The Second USPS Postage Rate Hike Looms

Are you ready for the second postage rate increase this year? Well, ready or not on July 9^th, 2023, postage rates are going up. Did you know that 74% of marketers agree that direct mail delivers the best ROI, response rate, and conversion rates than all other channels used. They also agree direct mail is a more effective channel for their company than digital.

Here are some of the rates:

First Class Regular

• 1 ounce stamped letter size pieces will increase to $0.66 each
• 1 ounce metered letter size will increase to $0.63 each
• 1 ounce Flats size pieces will increase to $1.35 each

First Class Presorted

• Mixed AADC letters will increase to $0.561 each
• Mixed AADC cards will increase to $0.388 each
• Mixed ADC Presorted flats will increase to $1.234 each

Standard Mail

• Mixed AADC Letters will increase to $0.381 each
• Mixed ADC Flats will increase to $0.976 each

Nonprofit Mail

• Mixed AADC Letters will increase to $0.226 each
• Mixed ADC Flats will increase to $0.751 each

Yes, postage is increasing, but direct mail is still the most effective marketing channel! Show your customers how to make the most of it. Check out these special programs with the USPS to save on postage for the rest of this year. There are a variety of programs to choose from, so your customers should be able to find at least one that is a good fit. You can help them save some money and look like a hero!

Postal Promotions for the Rest Of 2023

The Postal Service is offering 4 promotional discounts from July through the end of this year. Do you have a planned strategy to help your customers with them? You can not only help them save money on postage, but really stand out and increase their response rate.

1. Emerging Technology – This promotion is for creative ways to incorporate technology into direct mail. You can get a 3% discount if you use augmented reality, basic voice assistant or QR codes for mobile shopping. You can get a 4% discount if you use advanced voice assistant, video, NFC, mixed reality or virtual reality. This runs May 1 – Nov 30^th.
2. Reply Mail IMbA – This promotion is for a faster easier way to do reply mail. You can get a 3% discount by using a static barcode and enrolling in IMbA. You can get a 6% discount by using a serialized barcode and enrolling in IMbA. This runs July 1 – Dec 31^st.
3. Informed Delivery - This promotion is for Integrating direct mail with digital marketing channels. With Informed Delivery, business mailers can engage users through an integrated mail and digital marketing campaign that generates additional consumer impressions, interactions, and insights. This gives you a 4% discount. This runs Aug 1 – Dec 31^st.
4. Retargeting - This promotion is for matching either the visitor’s IP address to a website or an app to a customer’s physical address. Triggered automatically by a digital interaction, retargeted direct mail is a dynamically printed, targeted message sent in a timely manner to a customer’s home via a First-Class Mail Postcard. You can get a 5% discount. This runs Sept 1 – Nov 30^th.

Don’t let the postage rate increases scare your customers away from this important marketing channel! Direct mail has the highest ROI of all marketing channels when done correctly! On average the postage rates increased by less than a penny per piece, so they are not going to drastically increase overall direct mail budgets, but it is important to account for the additional postage funds.

It’s time to get creative with your customers and send direct mail that is interesting as well as cost effective. Don’t let the second 2023 postage rate increase get you down. You can help your customers get better results! Are you ready to get started?