2021 USPS Promotions and Incentives
The 2021 USPS promotions provide marketers and mailers with the opportunity to use your envelope or mailpiece to increase engagement with 
customers. Promotions range from using dynamic color and new print techniques to integrating mobile technology.
- Tactile, Sensory and Interactive Engagement Promotion
- Informed Delivery Promotion
- Emerging and Advanced Technology Promotion
- Earned Value Reply Mail Promotion
- Mobile Shopping Promotion
- Personalized Color Transpromo Promotion
The information you find here is informational. Exact specifications may be found here. You must contact the USPS for approval and exact program specifications.
New for 2021: Promotions General Participation Guide
A Promotions General Participation Guide has been created for all 2021 promotions (with the exception of the Earned Value Reply Mail promotion) to assist participants with registration, mailpiece submission, mailpiece acceptance and post-mailing requirements. Click here to access the guide.
There are also several new program approval and authorization processes, in addition to mailpiece content requirements for various 2021 promotions. Stay tuned to the "New for 2021" sections in upcoming USPS promotion blogs at tension.blog for a detailed outline of important changes to know.
2021 USPS Promotions and Incentives, Simplified
Tension is offering easy-to-read overviews of the USPS promotions, available to you. Sign up for our updates here. All final approvals and official information come from the USPS. This material has been designed for reference.
Two-Page Overview of the 2021 USPS Promotions
Do you need a quick overview of the promotions and important dates for each? Click here to download.
Tactile, Sensory and Interactive Engagement Promotion
Neuromarketing research suggests that when marketing materials engage a reader’s senses, brand recognition and message recall can increase. This USPS promotion encourages mailers to use the latest printing and production advancements to get mail noticed and opened.
To be approved, your mailpiece has to feature at least one of the following approved techniques:
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Specialty inks
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Specialty papers
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Interactive elements
Participants in this promotion are eligible for a 2% discount. The mailing is sent through USPS Marketing Mail®. More information about requirements and eligibility can be found here.
**New Post on 2021 Tactile, Sensory and Interactive Mailpiece Engagement Promotion**
Get details on how to qualify for this year's Tactile, Sensory and Interactive Mailpiece Engagement promotion, and learn about qualifying Tension products in our post here.
Related Tension Products
Learn more about our new Trailing Edge envelopes, envelopes with special finishes and embossed envelopes (options include both textured paper and foil embossing) - they all qualify for discounts under the Tactile, Sensory and Interactive Mailpiece Engagement promotion.
Or, learn more about the unique and USPS-approved Trailing Edge envelopes in this blog.
Informed Delivery Promotion
The Informed Delivery promotion encourages business mailers to sign up for and launch an Informed Delivery campaign.
This promotion offers a 2% discount on eligible mail. More information about this First-Class Mail® and USPS Marketing Mail promotion can be found here.
Related Blog Posts
Have you checked our blog for Informed Delivery articles? There's a wealth of information in this one.
Emerging and Advanced Technology Promotion
Marketers can amplify direct mail results when incorporating technology into their mailings. With this promotion, customers can explore technologies that are included or embedded into paper and linked to a mobile phone or other device.
Your direct mail mailpiece needs to integrate one of the following approved technologies to be eligible for this program:
- Near Field Communication (NFC)
- Extended Reality (XR) which includes “Enhanced” Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR)
- Video in Print (ViP)
- Digital to Direct Mail
- Integration with Voice Assistants
Mailers are eligible for a 2% discount. More information about this First-Class Mail and USPS Marketing Mail promotion can be found here.
Related Tension Products
Make your mailpiece come alive with enhanced augmented reality (AR), and enjoy discounts from the USPS.
Earned Value Reply Mail Promotion
Business Reply Mailings (BRMs), Courtesy Reply Mailings (CRMs) and Share Mail® play a critical role in facilitating payment of bills and nonprofit donations. Include a reply envelope in your outbound mailing and qualify for a per-piece postal discount. Your return envelope can feature a “Thank you for your payment” or “We appreciate your donation!” message to enhance the sender’s experience. If you participate in this promotion, you are eligible for a $.02 credit per mailpiece, depending on meeting certain program thresholds. Additional details on program requirements for the Earned Value Reply Mail promotion can be found here.
You can earn big postal credits for them through the Earned Value Reply Mail promotion, yet how big is a number 9 envelope? Details in our blog here.
Mobile Shopping Promotion
Get double duty out of your direct mail envelope by providing a direct link to your mobile site. The 2021 Mobile Shopping promotion, for USPS Marketing Mail and Nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail letters and flats, encourages mailers to combine mobile technology with direct mail to create a convenient method for customers to do their online shopping.
Your mailpiece must feature a mobile barcode or other print/mobile technology that can be read by a mobile device. That barcode should lead to a mobile optimized shopping website where the customer can easily purchase the advertised product. In some instances, the sale of services and charitable donations may qualify nonprofits for the promotion. Additional information on program requirements for the Mobile Shopping promotion can be found here.
Related Blog Posts
Read how well mobile technologies and direct mail go together in this blog or this one.
Personalized Color Transpromo Promotion
Your monthly statements represent a regular appointment between you and your customer. It is a time to connect, a reminder to make a payment or even an opportunity to offer a new special deal. This promotion is intended to encourage producers of bills and statements to produce and mail statements that create a greater connection and response from consumers by using personalized color transpromotional messages on bills and statements. More information about this First-Class Mail promotion and how to become eligible for the 2% discount can be found here.
Related Blog Post
The envelope can offer nice real estate for marketing messages, and a transactional mailpiece is an ideal platform to communicate each month with your customers. Get to know how the 40/40/20 Marketing Rule can boost your transpromo messaging in this post.
Additional Information and Contact Information
Your Tension Associate is available to provide additional information about creating an envelope that will be eligible for these incentives. Additional program requirements and documents can also be found at the USPS website:
- Postal Pro: postalpro.usps.com/promotions
- Program Registration: gateway.usps.com
You may also get additional information from the PostalOne! help desk at (800) 522-9085 or postalone@email.usps.gov.
