
Further questions about the Earned Value Promotion can be directed to earnedvalue@usps.gov

2019 Personalized Color Transpromo Promotion

Promotion runs July 1 through December 31, 2019
Registration: May 15, 2019 - December 31, 2019

This promotion encourages mailers of bills and statements to use color messaging in order to create a greater connection to and response from consumers. The Promotion is intended to increase the value of First-Class Mail, and encourage mailers to invest in color print technology. An upfront postage discount is provided to mailers who use dynamic/variable color print for personalized transpromotional marketing messages on their bills and statements. For companies who have participated in this promotion in prior years, the mailer will be required to incorporate both dynamically printed color and personalized messaging in the mailpieces. For companies/mail owners who have not previously participated, only the dynamic color printing requirement must be satisfied in their first year of participation to help facilitate the process of getting on board with the technology.
Further questions about the Personalized Color Transpromo Promotion can be directed to FCMColorPromotion@usps.gov

2019 Mobile Shopping Promotion

Promotion runs August 1 through December 31, 2019
Registration: June 15, 2019 - December 31, 2019

This promotion is aimed at businesses and mailers offering products for sale, especially during the 2019 holiday shopping season. As mobile technology continues to change the landscape of consumer interaction, mail has the potential to serve as an invaluable conduit between the mobile platform and shopping experience. The 2019 Mobile Shopping Promotion encourages mailers to integrate mobile technology with direct mail to create a convenient method for consumers to do their online shopping. Using technology platforms such as Quick Response (QR) Codes, Snap Tags, Watermarks, and other advanced technologies to launch consumers into online shopping experiences is a great combination of the power of print solutions and web based shopping portals. The 2019 Mobile Shopping Promotion will also continue to encourage the implementation of evolving QR code technology, including animated QR codes, Visual QR codes, Dotless QR codes, Voice QR codes, and aspects of the new visual design capabilities and data-based analytics now supporting QR technology. New barcode formats continue to multiply and can provide the basis for linking a physical mailpiece to a digital experience (ex., Twitter QR codes, Amazon Smile codes, Pinterest pin codes, Messenger codes, LinkedIn QR codes, Instagram nametags, etc.). The 2019 Mobile Shopping Promotion will continue to allow mailers to qualify via a Social Media purchasing component. This year mailers can also qualify with an App-enabled QR code payment. This can be either the mailer's branded app or payment provided app, as long as the directional copy is clear.
Further questions about the Mobile Shopping Promotion can be directed to mailingpromotions@usps.gov

2019 Informed Delivery Promotion

Promotion runs September 1 through November 30, 2019
Registration: July 15, 2019 - November 30, 2019

The USPS has created its own omni-channel tool for mail through the development of the Informed Delivery platform. In an effort to increase the adoption rate of Informed Delivery the USPS is offering a 2% discount off postage for mailings that incorporate Informed Delivery campaigns as a component of their mailings.
Further questions about the Informed Delivery Promotion can be directed to Promotion-InformedDelivery@usps.gov

General Information

Click here for more information on how to participate in Promotions & Incentives.