USPS Postmaster General and CEO Megan J. Brennan unveiled the postal agency’s new “digital strategy” at this week’s National Postal Forum in Nashville (Tennessee) to support and “reinvent” the mailing industry through new technologies.
“The Postal Service is investing in our digital strategy, because there are limitless opportunities when we combine the power of mail with the ubiquity of mobile. We are committed to elevating the role of mail in American marketing and communications, and earning a bigger slice of the marketing pie,” Brennan said.
She said that USPS has a long-term vision to provide the mailing industry with “greater digital capabilities” through strategic initiatives and investments.
Brennan highlighted the ongoing development of Informed Visibility, a USPS initiative giving mailers insight into how letters and flats are processed and delivered, as a “supercharged information platform designed to transform mail.” She mentioned the rich data and analytics that the postal operator now provides to commercial customers for greater visibility into the ‘last-mile’ delivery.
Commenting on how commercial customers can leverage information from USPS to personalise mail and better coordinate omni-channel marketing campaigns, Brennan said: “The real power of Informed Visibility is that it can make mail a much more powerful marketing and communications tool.”
Brennan also showcased a mail preview service to be available as a mobile app in every US ZIP code in early 2017 as part of developing Informed Delivery (previously Real-Mail Notification). Results from a market test in New York City show that 70% of subscribers are opening daily notifications and more than 90% are reading notifications more than four times a week.
“Informed Delivery engages customers where they want to be – in a mobile and digital environment,” Brennan added. “It puts the power of mail onto digital channels. Informed Delivery creates an opportunity to bring your mail and packages onto the smartphones and devices of the American consumer. It gives every marketer the opportunity to attach a digital offer to mail pieces, and eventually packages. This is an incredibly powerful product for this industry.”
The Postmaster General also announced that USPS will file a request with the Postal Regulatory Commission this year to allow commercial customers to add two free ounces to mailed content from January 2017. “We think it’s an effective way to increase the value of mail for the sender, and deliver more content to the consumer.”
The National Postal Forum is an annual national gathering of the mailing industry’s most influential thought leaders, innovators and visionaries.
