Informed Delivery Interactive Mail Campaign Guide

Interactive Mail Campaign Guide

Informed Delivery

Interactive Mail Campaign Guide

The Purpose of this Document: This guide provides interested mailers with a “how-

to” explanation for initiating an Informed Delivery interactive mail campaign.

Interactive Mail Campaign Guide

2 of 36

Table of Contents

1. Background .............................................................................................................. 5

1.1.

Availability ................................................................................................................... 5

1.2.

How It Works for Consumers/Mail Recipients ............................................................. 5

1.3.

How It Works for Mailers/Mail Owners ......................................................................... 6

2. Benefits for Mailers .................................................................................................. 8

3. Participation Criteria ................................................................................................ 8

4. Creating a Campaign ............................................................................................... 8

4.1.

Levels of Interactive Campaigns ................................................................................. 8

4.1.1.

Mailer ID (MID) ......................................................................................................................... 8

4.1.2.

Intelligent Mail

Barcode (IMb

) Serialized ................................................................................ 8

4.1.3.

Personalized ........................................................................................................................... 9

4.2.

Types of Interactive Campaigns .................................................................................. 9

4.2.1.

Basic Campaign ...................................................................................................................... 9

4.2.2.

Dual Campaign ........................................................................................................................ 9

4.3.

Opt-out Indicator Fields ............................................................................................. 10

4.3.1.

Target URL Parameters ........................................................................................................ 10

4.3.2.

Sharing Feature ..................................................................................................................... 11

4.3.3.

Opt-out Functionality ............................................................................................................... 11

4.3.4.

Optional Campaign Preview ...................................................................................................12

5. Campaign Stages and Reporting ......................................................................... 13

5.1.

Pre-Campaign ............................................................................................................. 13

5.1.1.

Pre-Campaign Analysis Report .............................................................................................. 13

5.2.

Campaign ................................................................................................................... 14

5.3.

Post-Campaign ........................................................................................................... 15

5.3.1.

Post-Campaign Summary Report .......................................................................................... 15

5.3.2.

Post-Campaign Detailed Report ............................................................................................. 16

Appendices .................................................................................................................. 19

Appendix A. Interactive Campaign Checklist ....................................................................... 19

Appendix B. Mailer ID (MID) and Intelligent Mail

Barcode (IMb

) Information ..................... 20

Appendix C. The Mailing Lifecycle ....................................................................................... 21

Appendix D. PostalOne! Specifications ............................................................................... 22

Appendix E. Formatting Pre-Campaign Analysis File ........................................................... 24

Appendix F. Formatting Post-Campaign Detailed Report .................................................... 32

Appendix G. IV-MTR IDPC Data Dictionary .......................................................................... 34

Appendix H. Legal Terms & Conditions

............................................................................... 35

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Document

Version

Section(s)

Updated

Change Description Author Date

1.0

All Initial document created Carrie Bornitz 02/28/2017

2.0 Appendix

Added missing header record and

CAT information

Carrie Bornitz 04/03/2017

2.1

All Updated language for naming

conventions, minimum campaign

requirements, and contact info for

Program Office and

PostalOne! support

Carrie Bornitz 06/20/2017

2.2 All Updated document to reflect beta

testing of self-serve Mailer

Campaign Portal

Carrie Bornitz 09/09/2017

2.3

All Updated document with new

information regarding the

self-serve Mailer Campaign Portal

Carrie Bornitz 12/01/2017

2.4 All Updated document to reflect

resolved defects; added new

Appendices (Pre-campaign

and Post-campaign file formatting)

Carrie Bornitz 08/31/2018

2.5 All Updated to clarify campaign levels

and applying

campaigns to groups of customers

Carrie Bornitz 11/19/2018

2.6 All Update related to new functionality

or fixes

Carrie Bornitz 2/25/2019

2.7 All Updated to clarify new submission

deadline for interactive campaigns.

Carrie Bornitz 10/4/2019

2.8 All Updated to reflect changes to post

campaign reporting

Carrie Bornitz 11/22/2019

2.9

All Updated with revised Terms &

Conditions

Carrie Bornitz 1/14/2020

3.0

All Updated with revision to https Fernando Mello 6/4/2020

3.1 5.3.3 Updated with addition of 5.3.3

Provisioning IDPC Detailed Data

through the IV-MTR Application

Raqueliza

Bernales

5/12/2021

3.2 4.3 Update related to target URL

parameters

Raqueliza

Bernales

9/7/2021

3.3

4.3 Update related to target URL

parameters and USPS® mobile

app

Raqueliza

Bernales

10/14/2021

3.4 4.3.1 Updates related to improved

campaign preview functionality

Raqueliza

Bernales

11/9/2022

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3.5 4.1.2 Updates to document title and

footers. Added link to IMpb

Specification document

Raqueliza

Bernales

11/21/2022

3.6

4.3,

Appendix A

Updates related to new functionality

or fixes

Raqueliza

Bernales

2/15/2023

3.7 4.3 Updates related to new functionality Raqueliza

Bernales

3/29/2023

3.8

1.1,

Appendix F

Updates related to new eligibility and

process

Raqueliza

Bernales

5/16/2023

3.9

1.3, 3,

Appendix A,

Appendix C

Updated to clarify compatibility

requirements

Raqueliza

Bernales

9/11/2023

4.0

5.3.2,

Appendix G

Updated post-campaign detailed

report and IV-MTR definitions to

include reminders, and updated

spacing and legibility throughout

document

Raqueliza

Bernales

12/14/2023

4.1

Updated screenshots to reflect

new Daily Digest, updated BCG

account creation steps

Fernando Mello

6/17/2024

1, 1.3, 4.2.2,

Appendix A,

Appendix D

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1. Background

Informed Delivery is an optional, free feature that gives residential consumers the ability to

digitally preview their mail and manage their packages from one convenient location.

•

Through Informed Delivery, users/subscribers can view images of letter-size mail and

color images from participating mailers via email notification, online dashboard at

informeddelivery.usps.com, or USPS Mobile

app.

•

Package tracking information on Priority Mail Express

, Priority Mail

, and other parcels

is available as well.

•

This feature offers consumers the convenience of seeing

what is coming to their mailbox, PO Box, and USPS® Smart Locker—whenever,

wherever—even while traveling.

Participating mailers can provide supplemental content,

allowing users to take immediate action on a mailpiece.

Figure 1. Depiction of

Informed Delivery Daily

Digest.

Informed Delivery “interactive campaigns” or just “campaigns.”

The United States Postal Service (USPS

) currently offers the

basic campaign functionality described in this document for no

additional fee. Monetization opportunities for additional features

are under consideration.

Figure 1 depicts a sample Informed Delivery email

notification—referred to as the “Daily Digest”—with an

interactive campaign that is included with the grayscale

scanned image of a marketing letter.

Underneath the scanned image is clickable supplemental

content, also known as a “Ride-along Image.” The mailer name

and a clickable “Learn More” link are provided as part of a basic

campaign.

1.1.

Availability

Informed Delivery is available to eligible residential and business consumers in most ZIP

Codes™ across the country. Please note that not every address in a ZIP Code is eligible

for Informed Delivery. For instance, a multi-unit building that is not individually identified and

coded down to a unique Delivery Point ZIP Code™ at the unit level is not eligible for

Informed Delivery.

To check if your address is eligible for Informed Delivery, visit informeddelivery.usps.gov

and sign up.

1.2.

How It Works for Consumers/Mail Recipients

USPS uses existing processes that provide digital images of the exterior of mailpieces as

they are processed through automation equipment; those images are used to provide digital

notifications to users in advance of the delivery of physical mail. The scanned images can

be viewed in a user’s email notification, the USPS Mobile

App, or on the user’s personal

dashboard at informeddelivery.usps.com. The process

flow is depicted in Figure 2.

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Figure 2. Process flow that enables Informed Delivery

Figure 3 depicts how a physical mailpiece image (without an interactive campaign) is

displayed on the user’s Informed Delivery dashboard. Within the dashboard, mailpiece

information is maintained for a period of seven calendar days. Users have the ability to

toggle between their “Mailpieces” and “Packages” tabs to preview mailpiece images or to

manage and track packages. Learn more about this consumer-facing feature and sign up at

informeddelivery.usps.com

Figure 3. Depiction of Informed Delivery Dashboard View

1.3.

How It Works for Mailers/Mail Owners

Informed Delivery users will see images of their mail, regardless of whether or not a mailer

conducts an interactive campaign. Mailers can enhance their hardcopy mailings by

conducting a campaign that includes custom images and a website link (URL). This

information will appear in the user’s email digest, the USPS Mobile

App, or on the

dashboard at USPS.com

. This supplemental content is referred to as an interactive

campaign.

•

Each unique set of customized supplemental content is associated with an individual

mailing. Multiple interactive campaigns can be conducted at one time for a singl

ailing. Multiple mailings and campaigns can be conducted simultaneously.

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•

Each campaign is triggered by and mapped to a single Mailer ID (MID) within an

Intelligent Mail

barcode (IMb

) that is used on the mailpiece, customized to be active

during a defined date range.

•

More information on the MID and the IMb can be found in Appendix B.

The interactive campaign content is currently displayed

below the image in the email and Informed Delivery

dashboard, as depicted in Figure 5. USPS is considering

additional template designs in the future.

*Disclaimer: In order for an Informed Delivery campaign

to appear in the Daily Digest or on the online dashboard,

a full-service Service Type Identifier (STID) is required.

Mailpieces without a full-service STID will not be fully

processed.

Figure 5. Informed Delivery dashboard

view with an interactive campaign

Figure 4. Process flow showing when USPS applies Informed Delivery campaigns

When the Informed Delivery application receives a mailpiece scan for an enrolled Informed

Delivery user and the MID or the MID + Serial Number in the IMb is associated with an

active mailer campaign, that user will see customized supplemental content that the mailer

provided USPS. The process for this is illustrated in Figure 4.

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2. Benefits for Mailers

Informed Delivery allows mailers to:

•

Take advantage of a new digital channel, tying hardcopy mail to digital content.

•

Receive an additional digital impression for the intended recipient and additional

impressions for other household members who are Informed Delivery users.

•

Experience high email open rates (over 60% daily average).

Informed Delivery interactive campaigns provide additional benefits, allowing mailers to:

•

Enhance the scanned mailpiece images that consumers are already receiving.

•

Give the mail recipient or other household members the opportunity to take action

immediately on their mailpiece by clicking on a campaign image/website link—

regardless of whether or not they retrieve mail from the physical mailbox.

•

Coordinate multi-channel campaigns.

•

Collect information on campaign reach and results (e.g., open rates, click-through rates)

through data analytics.

3. Participation Criteria

Virtually any mailer can conduct an Informed Delivery campaign if the following criteria are

et:

•

Mailpieces must be automation compatible

Available for First-Class Mail

, Periodicals, or USPS Marketing Mail™ letter-size,

postcard, or flat-size pieces such as large envelopes, catalogues, and

magazines.

•

Mailpieces must contain a valid IMb.

•

Mailer or Mail Service Provider (MSP) must be IMb certified.

*Disclaimer: For an Informed Delivery campaign to appear, a full-service Service Type

dentifier (STID) is required.

*Note: A campaign can be initiated by the mailer or by their designated MSP (advertising

agenc

y, printer, freight shipper, presort bureau, etc.).

4. Creating a Campaign

The overall campaign process is simple; mailers create and induct hardcopy mail as usual

and provide USPS data elements and supplemental content to facilitate an Informed

Delivery interactive campaign. Mailers need to determine the level of campaign they will

onduct, the type of campaign, the supplemental content that will be used, the campai

tart and end dates, etc. Each of these are described in the sections below.

4.1.

Levels of Interactive Campaigns

At this time, there are two levels or breakdowns of campaigns available (Figure 6):

4.1.1.

Mailer ID (MID)

All mailpieces with this MID have the same campaign applied, therefore all Inform

elivery users see the same campaign.

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•

Note: This method cannot be used with shared MIDs.

4.1.2.

Intelligent Mail

Barcode (IMb

) Serialized

All mailpieces with the same MID and a defined Serial Number range within the IMb create a

unique campaign.

•

This campaign level provides the ability to apply different campaigns to groups of

ustomers and the ability to use a “shared” MID, such as one that might be used

in large businesses with multiple business units or one provided by a MSP.

•

These campaigns are defined with a unique and sequential Serial Number

range for each campaign treatment desired.

•

Dividing the mailing list into campaign groups prior to printing/addressing the actual

mailpieces or assigning the IMb’s is critical.

•

See Appendix C. The Mailing Lifecycle or the Intelligent Mail® Package

Barcode (IMpb) Specification document for more information on this topic.

•

The majority of interactive campaigns are conducted using this level.

Figure 6. Illustration of MID and IMb Serialized Campaigns

4.2.

Types of Interactive Campaigns

There are two types of Informed Delivery campaigns available.

4.2.1.

Basic Campaign

•

Ride-along Image and Target URL - Figure 7: This campaign includes the

SPS grayscale scanned image of a letter-size mailpiece and an image provi

ded

the mailer, currently placed below the grayscale image in the email and

dashboard. In all cases, the Ride-along Image is clickable (interactive), as is t

addi

tional “Learn More” link. These are both linked to the same URL. All URLs

must begin with https. The “Learn More” field name/text is not editable.

Important Notes: A Ride-along Image and URL are required to conduct an

Informed Delivery campaign. All URLs must lead directly to a landing page

directly associated with the physical mailpiece. See our Informed Delivery

Interactive Campaign Mailer/Submitter Terms and Conditions for full details.

4.2.2.

Dual Campaign

• Representative Image, Ride-along Image, and Target URL - Figure 8: In

addition to the required Ride-along Image and URL, this campaign type includes

an image that is provided in lieu of a flat-size image or in place of a grayscal

etter-size image. (Grayscale images of flat-size mail are not provided to

consumers, however, scan events are captured for some flat-sized mailpieces

during processing.)

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Representative Images are static; they are not clickable/interactive.

These images must be clearly branded and must be clearly and directly related

to the hardcopy mailpiece. See our Informed Delivery Interactive Campaign

Mailer/Submitter Terms and Conditions for full details.

Figure 7. Informed Delivery

notification with basic campaign

Figure 8. Informed Delivery

notification with dual campaign

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4.3.

Opt-out Indicator Fields

4.3.1.

Target URL Parameters

Informed Delivery has released a system update to send campaign Mailer ID (MID)

and Serial Number information in the form of URL parameters when consumers click

on interactive campaign Target URLs. This update enables additional data to be

captured, allowing mailers to better understand Informed Delivery driven referrals.

Additionally, this update enables Target URL webpages to be dynamic based on

campaign MID and Serial Number.

Please be advised, the URL parameters may not be compatible with all

campaign Target URLs. Webpage redirects may not function properly when

Informed Delivery passes the parameters. If the URL being used in the

campaign is a redirect, the end destination URL must be entered as the Target

URL for the interactive campaign. The Campaign Parameters PDF on the

Informed Delivery for Business Mailers & Shippers

ebsite contains

information about the function of the campaign URL opt-in/out-out feature.

It’s recommended that URLs are tested in the Mailer Campaign Portal (MCP) prior to

campaigns being submitted (Figure 9).

Figure 9. Sample Target URL with parameters

4.3.2.

Sharing Feature

The Informed Delivery Sharing feature enables users to send referrals and share

campaign links via email, text, or social media from the Daily Digest email. A referral

banner appears at the top of the Daily Digest, prompting users to share Informed

Delivery via text or email. Icons appear alongside campaigns that have been opted-in

for social sharing.

4.3.3.

Opt-out Functionality

In the campaign “Build” Phase, mailers can opt-out of Informed Delivery URL

parameters and Social Sharing when submitting a campaign via the Mailer Campaign

Portal (MCP). Currently, all the test link functionality within the MCP adheres to the

opt-in/out selection (Figure 10). When the email preview or campaign “proof,” is sent

from the MCP via the “Send Preview” button (Figure 11), the campaign preview

includes the opt-out selection for the URL parameter feature.

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Figure 10. Mailer Campaign Portal

Figure 11. Mailer Campaign Portal Campaign Preview

Additional test

link functionality

Preview with

Mailer Campaign

Opt-out

functionality

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4.3.4.

Optional Campaign Preview

An optional Campaign Preview is available from the

Review page.

•

Select the “Campaign Preview” button at the of

he page.

•

Select “Send Preview” and enter up to

ive email addresses to send this digita

eview email notification to yourself o

hers in your organization. Note: A

maximum of five campaign preview

emails is allowed per campaign code,

per day.

•

Currently, preview emails contain a

ampaign identifier in the subject line o

he email to distinguish betw

een

ampaigns and a “Test Only” banner t

ens

ure the email is more distinguishabl

as a

preview email and not a real Daily

Digest email (Figure 12)

•

View a digital preview of the campaign on a

mockup of a consumer’s dashboard by

selecting the “Consumer Dashboard” option at

the top of the screen.

Figure 12. Mailer Campaign

Preview Email Notification

“Test Only”

Banner to

distinguish

the email

as a

preview

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5. Campaign Stages and Reporting

There are three basic stages in the campaign process: Pre-Campaign, Campaign, and Post-

Campaign.

5.1.

Pre-Campaign

This defines the process of gathering the required campaign elements and determining the

submission method as described in Section 4. For an overview of how to conduct a

campaign in seven simple steps, see the Interactive Campaign Checklist in Appendix A.

Interactive Campaign Checklist.

5.1.1.

Pre-Campaign Analysis Report

USPS offers an optional Pre-Campaign Analysis report. For this analysis, USPS cross-

references an uploaded list against a current Informed Delivery user list and provides an

aggregate response indicating how many consumers in the list are Informed Delivery

users—at a given point in time. This information is provided in aggregate as USPS is

prohibited from providing lists of Informed Delivery users. Pre-Campaign files can be

submitted at any time, even after a campaign has been activated.

The Pre-Campaign list/file must contain 11-digit Delivery Point ZIP Codes that are taken

from the IMb of a recent mailing list. MSP’s are most commonly able to provide this

information from the IMb. This delivery point information is not stored in standard customer

databases.

The file must meet the criteria below:

•

The header must read ZIP11.

•

Each entry must be an 11-Digit Delivery Point ZIP Code.

To delete line items without 11-digit codes, import the file containing the codes

into Excel. Once in Excel, filter the data based on length, delete the non-11 digit

codes, and save the document in .csv format.

•

Include leading zeroes.

•

Remove duplicate codes.

•

Save as a Comma Separated Values (.csv) file (using lowercase .csv).

•

Break files into 102,400 KB (or 100MB) or less.

Figure 13 pr

ovides an example of how the Pre-Campaign file will look once it is

ready for uploading in the MCP. If the file does not meet these criteria, it will not be

uploaded or processed.

Regardless of the intended campaign submission method, use the MCP to

upload the properly formatted ZIP11 .csv file. See the Mailer Campaign Portal

User Guide on the Informed Delivery for Business Mailers website for details

on how to upload a file.

Figure 13.

Example of

properly

formatted Pre-

Campaign .csv file

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•

If an invalid file is uploaded in the Portal, the mailer will receive an error

message explaining the file issue(s) that prevented a successful upload.

•

The report will be provided within the Portal when it is done processing.

Processing time varies based on the file size.

Important Note: To verify the contents of the Pre-Campaign data, right-click the file and

open with a text editor such as Notepad. Appendix E. Formatting Pre-Campaign Analysis

File outlines the step-by-step process for ensuring that the Pre-Campaign file is correctly

formatted.

The completed Pre-Campaign Analysis report, which is provided in the Portal, includes the

following data:

Column Definition

Pre-Campaign List

Size

Total number of 11-digit Delivery Point ZIP™ Codes included in

the .csv file uploaded into the Portal.

Eligible 11-digit

Delivery Point ZIP

Codes

Total number of eligible 11-digit Delivery Point ZIP

Codes included in the .csv file (not delivery points with

users, but eligible delivery points).

Unique Eligible 11-digit

Delivery Point ZIP

Codes

Total number of unique eligible 11-digit Delivery Point ZIP

Codes included in the .csv file.

# of Subscribers Count of subscribers in the Unique Eligible 11-digit Delivery

Point ZIP Codes in the .csv file.

Subscriber Saturation

(%)

# of Subscribers divided by Unique Eligible 11-digit Delivery

Point ZIP Codes (Col D / Col C).

# of Email Enrolled

Subscribers

Count of subscribers who receive emails in Unique Eligible 11-

digit Delivery Point ZIP Codes. (Not all subscribers opt in to get

emails.)

Email Enrolled

Saturation (%)

# of Email Enrolled Subscribers divided by Unique Eligible11-

digit Delivery Point ZIP Codes (Col F / Col C).

5.2.

Campaign

Campaigns are activated based on the requirements provided by the mailer/MSP, which are

dictated by the campaign data elements—as described in Section 4.

The start date of the campaign, duration of the campaign, and campaign images that are

provided result in the campaign being applied to each mailpiece, based on the information in

Figure 14. Pre-Campaign Analysis Report

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the IMb.

In relation to the campaign elements, only the Brand/Campaign Display Name and

supplemental content are presented to the Informed Delivery user. The other campaign

elements provided are used in the background, to apply the appropriate campaign for the

defined time period.

5.3.

Post-Campaign

USPS understands that data analysis is important to measuring success and determining

where to direct marketing funds and resources. The Post-Campaign Summary and

Detailed reports provide a wealth of information related to an individual campaign.

5.3.1.

Post-Campaign Summary Report

This report provides the general aggregated results of an individual campaign, including the

number of users/mail recipients that were sent an email, the email open rate, and the

number of click-throughs.

• For campaigns submitted through the Mailer Campaign Portal (MCP) or PostalOne!,

post-campaign reports are available for download via the Portal.

• Post-campaign reports run daily in the morning rather than on-demand by mailer

request. Reports are cumulative and encompass all campaign activity through the

report date.

Column Definition

Campaign_Display_Name The name displayed in the “From” field of the campaign

(sometimes referred to as Brand Display Name or Display

Name).

Campaign_Title A mailer-generated title for a campaign.

Campaign_Code A mailer-generated unique code for a campaign.

Mailpieces The number of campaign-related mailpieces identified during

mail processing that were sent to a unique Delivery Point

Code (DPC) address. Total the distinct count of

“Mailpiece_ID” in the detailed report to match the number of

mailpieces in the summary report. This is not the total

number of mailpieces in the mailing—just those identified as

going to Informed Delivery users.

Emails The number of campaign-related emails generated from the

number of physical pieces. All email users in a household are

counted in this metric. Total the distinct count of email ids in

the detailed report to match the number of emails sent in the

summary report.

Email_Open The number of instances where a sent email was opened.

Filter column “RECORD_TYPE” within the detailed report for

“Open Details” to show total email opens. Count every row

to show the total number of emails opened. This will match

the Email Opens column in the summary report.

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Email_Open_Rate The number of email opens divided by the number of emails

(ColF/E).

•

This metric can seem irregularly high (e.g., over 100%)

if organizations look at it on a daily or regular basis, as

opposed to holistically over the entire life span of a

campaign. This can happen if users who receive their

mailpiece do not open their email until a later

date/time.

Click_Through The number of click-throughs generated from emails,

dashboard, or USPS Mobile

app. Filter column

“RECORD_TYPE” within the detailed report for “Click

Details” to show total clicks. Count every row to show the

total number of clicks. This will match the Click_Through

column in the summary report.

Click_Through_Rate The number of click throughs divided by the number of

mailpieces (Col H/D).

Figure 15. Post-Campaign Summary Report

5.3.2.

Post-Campaign Detailed Report

olumn Definition

Brand_Display_Name The name displayed in the “From” field of the campaign

(sometimes referred to as Campaign Display Name or Display

Name).

Mailer_ID The six-digit or nine-digit numeric code that was submitted for

the campaign.

Campaign_Title A mailer-generated title for a campaign.

Campaign_Code A mailer-generated unique code for a campaign.

Submitter_CRID A Customer Registration Identification (CRID) is a USPS-

generated numeric code of up to 15 digits that uniquely

identifies a USPS customer at a location.

Start_Date

The start date of the campaign as specified by the mailer. The

campaign start date cannot be set for more than 60 days in the

future.

End_Date The end date of the campaign as specified by the mailer. The

cut-off is at 12AM on the end date. Mail processed on the

campaign end date will not be included in any reports.

Start_Serial If the campaign is based on IMb Serialized (not MID level) –

indicates a six- or nine-digit starting Serial Number.

End_Serial If the campaign is based on IMb Serialized (not MID level) –

indicates a six-digit or nine-digit ending Serial Number.

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MID_Serial The full 15-digit MID and the IMb Serial Number of that specific

mailpiece.

ZIP5 The ZIP Code of the subscriber (recipient).

Mailpiece_ID A unique identifier for each piece. Automatically generated by

USPS.

Delivery_Date The date that a mailpiece was processed for delivery. All times

show as 5:00 GMT

Email_ID A unique identifier for each mailpiece. Automatically generated

by USPS.

WhenWasEmailSent The time stamp of when an email was sent using GMT time

zone.

WhenWasEmailOpened The time stamp of when an email was opened using GMT time

zone.

ImagePositionInEmail The position in which the image was displayed in an email (1

means it was the first image, 2 means it was the second

image, etc.)

WhenClickedThrough The time stamp of when a link from a campaign was clicked

using GMT time zone.

Source

Where the click-through originated. Includes the following:

“RIDEALONG_WEBSITE” = click-through originated from the

Learn More link on the dashboard

“RIDEALONG_WEBSITE_IMAGE” = click-through originated

from the campaign image on the dashboard

“RIDEALONG_EMAIL” = click-through originated from the

Learn More link in the Daily Digest

“RIDEALONG_EMAIL_IMAGE” = click-through originated from

the campaign image in the Daily Digest

“RIDEALONG_REMINDER_WEB” = click-through originated

from the Learn More link on the reminder submission webpage

“RIDEALONG_REMINDER_WEB_IMAGE” = click-through

originated from the ridealong image link on the reminder

submission webpage

“RIDEALONG_REMINDER” = click-through originated from

the Learn More link within the reminder email

“RIDEALONG_REMINDER_IMAGE” = click-through

originated from the ridealong image in the reminder email

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Record_Type

Identifies the type of record being provisioned. Includes

the following:

“No

n-Email” = details for pieces that are not sent in emails

“Open Details” = details for email opens

“

Click Details” = details for click tracks

“

Email” = details for emails sent

‘Piece” = details for mailpieces associated to

campaigns

“S

tatus” = details for campaign status updates

“

>10pcs” = a piece that was not included in an email due

to the user already having 10 images in their daily email

Figure 16. Post-Campaign Detail Report (shown as two separate images due to file width, without formatting)

For additional information on campaign report access and other campaign related information, visit

the Informed Delivery for Business Mailers website. O

ur full listing of known report issues/defects is in

Informed Delivery

Mail Tracking and Reporting (IV

-MTR).

To expand on

capabilities offered by the Mailer Campaign Portal (MCP), Informed Delivery

integrated with IV-MTR. The feature offers the following:

•

Near real-time data, provided as soon as its available (recurring data feed)

•

Two options for receiving data: one-time queries or data feeds

•

Data access delegation is available at the MID or CRID level

lease note that Informed Delivery Post-Campaign (IDPC) is pass-through and not

generated by IV-MTR.

To find additional resources and information:

•

Appendix G: Data Dictionary for IV-MTR IDPC Reporting

•

PostalPro™ IV-MTR site

•

IV User Guide: Provisioning IDPC Data in IV-MTR

For general questions on IV-MTR, please contact the Informed Delivery helpdesk. For

questions on the IV-MTR application, please go the IV Solutions Center at 1-800-238-3150

(Option 2) or InformedVisibility@usps.gov.

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Appendices

Appendix A. Interactive Campaign Checklist

Follow these steps to create an Informed Delivery interactive campaign:

☐

1. Choose your campaign submission method:

• Mailer Campaign Portal – Available via Business Customer Gateway (BCG) under

“Additional Services” tab.

• PostalOne!

– Contact the PostalOne! team at

[email protected] to get started.

☐

2. Determine campaign level and mailing list breakdown (Section 4.1):

• Apply a single Informed Delivery campaign to all mailpieces/customers.

• Apply different campaign treatments to different customers in the same or different

mailings.

• At this time, also assign a Campaign Title and Campaign Code to the interactive

campaign and define the mailpiece shape: letter, card, or flat.

☐

3. Determine MID on Piece and, if relevant, the IMb

Serial Number Range (Section 4.1):

• MID can belong to the mail owner, ad agency, printer, or other Mail Service Provider

(MSP).

o Existing MIDs can be used; full service IMb is required.

o MID must be printed in the IMb on the mailpieces.

• Gather Start and End IMb Serial Number Ranges – if doing IMb Serialized campaigns,

a unique and sequential range is required for each campaign or treatment.

☐

4. Develop supplemental content (Section 4.2):

☐

Design creative for your Ride-along Image (required).

☐

Determine your target URL (required).

☐

Decide if you want to keep the grayscale mail processing image or use a color

Representative Image (optional for letters/postcards)

☐

5. Determine campaign timeline:

• USPS suggests a Start Date of 2-3 days prior to your first expected in-home date.

• USPS suggests an End Date 2-3 days after your last expected in-home date.

☐

6. Submit campaign:

• Mailer Campaign Portal – Enter your campaign details and supplemental content.

• PostalOne! – Submit campaign(s) using Mail.dat or Mail.xml.

☐

7. Analyze results (Section 5):

• Download Post-Campaign Analyses directly in the Portal.

o Summary Report – Download information regarding the number of physical

mailpieces, number/percentage of emails opened, and number/percentage of

click-throughs.

o Detailed Report – Download detailed information, such as the time stamp of

when a user opened an email.

• Retrieve mail tracking data as a one-time query or recurring data feed using Informed

Visibility

Mail Tracking and Reporting (IV

-MTR).

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Appendix B. Mailer ID (MID) and Intelligent Mail

Barcode (IMb

) Information

The IMb on the mailpiece, and the contents within it, are the key to getting mailpiece images

to users and activating Informed Delivery interactive campaigns.

•

The IMb is comprised of five fields: Barcode ID, Service Type ID (STID), MID,

Serial Number, and Delivery Point ZIP Code. These fields provide intelligence

such as mail class, service requested, mailer identification, and unique Serial

Number tracking.

For the purposes of Informed Delivery, we only use the last 3 fields of the

IMb (not the BI or the STID).

•

Grayscale scanned images are linked to Informed Delivery users based on the

Delivery Point Code (DPC) field within the IMb. This is the nine-digit ZIP Code

plus a two-digit Delivery Point Code value.

•

Only consumers/mail recipients that reside in dwellings that have a unique 11-

digit Delivery Point Code can participate in Informed Delivery; this also applies

to multi- unit dwellings.

•

Campaign images and URLs (supplemental content) are linked

to each individual mailpiece processed based on the MID in the

Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMb) on the actual mailpiece.

A MID provided in electronic postage statement

documentation (PostalOne! eDoc) has no impact on the

Informed Delivery campaign. See Appendix D.

Post

alOne! Specifications for PostalOne! programming

and submission information.

Figure 17. Illustration of IMb

contents on individual mailpiece

Figure

18. Excerpt from IMb 4-State manual (Rev H, 4/20/2015, Page 52)

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Appendix C. The Mailing Lifecycle

There are generally many different people involved in the daily mailing operations of sending

invoices and insurance documents, staying in touch with customers, or creating and

conducting a Direct Mail campaign. Input on decisions related to campaigns can come from

key stakeholders throughout the company, such as Finance, IT, Marketing, Data Analytics,

Legal, Accounting, etc.

Figure 19.

Additionally, there are many companies that provide support for day-to-day mailing

operations or Direct Mail marketing campaigns. Mail Service Providers (MSPs) support mail

owners with mail printing, addressing, barcoding, sorting, distribution, and/or commingling.

Ad Agencies support mail owners with media decisions, campaign creative, mailpiece

design, and more.

Organizations should involve key stakeholders and support teams in the development cycle

of an Informed Delivery interactive campaign too.

Since the MID or, more commonly, the MID + IMb Serial Number on the mailpiece is key to

activating a campaign, the person responsible for this data element is critical to campaign

success. Properly segregating your mailing list prior to assigning the IMb or placing it on the

mailpieces is key.

Example: A company is mailing to 15,000 customers. This company uses a single six-digit

MID. The company wants to determine, between three different mailpieces, which

mailpiece receives the best response rate. The company creates a unique vanity URLs for

each of the three mailpieces to track visits and determine which mailpiece drove the most

engagement.

To apply a different Informed Delivery campaign to each mailpiece type (or groups of

customers), the company needs to ensure that their mailing list is broken out into three

separate/unique lists (IMb Serial Numbers). By doing so, the company can apply three

unique Informed Delivery campaigns, each with its own supplemental content (Ride-along

and/or Representative Image, and URL). The company should check to ensure that the

Serial Number printed on the mailpiece corresponds to the appropriate Informed Delivery

campaign.

Figure 20. Illustration of mailing list breakdown for Informed

Delivery campaign use

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Appendix D. PostalOne! Specifications

Mailers using the PostalOne! Mail.dat or Mail.xml file formats are able to submit Informed

Delivery interactive campaign information electronically.

•

The Informed Delivery Mail.dat or Mail.xml files are sent as part of a larger Mail.dat or

Mail.xml

job that contains presort and postage statement information; other presort and

postage supporting files are also submitted along with the Informed Delivery files.

Documents regarding the specific programming requirements and processes for PostalOne!

campaign submissions are provided as links on the Informed Delivery for Business Mailers

website. An overview of the required PostalOne! onboarding can be found below.

PostalOne! Onboarding & Contact Information

All mailers that wish to conduct/submit campaigns using PostalOne! are required to work with the

PostalOne! Customer Acceptance Testing (CAT) office for Informed Delivery interactive

campaigns. This PostalOne! team can be reached directly by emailing

[email protected]

PostalOne! Onboarding Check List

Follow the steps outlined below to set up your Customer Acceptance Testing (CAT) Business

Customer Gateway (BCG) account and conduct an Informed Delivery campaign using PostalOne!:

•

Email the Informed Delivery eDoc team at

[email protected] stating initial intent to start testing

Informed Delivery Campaigns using PostalOne!. Please provide the following

information:

Point of contact name

Phone number

•

Coordinate with USPS to determine if the mailer submitting the campaign has participated in

PostalOne! Customer Acceptance Testing (CAT) in the past.

•

If the organization has participated in PostalOne! CAT, please acquire the PostalOne!CAT

credentials below. These credentials will allow the organization to create a Mail.dat eDoc job

for an Informed Delivery campaign.

Username

Password

Customer Registration ID (CRID)

Mailer ID (MID)

Permit account number

ZIP Code™ related to the Permit

Set Up Your PostalOne! CAT Account with Permit

Visit the USPS BCG CAT environment.

Create a BCG account:

Click on “Sign Up for the BCG”

Enter your business email address

Validate your business

email address

Provide company name and address

Provide your contact information and click "Verify Account"

Once your account has been verified, create a username and password and answer the

security questions

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A BCG Business Account will be granted upon completion of these fields.

The user will be automatically assigned a mailer CRID and MID. Those

credentials appear on-screen within the application and will be sent to the

registered email address on file.

Email the Informed Delivery eDoc team the following information:

CRID

MID

Company name, address, and point of contact

Request that a Permit Imprint Postage Payment Account be created and activated.

Note: The Permit should be funded with a large test balance amount so that Mail.dat

jobs with postage and campaign data can be submitted.

Once the CAT BCG account has been created, the CAT office will link the newly created

Permit to the mailer test CRID.

The CRID, MID, and Permit Account Number information can now be used to prepare

and submit Mail.dat jobs with Informed Delivery campaigns to PostalOne! CAT.

The PostalOne! CAT Mail.dat client can be downloaded from the PostalOne! BCG CAT

page after logging in.

The Informed Delivery eDoc team will validate the eDocs data and provide feedback if

data needs to be corrected to be eligible for production environment.

Any questions or information related to PostalOne! or the process outlined above can be

sent to the Informed Delivery eDoc team.

All general campaign questions related to supplemental content specifications, reporting,

etc., must be directed to the [email protected]

email.

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Appendix E. Formatting Pre-Campaign Analysis File

To run a Pre-Campaign Analysis, the following file formatting requirements must be met or

the file upload will fail:

•

The column header must read ZIP11.

•

Each entry must be an 11-Digit Delivery Point ZIP Code. Any entry that is not an 11-Digit

Delivery Point ZIP Code should be deleted.

•

Include leading zeroes.

•

Remove duplicate codes.

•

Save as a Comma Separated Values (.csv) file (using lowercase .csv).

•

Break files into 102,400 KB (or 100MB) or less.

The following steps will provide guidance on how to format your Pre-campaign analysis file

correctly, including how to:

•

Extract the 11-digit Delivery Point Codes (DPC) from IMb’s, and;

•

Confirm that every entry contains only 11-digit DPCs.

11-digit DPCs are a key part of the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMb). There are five fields in t

Mb— the DPC is in the last/fifth field (see Appendix B. Mailer ID (MID) and Intelligent

ail® Barcode (IMb

) Information). The easiest way to identify DPCs is from a recent

mailing that was conducted. The printer/vendor should have access to this data. Keep i

ind that most customer databases do not store DPCs.

Extract DPCs out of an IMb to prepare the Pre-Campaign Analysis file.

1.1.

Open the IMb file in Notepad to ensure you have only IMb’s in the file, and save it to

your computer.

1.2.

Open a new instance of Microsoft Excel and import the Text file by following the

steps below.

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1.2.1

Open the Data tab, and then select “From Text” in the “Get External Data” section.

Note: If you are working in Excel 2016 in O365 or later, the Text Import Wizard

(below) may no longer be enabled. To enable it, navigate to File > Options > Data

and select “From Text (Legacy)” under the “Show legacy data import wizards”

section.

1.2.2

Select the file that contains your IMb’s and click “Import.” The Text Import Wizard will

appear.

1.2.3.

Using your mouse, click to the right of the first two characters of the numbers

showing in the “Data preview” section. This will insert an arrow as shown below.

Repeat this step four more times to insert these arrows in between each of the five

IMb sections. Select “Next.” Important Note: Your MID could be six or nine digits in

length—and your IMb Serial Number is also six or nine digits long. It is imperative

that you know the MID used before you complete this step.

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1.2.4.

Select “Text” under Column data format. Then, select “Finish.”

1.2.5.

An Import Data window will appear. Select “Existing Worksheet” to indicate how you

want to view this data in your workbook (default option).

1.2.6.

Content will be imported into Excel into five columns. The fifth column (Column E)

contains the 11-digit DPC.

1.3

Delete columns A through D. Keep column E

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Verify if the .CSV File is properly formatted for submission in the Mailer

Campaign Portal.

2.1.

Open a new Excel file.

2.2.

Open the Data tab, then select “From Text” in the “Get External Data” section.

2.3.

Select the file that contains your 11-digit Delivery Point Barcodes from your IMb’s;

select “Import.”

2.4.

Leave the delimiters as is (“Tab”). Click “Next.”

2.5.

Select “Text.”

2.6.

The data will import into your Excel document.

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2.7.

Insert “ZIP11” as a header to cell A1 without quotation marks. This is a required

column header.

2.8.

Label column B “Length” and enter the following formula into cell B2: =len(A2).

2.9.

Copy the formula to each row by re-selecting B2 and double-clicking the green

square at the bottom right of the cell.

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2.10.

Highlight the two column headers and press Ctrl+Shift+L to enable filters; then, filter

the Length column to only display lengths that do not equal 11.

2.11.

Highlight and delete all of the rows displayed in the filter.

2.12.

Remove the filter to display the remaining rows, which should all have a length of 11.

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2.13.

Delete the Length column and save the file in .CSV format.

Select all of the entries below the ZIP11 column header

3.1

Click on the “Data” tab and click on the “Remove Duplicates” button under Data

Tools.

3.2

Click “OK” when the Remove Duplicates window appears.

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3.3

Click “OK” to accept the removal of duplicates and save the file to your computer as a

.csv file.

3.4

Ensure that your file does not exceed 102,400 KB. Your file is now ready for upload

to the Mailer Portal.

3.5

Proceed to the Mailer Campaign Portal to upload your file.

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Appendix F. Formatting Post-Campaign Detailed Report

If some of the columns in the campaign report appear in scientific notation and

cannot be resolved by changing the format to a number, click the “Download Report”

link from the Mailer Campaign Portal, and select “Save As.”

*Note, do not open the file or view it in Excel. If you open the file in Excel, formatting

options will be limited.

Downloading a campaign report from the Mailer Campaign Portal

Open a new blank sheet in Excel. In the Data tab, select “From Text/CSV” and

upload the data file that you saved in the previous step and click “Import”.

For data that appears in scientific notation, select the column(s) you wish you

change and select “Data Type: Whole Number” from the top ribbon.

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Appendix G. IV-MTR IDPC Data Dictionary

A detailed version of the IV-MTR IDPC Data Dictionary can be found on the IV-MTR

PostalPro website.

Field Name

Field Description

Sample Data

Barcode Identifier

Barcode Identifier of the mailpiece IMB Code

Barcode Mailer ID

Barcode Mailer ID of the mailpiece IMB Code

123456

Barcode Serial

Number

Serial Number of the mailpiece IMB Code

990019102

Brand Display Name

The name displayed in the “From” field of the

campaign

ABC Company

Campaign Code

A mailer generated unique code for a campaign

ABC July 2020

Campaign Title

A mailer generated title for a campaign

ABC071020

Delivery Date

The date that a mailpiece was processed for

delivery

2020-01-01

eDoc Submitter

CRID

USPS-generated numeric code of up to 15 digits

that uniquely identifies a USPS EDOC Submitter

(for PO! campaigns only)

4614860

eDoc Submitter

Name

The name of the organization that submitted the

electronic documentation to the postal service for

mailing.

ABC Company

Email ID

A unique identifier for each mailpiece.

Automatically generated by USPS

1587469

End Date

The end date of the campaign as specified by the

mailer. The cut-off is at 12 AM of the end date.

Mail processed on the campaign end date will not

be included in any reports.

2020-08-30

End Serial

If the campaign is based on IMb Serialized (not

MID level) – indicates a six-digit or nine-digit

ending Serial Number.

987456124

Image Position in

The position in which the image was displayed in

an email (1 means it was the first image, 2 means

it was the second image, etc.)

Mail Owner CRID

USPS-generated numeric code of up to 15 digits

that uniquely identifies a USPS Mail Owner (for

PO! campaigns only)

222342884

Mail Owner Name

The name of the organization that owns the mail

being sent.

ABC Company

Mail Preparer CRID

USPS-generated numeric code of up to 15 digits

that uniquely identifies a USPS Mail Preparer (for

PO! campaigns only)

222342889

Mail Preparer Name

The name of the organization that prepared the

mailing and/or delivered it to the postal service for

mailing.

ABC Company

Mailer ID

The six-digit or nine-digit numeric code that was

submitted for the campaign (for all campaigns)

987546321

Mailer Name

The name of the owner of the MID that's on the

mailpiece IMB

ABC Company

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Mailpiece ID

A unique identifier for each piece. Automatically

generated by USPS

1254789122

Service Type Code

Service Type Code of the mailpiece IMB Code

011

Source

Where the click-through originated. Includes the

following:

“RIDEALONG_WEBSITE” = click-through

originated

from the Learn More link on the dashboard

“RIDEALONG_WEBSITE_IMAGE” = click-

through

originated from the campaign image on the

dashboard

“

RIDEALONG_EMAIL” = click-through originated

from the Learn More link in the Daily Digest

“RIDEALONG_EMAIL_IMAGE” = click-through

originated from the campaign image in the Daily

Digest

“RIDEALONG_REMINDER_WEB” = click-through

originated from the Learn More link on the r

eminder

submission webpage

“

RIDEALONG_REMINDER_WEB_IMAGE” =

click-through originated from the ridealong image

link on the reminder submission webpage

“

RIDEALONG_REMINDER” = click-through

originated from the Learn More link within the

reminder email

“

RIDEALONG_REMINDER_IMAGE” = click-

through originated from the ridealong image in

the reminder email

RIDEALONG_WEBSITE

Start Date

The start date of the campaign as specified by the

mailer

2020-08-30

Start Serial

If the campaign is based on IMb Serialized (not

MID level) – indicates a six- or nine-digit starting

Serial Number.

987456120

Status

Status of the campaign. Includes the following:

ACTIVE, COMPLETE, CANCELLED

ACTIVE

Submitter CRID

USPS-generated numeric code of up to 15 digits

that uniquely identifies a USPS Submitter (for all

campaigns)

123456

Whenclicked

through

The time stamp of when a link from a campaign

was clicked using the local time

2020-05-14 01:32:36-

0400

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When email was

opened

The time stamp of when an email was opened

using the local time

2020-05-14 01:30:36-

0400

When email was sent

The time stamp of when an email was sent using

the local time

2020-05-14 01:00:36-

0400

ZIP5

The ZIP Code of the subscriber (recipient)

12345

Record Type

Identifies the type of record being provisioned.

Includes the following:

Non-Email = details for pieces that are not sent in

emails

Open Details = details for email

opens

Click Details = details for click

tracks

Email = details for emails sent

Piece = details for mailpieces associated

to campaigns

Status = details for campaign status updates

>10pcs = a piece that was not included in an

email due to the user already having 10

images in their daily digest email

Piece

Appendix H. Legal Terms & Conditions

Please navigate to the Informed Delivery for Business Mailers w

ebsite to find the latest

Informed Delivery Interactive Campaign Mailer/Submitter Terms and Conditions.