The trees are turning brilliant colors of orange, yellow, and red which means the holidays are right around the corner. That means it’s time to think about getting those holiday packages shipped out to arrive before Old Saint Nick does. We have a shorter holiday season with Thanksgiving being late this year, planning will ensure your holiday cards, letters, and packages will arrive on time.

The USPS has approved six mailing promotions for 2019. You may remember that USPS did not have any promotions in 2018. This year they are bringing back five promotions from previous years and have added one new Informed Delivery promotion. The promotions for First Class Mail are Earned Value, Personalize and Preprinted Color Transpromo. The Emerging & Technology and the Informed Delivery promotions can use either First Class Mail or Marketing Mail, while the Tactile, Sensory & Interactive Engagement and Mobile Shopping promos are only for Marketing Mail.

The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) has approved the United States Postal Service (USPS) rate case. On January 27^th 2019, postage rates will increase an average of 2.479% for Marketing/Presort Standard Mail. 

It's scary to think that Halloween is already over and retailers are preparing for the busy holiday shopping season. Shoppers will soon be frantically looking for the perfect items to send out to family and friends.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has developed a new program called Academic Outreach. The purpose is to engage future marketers and showcase the power of direct mail. The USPS has recruited the nationwide network of Postal Customer Councils (PCCs) to assist with rolling out the program. The program was introduced in May at the National Postal Forum, but was brought to the forefront during the National PCC week in September. Madison Postmaster Paul Nistler and I presented the program to the Greater Madison Area Postal Customer Council on September 27^th.

A previous article discussed USPS Move Update standards and the ways to meet those requirements. I will be discussing Green and Secure Address Change Service (ACS) in this follow up blog. 

Nearly 40 million people change their address every year, which means your mailing list can get inaccurate fast.

As the United States Postal Service (USPS) continues to raise the price of postage, many marketers are looking for ways to save on their postage costs. Here are 4 ways you can cut the cost of your direct mail campaigns:

We all have tools that help make our jobs a little bit easier. Maybe its software or scheduling program, a binder with standing operating procedures, or a troubleshooting guide. Here are four handy tools every mailer should have in their toolbox:

Now that Thanksgiving has passed and we have all had our fill of turkey, it’s time to get those holiday cards and packages out to family and friends. Here are some deadlines to keep in mind as the USPS is expecting to deliver more than 15 billion pieces of mail between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. 850 million of those pieces are expected to be parcels which would be an increase of over 10% from last year. A great USPS website to visit is www.usps.com/holidaynews. It has holiday resources and even information on Santa Mail.