We’ve been championing the United States Postal Service (USPS) Promotions and Incentives over the last few years, and for good reason. By uniting the benefits of direct mail with recent advances in print technology, marketers can enhance their customer interactions, engage through mail to drive response rates and save money during the process. This year, USPS kicked the program off with their Tactile, Sensory, & Interactive Mailpiece (TSIM) Engagement and Personalized Color Transpromo incentives, both of which provide different benefits to eligible mailers. This blog focuses on the TSIM promo but be sure to check back for our blog for the full Personalized Color Transpromo breakdown.

How Does it Help?

As marketers, our goal is often to get people to hold something in their hands for just a little bit longer to improve the odds that our message was delivered. Finding the right delivery method is tough—Millennials and Gen Z want dramatic and eye-catching campaigns, Boomers and Gen X enjoy traditional, personalized ads and our budgets are caught in the middle. Still, one of the best ways to achieve that end is through direct mail. USPS recognizes that connecting with your target audiences can take a bite out of your budget and their incentive program gives you the ability to share personalized and embellished deliverables without breaking the budget or sacrificing ROI.

To qualify for the Tactile, Sensory, & Interactive promotion, you must incorporate a multi-sensory experience into your printed piece, such as special visual effects, sound, scent, texture/tactile treatments or even taste.

The new Cougar® Print Techniques Promotion is a great example of an eligible printed piece

In a printed piece, those effects are also known as “Haptics”, the science of transmitting information through sensation. The use of haptics in print to achieve a connection through touch and feel is a trend that has been around for a while and foils, varnishes, die cuts and embossments all fall under the haptic umbrella. The new Cougar® Print Techniques promotion is a great example of a printed piece featuring print techniques that make it eligible for the current promotion.

For the brochure, we chose a soft feel coating on the cougar image in the interior (pictured below) to add tactility to the images and engage with our audience through multiple senses.

The brochure also features die cuts on the front cover, a gloss varnish applied to several spots on the printed piece, including the Cougar halftone in the background and the cougar’s eyes, and chrome silver on the 50 to give it a shimmer. Any of these techniques can qualify you for a discount, but used properly they also have the power to elevate your project to the next level.

These techniques, when married to the right paper, can elevate your direct mail campaign all while saving you money through USPS.

The Tactile, Sensory, & Interactive Mailpiece Engagement promotion runs from February 1, 2023 – July 31, 2023. Eligible pieces include USPS Marketing Mail^® letters and flats, Nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail, letters and flats, First-Class Letters, and more. Click here for additional information.

Which Promotion is Next?

While the Tactile, Sensory, & Interactive Mailpiece Engagement Promotion is first up, it certainly isn’t last. The incentives are staggered and run from anywhere between 3 to 6 months, varying from promotion to promotion:

• Personalized Color Transpromo Promotion (February 1, 2023 – July 31, 2023)
• Emerging & Advanced Technology Promotion (May 1, 2023 – November 30, 2023)
• Reply Mail IMbA Promotion (August 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023)
• Informed Delivery Promotion (August 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023)
• Retargeting Promotion (September 1, 2023 –November 30, 2023)

To take advantage of USPS mailing promotions and incentives, and learn about other business discounts, enroll your business at the Business Customer Gateway. To learn more about direct mail and how it can benefit your business, visit our blog.