USPS Launches Intelligent Mail in September
After years of planning, the Postal Service is ready to launch a new service, Intelligent Mail, on September 1. This move marks one of the biggest changes in postal technology since the introduction of the original postal barcodes in 1989.
Intelligent Mail is built around a new barcode, the 4-state barcode, now referred to as OneCode by USPS. Current postnet and PLANET barcodes are 2-state barcodes, the two states referring to tall and short bars. OneCode barcodes have four different bars – a tall bar and three different short bars. The important thing about all these bars is that they allow for a lot more digits, The OneCode gives you 20 more digits to use than the 2-state barcode, and few digits make a big difference!
Tracking and Routing All in One Barcode
So what is a mailer to do with all of those digits? We're glad you asked! The OneCode allows you to put a tracking number and the mail routing information all in a single barcode. Until the OneCode came out, if you wanted to track your mail through the Postal Service you needed to print an additional barcode, the PLANET code, on your mail pieces. Some marketers are concerned that this could have a negative impact on response rates. The OneCode integrates tracking and routing information all into a single barcode. Better still, the tracking component is more precise with allowing us to uniquely number every piece in your mailing. You can easily find an individual piece of mail in the mail stream with OneCode.
Better Addresses from that Same Barcode
When a person on your mailing list moves, you may never get the mail piece back with their new address, or you may need to manually enter the returned piece into your address list when it does return. Our experience has been that many list owners and mailers never quite get around to changing bad addresses. The result – many mailing lists contain a variety of incorrect and undeliverable addresses. Not only does this represent a substantial part of your mail budget being wasted, but there are USPS regulations requiring you to keep your address lists up to date in order to get presort discounts.
USPS has a long standing program called ACS (Address Correction Service) that provided electronic updates for people who have moved. The downside to ACS has been that it is complicated to use and requires two ugly lines of code above the address. It is generally only used by large publishers mailing out issues. Now, OneCode allows you to participate in ACS by indicating it in your barcode. ProList clients will be able to participate easily – just let us know. For now it will be limited to First-Class letters. Other classes and sizes will become available in the coming months.
ProList—A 4-State Pioneer
…ready to go today!
ProList has been involved in the 4-State barcode from its very inception. Count on us to provide the leadership and guidance you need to take advantage of this new technology. We are ready to start using OneCode for tracking letter size mail today. Look for our OneCode ACS service to be available for First-Class letters later this month.
Direct Mail Delivers
These excerpts appear courtesy of American Printer magazine, a trade magazine serving the commercial printing industry, and the author, John Zarwan.
Among all the bad news for print markets, direct mail remains one bright spot. Annual spending on U.S. direct mail advertising is approximately $60 billion a year, and it's growing at a healthy clip – seven to eight percent a year. In 2005, companies and other groups sent out 100 billion pieces of direct mail, up 16 percent from 86 billion pieces in 1000, according to the United States Postal Service.
Mail is an important medium, one that inspires trust and helps build brand and product awareness. Relative to other media, it is inexpensive and flexible. Direct mail remains a growing medium because of its inherent advantages as well as external events, such as "do not call" legislation, pushing direct marketers toward print communications. As a result, regular mail continues to be the essential tool in communicating with the consumer.
As alternative media become fragmented, direct mail becomes more important. With hundreds of television channels and dwindling newspaper circulations, physical mail is one of the last ways to reach a large number of consumers. Direct mail is an increasingly attractive option as better databases and software allow targeted promotions to individuals based on past purchases in stores and on the Internet. Innovations in inserting and in digital printing make it easier for businesses to personalize direct mail.
