INFORMED DELIVERY® Interactive Campaign Guide · PDF fileINFORMED DELIVERY®...

INFORMED DELIVERY® INTERACTIVE CAMPAIGN GUIDE

INFORMED DELIVERY®

Interactive Campaign Guide

United States Postal Service, Products & Innovation, Version 2.1

Purpose of the Document This guide provides interested mailers with a “how to” guide for

initiating an Informed Delivery interactive campaign.


© 2017 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 1 of 28

Table of Contents 1. Background ............................................................................................................................... 3

1.1 Availability ................................................................................................................................. 3

2. How It Works for Consumers/Mail Recipients .......................................................................... 3

3. How It Works for Mailers/Mail Owners .................................................................................... 4

4. Benefits for Mailers ................................................................................................................... 5

5. Participation Criteria ................................................................................................................. 6

6. Campaign Information .............................................................................................................. 6

Types of Interactive Campaigns ................................................................................................ 6

Campaign Data Elements .......................................................................................................... 8

Image Requirements ................................................................................................................. 9

How to Submit a Campaign ..................................................................................................... 10

7. Campaign Stages ..................................................................................................................... 11

Pre-Campaign .......................................................................................................................... 11

7.1.1. Pre-Campaign Saturation Report ............................................................................................ 11

Campaign ................................................................................................................................ 11

Post-Campaign ........................................................................................................................ 12

7.3.1. Post-Campaign Summary Report ............................................................................................ 12

7.3.2. ZIP Code Line Level Detail Report ........................................................................................... 12

Appendix A – Mailer ID (MID) and IMb Information .......................................................................... 13

Appendix B – The Mailing Life Cycle ................................................................................................... 14

Appendix C – PostalOne! Specifications ............................................................................................. 15



Change History

Document Version

Section(s) Updated

Change Description Author Date

1.0 All Initial document created Carrie Bornitz 02/28/2017 2.0 Appendix C Added missing header record

and CAT information Carrie Bornitz 04/03/2017

2.1 All Updated language for naming conventions, minimum campaign requirements, and contact info for Program Office and PostalOne! support

Carrie Bornitz 06/20/2017



1. Background Informed Delivery is an optional, free feature that gives residential consumers the ability to see a daily preview of their household’s letter-sized mailpieces that will be arriving soon. This feature offers consumers the convenience of seeing what is coming to their mailbox – anytime, anywhere – even while traveling. • Users receive an email notification that includes grayscale images of the

exterior, address side of incoming letter-sized mailpieces (or postcards). o Users can also view their household’s mailpiece images on the

dashboard at informeddelivery.usps.com, which displays images for a seven-day period.

• Participating mailers can provide supplemental content, allowing users to take immediate action on a mailpiece.

For the purposes of this discussion, this supplemental content is referred to as Informed Delivery “interactive campaigns” or just “campaigns.” The United States Postal Service (USPS)® is currently conducting operational testing of this campaign functionality with a limited number of mailers. Exhibit 1 depicts a sample email digest with an interactive campaign that is included with the grayscale scanned image of a business letter. Underneath the scanned image is clickable supplemental content, also known as a “Ride-along” image. Mailer information and another clickable link are provided as well. The bottom section shows the beginning of a personal scanned handwritten letter. The blue “letter” circle and gray line indicate a separation between individual mailpiece information in the digest.

1.1 Availability Feature is available nationally as of 4/14/2017, encompassing 31K eligible ZIP Codes™.

2. How It Works for Consumers/Mail Recipients USPS uses existing processes that provide digital images of the exterior of mailpieces as they are processed through automation equipment; Informed Delivery uses those images to provide digital notifications to users in advance of the delivery of physical mail. The scanned images can be viewed in a user’s email notification or on the dashboard at informeddelivery.usps.com. The process flow is depicted in Exhibit 2.1. Exhibit 2.1: Process flow that enables Informed Delivery

Exhibit 2.2 depicts how a physical mailpiece image (without a campaign) is displayed on the user’s dashboard. Dashboard information is maintained for a period of seven calendar days. If a residential consumer has signed up for both Informed Delivery and My USPS®, they will see an integrated

Exhibit 1: Depiction of Informed Delivery daily email digest



dashboard, like the one depicted here. To learn more about this consumer-facing feature or see if you live in an eligible ZIP Code, visit informeddelivery.usps.com. Exhibit 2.2: Example of Informed Delivery dashboard view

3. How It Works for Mailers/Mail Owners As noted above, Informed Delivery users will see images of their mail, regardless of whether or not a mailer conducts an interactive campaign. Mailers can enhance their hardcopy mailings by conducting a campaign that includes an image (or images) and a website link (URL). This information will appear in the user’s email notification and dashboard on USPS.com®. This information is referred to here as supplemental content.

• Each unique set of customized supplemental content (image & URL) is associated with an individual mailer campaign. Multiple campaigns can be conducted at one time for a single mailing. Multiple mailings and campaigns can be conducted simultaneously.

• Each campaign is triggered by and mapped to a single Mailer ID (MID) that is used on the mailpiece and can be customized to be active during a defined date range.

• Mailers can also use the Serial Number range within the Intelligent Mail® barcode (IMb) to make a unique campaign, providing greater levels of personalization and the ability to use a “shared” MID, such as one that might be used in large businesses with multiple business units or one provided by a Mail Service Provider (MSP). The majority of mailer tests conducted to date have been done utilizing both the MID and a Serial Number range.

• More information on the MID and the IMb can be found in Appendix A. When the Informed Delivery application receives a mailpiece scan for an enrolled Informed Delivery user and the MID or the MID/Serial Number in the IMb is associated with an active mailer campaign,

Sample Customer

https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action



that user will see customized supplemental content that the mailer provided USPS. The process for this is illustrated in Exhibit 3.0. Exhibit 3.0: Process flow showing step where Informed Delivery campaigns are applied during mail processing

The interactive campaign content is currently displayed below the image in the email and to the side of the image in the Informed Delivery dashboard (see Exhibit 3.1). Additional template designs are under development. Exhibit 3.1: Example Informed Delivery Dashboard view with interactive campaign

4. Benefits for Mailers Informed Delivery allows mailers to:

• Take advantage of a new digital channel, tying hardcopy mail to digital content • Receive an additional digital impression for the intended recipient and additional impressions

for other household members who are Informed Delivery users • Experience high email open rates (70% daily average)

Informed Delivery interactive campaigns provide additional benefits, allowing mailers to:

• Enhance the presentation of the scanned mailpiece images that consumers are already receiving

Sample Customer

Sample Mailer



• Give mail recipient or other household members the opportunity to take action immediately on their mailpiece by clicking on a campaign image/website link – regardless of whether or not they retrieve mail from the physical mailbox

• Coordinate multi-channel campaigns with text, social media, other email, etc. • Collect information on campaign reach and open rates through data analytics

5. Participation Criteria Virtually any mailer can conduct an Informed Delivery campaign if the following criteria are met:

• Mailpieces must be automation compatible • Mailpieces must contain a valid IMb • Mailer or MSP must be IMb certified

A campaign can be initiated by the mailer or by their designated MSP (advertising agency, printer, freight shipper, presort bureau, etc.). During the operational test period, there are no fees associated with conducting an Informed Delivery campaign. The maximum length of time to run a campaign is three months.

6. Campaign Information The overall campaign process is simple; mailers create and induct hardcopy mail as usual and provide USPS data elements and supplemental content to facilitate an Informed Delivery campaign. Detailed campaign information is provided in the following sections. Important Note: The key to activating multiple campaigns for a single MID is defining a Serial Number range and ensuring the Serial Number within the IMb falls into the desired range (see Section 3 for more information on MID and IMb). Dividing the mailing list into campaign groups prior to printing/addressing the actual mailpieces is critical. See Appendix B – The Mailing Life Cycle, for more information on this topic.

Types of Interactive Campaigns There are two types of Informed Delivery campaigns available, depending on the supplemental content provided by the mail owner or MSP. They are described below. See Exhibit 6.1 for illustrations.

• Ride-along: Campaign includes the USPS grayscale scanned image of a letter-sized mailpiece and an image provided by the mailer, currently placed below the grayscale image in the email and to the right of the image in the dashboard. In all cases, the Ride-along image is clickable (interactive), as is the additional “View Website” link.

o Note: a Ride-along image and mailer-provided URL is required to conduct an Informed Delivery campaign.

• Representative: In addition to the required Ride-along image and URL, this campaign includes an image that is provided in lieu of a flat-sized image or in place of a grayscale letter-sized image. (Grayscale images of flat-sized mail are not provided to consumers at this time.)

o Representative images are static, they are not clickable/interactive o These images must be clearly branded and must be directly related to the hardcopy

mailpiece. A color depiction of the mailpiece is favored by consumers. o Representative images are optional for letter-sized mailings (including postcards),

however, they are mandatory to conduct a campaign with a flat-sized mailing. o The clickable Ride-along image and supplemental content appears below the

Representative image.



Exhibit 6.1.1: Informed Delivery notification containing a campaign with a Ride-along image (as shown in consumer email)



Exhibit 6.1.2: Informed Delivery notification containing a campaign with a Representative and Ride-along image (as shown in consumer email)

Campaign Data Elements There are several data elements that are required to conduct a campaign.

• While the concept of Ride-along and Representative images discussed in the previous section still applies, the data elements and file format vary depending on whether the campaign is submitted via email or PostalOne!

o Exhibit 6.2 shows the data elements required for email submission. o PostalOne! data elements are discussed in Appendix C. o See Section 6.4 for additional information on campaign submission options



Exhibit 6.2: Informed Delivery Campaign File components (email submission)

Image Requirements Mailers have a wide range of options for their Ride-along and/or Representative images. Existing mailpiece artwork or website content can be used or a completely different image can be created by the mailer. The key to encouraging a consumer response, as with any marketing or messaging, is to ensure that the Ride-along image includes a clear call to action (such as “Click Here” or “Shop Now→”) along with a compelling offer. Representative images must be clearly branded and related to the actual hardcopy mailpiece. A color image of the mailpiece itself or portions of art from the mailpiece is highly recommended. Representative and Ride-along images must:

• Not exceed 200 kilobytes (preferred is not to exceed 100 kilobytes), • Be in JPEG (.jpg) format • Meet minimum or maximum pixel height/width, which varies per image type. • Must be representative of the brand or mail owner and directly related to the mailpiece. • Our Campaign Elements Guide, available at usps.com/informeddeliverycampaigns provides

campaign samples and information on allowable image sizes and content.

Date Submitted:Submitted By:

Campaign Elements Put Your Information Here Additional context/notes for each fieldCRID: *Only required if Campaign File is submitted by someone other than the Mail Owner

Mailer ID (MID) On Piece*: Must be 6 or 9 digits in length, all numeric - this is the MID that will be on the mailpieces

MID On Piece Owner/Company*: Identifies who owns the MID on piece. *If different than Mail Owner or shared MID, then IMb ® Serial Number range is generally mandatory.

Mail Owner (Display) Name*: Open field (important note - this name will show in the "From" field in the email notification or dashboard)

Class of Mail: Examples: Standard Mail ®, First-Class Mail ®, etc.

Size of Mailpiece: Examples: 5.875" x 10.375", #10 envelope, etc.

Type of Mailpiece: Examples: Trifold letter, #10 envelope, postcard, flat, etc.

Campaign Code*: Open field - example: AB031116-1 (company name, campaign start date, extension if more than one campaign)

Campaign Title*: Open field - example: Favorite Retailer Letter-Sized Mailing

Target In Home Date(s): Sept 1-3, 2016; MM/DD-DD/YY; or MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY

Campaign Start Date*: MM/DD/YY - the date when you want the campaign to begin - suggest this is 3 days prior to your Target In Home Date(s)

Campaign End Date*: MM/DD/YY - the date when you want the campaign to end - suggest this is 3 days after your Target In Home Date(s)

Campaign Type*: Indicate whether the campaign will be Ride-along or Representative (which includes Ride-along).

IMb Serial Number Start:

IMb Serial Number End:

URL*: Example: https://www.anybeauty.com/1. For optimum analysis, URL should be unique (different than on the piece or elsewhere).

Ride-along Image*:

Representative Image:

Informed Delivery Campaign File (for manual submission via email) - *Indicates Required FieldColumn C in this file represents a single interactive campaign, with a unique interactive content treatment.

Each unique campaign/treatment requires a separate column in this file or separate file.

Ride-along images are required for all campaigns. Representative images are optional for letters and postcards, however, are required for flat-sized mailing campaigns. See Campaign Elements Guide for Details (at https://www.usps.com/business/informed-delivery.htm).

*Required if the mailing is based on the full IMb and not just the MID. Must be a 6 or 9 digit number (depending on length of MID). Combination of Start and End must result in a unique and sequential range for each campaign.

Place images in designated worksheets or attach to email.

https://www.usps.com/informeddeliverycampaigns



How to Submit a Campaign There are currently two ways to submit an Informed Delivery campaign: via email or PostalOne!. Interested test participants can work through their Sales representative or contact the IDPO at [email protected]. Important Note: In all cases, mailers or MSPs must work closely with the Informed Delivery Program Office (IDPO) prior to submitting any campaigns, regardless of the submission method. Via email:

• Campaign data is routed to the IDPO via email using an Excel® document. • Information is entered manually into the Administrative Campaign Console. • Mail owners or MSPs can receive a master copy of the Informed Delivery Campaign File

(depicted in Exhibit 6.2) by sending an email request to the address above. • These campaigns are editable by the IDPO through the Administrative Campaign Console. • Campaign Files must be submitted at least two business days prior to the campaign start date.

Via PostalOne!:

• Campaign elements are submitted electronically with other PostalOne! eDocs (Mail.dat) using a Referenceable Mail Record (RMR).

• The campaign information is routed electronically to the Informed Delivery application. • Campaigns should be submitted electronically at least two business days prior to the requested

start date to allow for manual updates. • These campaigns are editable by the IDPO through the Administrative Campaign Console. • Campaigns must be serialized with at least 100 mailpieces per campaign. All mailpieces within a

submitted range will be considered part of the same campaign. • Within the Serial Number (serialization) range within the IMb, all pieces get the same campaign

treatment. o For example, if you submit Serial Number range 100000001 – 200000001 and then

submit another campaign for 150000000 – 150000010, this second serial number range would be rejected as it is already within the original range.

• PostalOne! RMR file format and additional details about IMb ranges is included in Appendix C.

The ability to support campaigns at the individual mailpiece level will also be added in the future. More details are in Appendix C: PostalOne! Specifications. The self-serve submission of campaigns via an Informed Delivery Campaign Portal is under development. This portal will allow mailers or MSP’s to enter campaign information via an online interface. The portal will utilize registration through the existing USPS Business Customer Gateway and is expected to launch in August 2017.

mailto:[email protected]



7. Campaign Stages There are three basic stages in the campaign process: Pre-Campaign, Campaign, and Post-Campaign.

Pre-Campaign There are two types of Pre-Campaign analysis options provided.

7.1.1. Pre-Campaign Saturation Report This optional report provides mailers with the opportunity to evaluate their campaign reach and see how many Informed Delivery users there are within a particular mailing list at a given point in time.

• Exhibit 7.1.1 provides an example of how the Pre-Campaign data must be presented to USPS.

• The listing includes a series of 11-Digit Delivery Point Barcodes (DPBC’s). o This data is not traditionally stored in a mailing list or customer database;

therefore it needs to be created after the IMb is assigned or after the mailpiece addressing and barcoding process.

o This requires close coordination with the vendor and/or printer. • This Comma Separated Values (CSV) file must be submitted to USPS via email until

the Informed Delivery Campaign Portal is operational. • USPS will cross reference this list against a current Informed Delivery user list and

provide an aggregate response indicating how many consumers are in the DPBC list provided by the mailer (USPS is prohibited from providing lists of Informed Delivery users).

• Pre-Campaign files are generally submitted within 1-2 weeks of the campaign (mailing) start date, however, they can be submitted at any time, even after a campaign has been activated.

• Results, also shared via email until the Campaign Portal is functional, are generally provided within 4-5 business days after submission.

Exhibit 7.1.1: Optional Pre-Campaign Saturation Report

Campaign The Campaign itself is activated based on the requirements of the mailer/MSP which is dictated by campaign data elements. The start date of the campaign, the length of the campaign, and the images to include in the campaign are all provided by the mailer/MSP. As mail is processed, campaigns are applied (see Exhibit 3.0 for the process flow).

Exhibit 7.1.1: Example of Pre-Campaign data submission

11D DPBC066012402160691346802010057606837101525868681025295752310325892761104206891751058355767610686726107

Total number of 11-digit Delivery Point ZIP Codes included in the

campaign.

Total number of eligible 11-digit

Delivery Point ZIP Codes included in the

campaign.

Total number of unique eligible 11-digit

Delivery Point ZIP Codes included in the

campaign.

Count of subscribers in Unique Eligible 11-digit Delivery Point

ZIP Codes.

# of Subscribers divided by Unique Eligible 11-digit Delivery Point ZIP

Codes (Col D / Col C)

Count of subscribers who receive emails in Unique Eligible 11-digit

Delivery Point ZIP Codes.

# of Email Enrolled Subscribers divided by Unique Eligible 11-digit

Delivery Point ZIP Codes (Col F / Col C).

Pre-Campaign List Size

Eligible 11-digit Delivery Point

ZIP Codes

Unique Eligible 11-digit Delivery Point ZIP Codes

# of SubscribersSubscriber Saturation

(%)# of Email Enrolled

SubscribersEmail Enrolled Saturation (%)

103,231 98,978 97,603 10,736 11.0 2,684 2.8

COLUMN DESCRIPTIONS PROVIDED IN ITALICS BELOW - SAMPLE DATA PROVIDED BELOW THE COLUMN HEADERS



Reminder: Campaigns are applied to an individual mailpiece based on the MID or the MID and Serial Number in the IMb that is printed along with the address on the actual mailpiece. Unique, non-overlapping Serial Number ranges are required for each campaign. Campaigns at the mailpiece level (submitted via PostalOne!) will be supported in the future.

Post-Campaign We know that data analysis is important to measuring success and determining where to direct marketing funds and resources. Although USPS cannot provide IMb line level detail results due to privacy regulations and policies, we are able to provide insight into the performance of campaigns after the campaign is complete. We are also interested in having Mail Owners share campaign results to help determine response rates to Informed Delivery interactive campaigns.

7.3.1. Post-Campaign Summary Report This report provides general results on an individual campaign, including information on the number of physical mailpieces processed, the number of users/mail recipients that were sent an email, the email open rate, and the number of click throughs.

• Regardless of the submission method (PostalOne! or email), these files are provided to the test mailer (or designated MSP) via email as an Excel file.

• This report is generated on a weekly (Saturday – Friday) or full campaign basis. Weekly files are generally provided on Tuesdays.

• Multiple campaigns for a single mailer are consolidated into a single summary report. Exhibit 7.3.1: Post-Campaign Summary Report

7.3.2. ZIP Code Line Level Detail Report This report is currently under construction and will be available with the launch of the Campaign Portal. It will provide a greater level of detail, at the line level, which is often required for in-depth analysis of how a particular mailing campaign performed. While USPS cannot provide IMb information due to our privacy policies, this additional line level detail can help you determine how Informed Delivery users responded compared to non-users.



Appendix A – Mailer ID (MID) and IMb Information The MID and the IMb on the mailpiece are the key to activating an Informed Delivery campaign.

• Grayscale scanned images are linked to Informed Delivery users based on the Delivery Point Code (DPC) within the IMb. This is the 9-digit ZIP Code plus a 2-digit Delivery Point value. o Only consumers/mail recipients that reside in a dwelling that has a unique 11-digit Delivery

Point Code can participate in Informed Delivery; this also applies to multi-unit dwellings. • Campaign images and URLs (supplemental content) are linked to mailpieces based on the MID in

the barcode on the actual mailpiece. o A MID provided in electronic postage statement documentation (eDoc) has no impact on

the Informed Delivery program. See Appendix C for PostalOne! RMR information.

Exhibit A.1: Excerpt from Intelligent Mail Barcode 4-State manual (Rev H, 4/20/2015, Page 52)



Appendix B – The Mailing Life Cycle There are generally many different people involved in your daily mailing operations of sending invoices and insurance documents, staying in touch with customers, or creating and conducting a Direct Mail campaign. Input on decisions related to your campaign can come from key stakeholders throughout your company including Finance, IT, Marketing, Data Analytics, Legal, Accounting, etc. Additionally, there are many companies that provide support for day-to-day mailing operations or Direct Mail marketing campaigns. Most businesses work with MSPs to create, print, or induct their mail. There are creative agencies, advertising agencies, printers, consolidators, comminglers, and companies that help with tracking and analyzing data after mailings are conducted. Exhibit B.1: Illustration of functions and/or businesses involved in the mailing life cycle

You should involve key stakeholders and support teams in the development cycle of an Informed Delivery interactive campaign too. Since the MID and MID/IMb Serial Number range on the mailpiece is key to activating a campaign, the person responsible for this data element is critical to campaign success. Properly dividing your mailing list prior to addressing your mailpieces is key. Example: You are mailing to 15,000 customers. You are using a single 6-digit MID. You are testing three different mailpiece treatments to see which one gets the best response rate. You have created three unique vanity URLs to go in these mailpieces to track visits to your webpage and attribute them back to each mailpiece type. To apply a different Informed Delivery campaign to each mailpiece type, you need to ensure that your mailing list is broken down into three separate/unique lists. Each list would be printed separately, in succession, so you’d end up with three unique and non-overlapping ranges of IMb Serial Numbers. With this result, you can apply three unique Informed Delivery campaigns as well, each with its own supplemental content (Ride-along and/or Representative image. and URL). Exhibit B.2: Illustration of mailing list breakdown for Informed Delivery campaign use

Mailer/Mail Owner

Creative Printing Processing Analysis



Appendix C – PostalOne! Specifications To further enable Informed Delivery campaign submissions, mailers using PostalOne! Mail.dat file format are able to submit interactive campaign information electronically. This is facilitated by adding a new Referenceable Mail Record (RMR) built specifically for Informed Delivery. The tables in this Appendix show the file formats of the three Mail.dat files that are available as part of the Mail.dat specification to support Informed Delivery. The Informed Delivery Mail.dat files are sent as part of a larger Mail.dat job that contains presort and postage statement information; other presort and postage supporting files are also submitted along with the three Informed Delivery files.

This programming was implemented in January 2017; Informed Delivery related release notes can be found at https://ribbs.usps.gov/PostalOneReleaseNotes45_0_0_0v2c1_6_1.pdf. Detailed PostalOne! RMR and file format information can be found on RIBBS. In addition, a complete set of Mail.dat specification for version 17-1 can be found at http://www.idealliance.org.

This document does not contain information on Release 17.2, which is planned for June 25, 2017. Always refer to RIBBS for the most current information related to PostalOne! releases and requirements.

Please note that this section only refers to the Mail.dat specification changes that are related to Informed Delivery. Mail.dat (latest version 17-1) includes additional changes that are not related to Informed Delivery support, all of the changes that are supported in Mail.dat are required to be implemented in order to successfully submit the Mail.dat job.

The three Mail.dat records that must be used to support campaign processing are: a) Header Record (HDR) – Record updated to include RMR Record Count and Status fields b) Container Summary Record (CSM) – Record updated to include optional start and end dates for

the campaign c) Referenceable Mail Record (RMR) – New optional record added to support the capture of

Informed Delivery campaign data.

Available Features • Informed Delivery processes campaign data from PostalOne! for jobs that are submitted using

Mail.dat. • PostalOne! eDoc Mail.dat jobs mailing groups must contain IMb data that is linked with

campaign data either at component (CPT) level or directly at piece level (PDR/PBC). • Informed Delivery applies one unique campaign to all pieces mailed that fall in the lower and

upper IMb serial range that is identified within eDoc. In other words, within the serialization range, all pieces get the same campaign treatment.

o For example, if IMb serials include lower serial: 111111111 through upper serial: 22222222, then a campaign is created to capture all pieces within the given range. If another campaign is submitted later for lower serial: 111119977 through

upper serial: 199999999 with another set of campaign URLs, then this serial number range would be rejected as it is within the original range.

In this case the original campaign treatment will be applied to all pieces within 111111111 – 222222222, the originally submitted range.

• Informed Delivery uses the following data combination (composite key) to group and identify an IMb serial number range that is part of a single, unique campaign:

o MID from IMb

https://ribbs.usps.gov/intelligentmail_schedule2017/releases/jan2017/docs/releasenotes/PostalOneReleaseNotes45_0_0_0v2c1_6_1.pdf

https://ribbs.usps.gov/

http://www.idealliance.org/



o Start Date of Campaign o End Date of Campaign o Ride-along Image URL (identified by type of A in the RMR) o Ride-along Target URL (identified by type of B in the RMR) o Replace (Representative) Image URL (identified by type of C in the RMR) o Replace (Representative) Target URL (identified by type of D in the RMR)1

• Using the data elements identified above, Informed Delivery then determines the lower and

upper IMb serial range for the given unique set of campaign data. • For scenarios where RMR and associated piece (PDR/PBC) data is submitted as part of the eDoc

submission, once the containers are “Ready to Pay” the eDoc update does not need to contain the RMR and PDR/PBC data.

• RMR and associated piece data (PDR/PBC) can be updated up to the point when a Ready to Pay submission takes place.

• In the case when RMR ID Type equals P=PDR or B=PBC and the RMR ID is not an existing .pdr Piece ID or .pbc PBC Unique ID in the corresponding piece file (PBC/PDR), then the PostalOne! system will issue a referential-integrity warning to inform eDoc submitters that the RMR ID does not match a valid PDR/PBC record. This warning supports mailing scenarios where the containers from a job are being mailed over several days, and the piece data (along with corresponding RMR data) needs to be paired with those containers. The warning does not stop the job from being submitted.

• Updates to Serial Range: As new eDocs are submitted with existing unique campaigns (from a previously submitted eDoc job/mailing group), then Informed Delivery updates the lower and/or upper IMb serial range as needed (i.e., if the new set of serials fall outside of the existing defined lower and upper serial range).

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• Campaign Images: campaign images are not available for automatic uploading by the Informed Delivery system at this time. Mailers using PostalOne! to submit Informed Delivery campaigns must submit Ride-along and Representative (Replace images), via email, to the IDPO prior to campaign submission.

o Campaigns submitted without prior interaction with the IDPO will be deactivated until contact with the mailer or MSP is made.

• Mailer Name: this represents the “From” name displayed in the campaign (see Exhibit 6.1.1 and 6.1.2). This information is not included in the RMR, it’s provided in another file within Mail.dat. Subsequently, it may or may not accurately present the “From” name in the PostalOne! records. IDPO has the ability to change the name in the campaign Admin Portal as necessary.

• Serial Number Ranges: a campaign applied at the MID/IMb Serial Number range must have a minimum of 100 mailpieces at this time. See Section 6.4 for more details on serialization and running multiple campaigns at one time.

1 Current implementation of Informed Delivery does not support Replace Target URL to display or be a part of the campaign in the Informed Delivery email notices nor on the consumer dashboard at this time. It is anticipated that Replace Target URL will be used as a field value to identify a campaign in the future. It is assumed that the Replace Target URL value would be the same across pieces for a given campaign.



Features Proposed & Planned for Future Following features are proposed for implementation in a future release:

• Mailers will be able to provide their own campaign titles and campaign codes, as part of eDoc (Mail.dat® and Mail.XML®).

• Allowing additional characters for URLs. Currently, the size is limited to 25 characters per URL which is insufficient.

• Individual Piece level campaigns to be supported by Informed Delivery. • PostalOne! Mail.dat® and Mail.XML® receipt data to include warnings originated from Informed

Delivery and transmitted to submitter. • Campaign data submitted to PostalOne! using Mail.XML® is planned to be supported by

Informed Delivery. o PostalOne! supports the Mail.XML® specification version 19.0 and the Informed Delivery

structure; however the campaign data submitted via Mail.XML® does not result in campaign creations in Informed Delivery at this time.

.



Data Sets Representation of Current Features PostalOne! eDoc Implementation Campaigns can be submitted at Component or at Piece level. Campaign data is then associated with IMb’s and sent to Informed Delivery.



Informed Delivery Interpretation Informed Delivery uses the data that is received at piece level and creates one or more range-based campaigns.



Mail.dat® Technical Specification Summary • Mail.dat® changes include additions to refer to mail records in the optional Referenceable Mail

Record (RMR) file to support linkage of marketing content URLs to components/versions or range of mailpieces.

• In addition, the Container Summary Record (CSM) will support the optional campaign start and end date fields that alternately, can be provided as part of the RMR record.

• RMR record consists of the following data elements:

o Job ID – Same as Job ID of the Mail.dat job. o RMR ID – Must correspond to a .pbc file PBC Unique ID, .pdr file Piece ID, or .cpt file

Component ID when the RMR ID Type is B = PBC, P = PDR, or C = CPT, respectively. o RMR ID Type – Field values must be one of the following: P = PDR, B = PBC, C = CPT. o RMR Content Type – Field values must be one of the following: A, B, C, D, or O. Field to

capture the type of RMR content. RMR content can either be a URL of a media image that is supported by browsers or a target URL that was placed as a hyperlink for the media/image.

o Referenceable Mail Record Value – Value/Content URL for the Referenceable Mail media or target/HREF document (could be a webpage or image/media driven by the RMR Content Type field). Note: Under the current Informed Delivery process due to enhanced sensitivity around external URLs images and links marketing materials must be reviewed and loaded by the Informed Delivery Program office. Contact information for the program office is noted earlier in this section.

o Date Start Date – Start date of campaign. o Date End Date – End date of campaign. o RMR Template Code – Field values must be one from A-Z. Template code used for

campaign.

o RMR Record Status O, D, I or U – Record Status.



Mail.dat Specification

REFERENCEABLE MAIL RECORD - .rmr Field Name Position Length Data

Type Field Code Descriptions

Job ID 1 – 8 8 *k A/N RMR-1001 (Zero fill prior to numeric, if numeric only). See Header File’s Job ID definition.

RMR ID 9 – 30 22*k A/N RMR-1002 Key field, same ID data/value as the key fields for CPT or PDR, or PBC record that this record should be linked to. One of the following three values can be used: PBC – PBC Unique ID, right justify and zero fill; PDR – Piece ID; CPT – Component ID. (Zero fill prior to numeric, if numeric only.)

RMR ID Type

31 – 31 1*k N RMR-1003 Field to link to a piece through PDR or PBC or to link to a version through CPT. P = PDR, B= PBC, C = CPT Type of the record (CPT, PDR/PBC) that the RMR ID (this record) represents.





RMR Content Type

32 – 32 1*k A/N RMR-1004 Field to capture the type of RMR content. RMR content can either be a URL of a media image that is supported by browsers or a target URL that will be placed as a Hyperlink for the media/image2. Details of the codes will be available in the USPS Technical Guide for Mail.dat Values: A, B, C, D, O Content Type A and Content Type B are a pair, likewise Content Type C and Content Type D are a pair. A = Content Type A (could be the URL of an image source or other media that is supported by browsers). B = Content Type B (could be a target URL or other media that is supported by browsers, this value when provided will in most cases pair with value of A=Content Type A. A record of A=Content Type A should be present in the file when B=Content Type B is used). C = Content Type C (could be the URL of an image source or other media that is supported by browsers). D = Content Type D (could be a target URL or other media that is supported by browsers, this value when provided will in most cases pair with value of C=Content Type C3. A record of C=Content Type C should be present in the file when D=Content Type D is used). O= Opt Out. The piece identified wishes to not be included in Informed Delivery4.

RMR Value 33 – 56 24 A/N RMR–1005 Value/Content URL for the Referenceable Mail media or target/HREF document (could be a webpage, or image/media driven by the RMR Content Type field); Leave BLANK if piece wishes to be Opt out of Real Mail Program with RMR Content Type of O, else the field is required.

Start date 57 – 64 8 A/N RMR–1006 Start Date when the Referenceable Mail Content can be used. Default to blank spaces when no constraint requested. YYYYMMDD (Cannot be all Zeros)

2 As noted previously, all campaign images must be submitted to the IDPO for manual processing at this time. 3 Content Type D is not used at this time. Only Content Type B target URL is used at this time. 4 The feature to Opt Out is not functional at this time. This data element is ignored.





End Date 65 – 72 8 A/N RMR–1007 End Date after which the Referenceable Mail Content cannot be used. Default to blank spaces when no constraint requested. YYYYMMDD (Cannot be all Zeros)

RMR template Code

73 – 73 1 A/N RMR–1008 RMR Template Code, one of many templates provided by Postal Service, Possible values can be A through Z5.

RMR Record Status

74 – 74 1* A/N RMR–2000 O, D, I, U O = Original, D = Delete, I = Insert, U = Update

Closing Character

75 – 75 1* RMR-9999 Must be “#” sign

To control date ranges for URLs that point to multiple impressions and possible interactivity, an update was made to the Container Summary Record (CSM) record. New fields for Referenceable Mail Start Date and Referenceable Mail End Date were added.

CONTAINER SUMMARY RECORD - .csm Field Name Position Length Data


… … … … … …

Referenceable Mail Start Date

712 – 719

8 A/N CSM-1199 Start date for the Referenceable Mail. Default to blank spaces when no constraint requested; YYYYMMDD (cannot be all zeros)

Referenceable Mail End Date

720 – 727

8 A/N CSM-1200 End date for the Referenceable Mail. Default to blank spaces when no constraint requested; YYYYMMDD (cannot be all zeros)

… … … … … …

5 As of April 2017, only Template A is used at this time.



To convey to the PostalOne! application that the Mail.dat job contains Informed Delivery Campaigns an update was made to the Header Record (.hdr). New fields for Referenceable Mail Record Count and Referenceable Mail Status were added.

HEADER RECORD - .hdr Field Name

Position Length Data Type

Field Code Descriptions

… … … … … … Referenceable Mail Record Count

403 - 412

10* N HDR-1190 The number of referenceable mail records in this Mail.dat

Referenceable Mail Status

413 - 413

1* A/N HDR-1191 O, D, R, N, C, U

… ... … … ... …



Mail.XML Technical Specification Summary Note: Informed Delivery application is scheduled to support creation of campaigns using Mail.XML at a future date. Campaign data submitted to PostalOne! using Mail.XML does not create a campaign in Informed Delivery.

Mail.XML changes include additions to refer to mail records in the optional ReferenceableMail data block to support linkage of marketing content URLs to mailings or individual mailpieces. This information is supported by the following two messages, QualificationReportDetailCreateRequest and MailPieceCreateRequest. Mail.XML ReferenceableMail block consists of the following data elements:

• ReferenceableMailID – Identifier (unique per mailing group) of Referenceable Mail record.

• TemplateCode – Field values must be one from A-Z. Template code used for campaign.

• ReferenceableMailDateStart – Start date of campaign.

• ReferenceableMailDateEnd – End date of campaign.

• ReferenceableMailContentType – Field values must be one of the following: A, B, C, D, O. Field to capture the type of RMR content. RMR content can either be a URL of a media image that is supported by browsers or a target URL that will be placed as a Hyperlink for the media/image.

• ReferenceableMailContentLink – Value/Content URL for the Referenceable Mail media or target/HREF document (could be a webpage or image/media driven by the RMR Content Type field).



Specification

Qualification Report Detail Create Request



Mail Piece Create Request



PostalOne! Onboarding & Contact Information All mailers that wish to conduct/submit campaigns using PostalOne! are required to work closely with the Informed Delivery Program Office (IDPO) and PostalOne! Customer Acceptance Testing (CAT) office. The IDPO can be reached by emailing [email protected]. This team will engage and forward information to the PostalOne! CAT office as necessary. PostalOne! Onboarding Check List • Send an email with the subject line of “[Company Name] Interest in PostalOne! Programming” to the

email account shown above, stating your intent to start testing Informed Delivery Campaigns using PostalOne!

• Provide point-of-contact name and phone number. • Check to see if your organization has participated in PostalOne! CAT in the past.

o If so, please acquire the PostalOne! CAT credentials user name, password, CRID, MID, Permit account number, and ZIP Code and proceed to Step 3 below.

o This information will be used to create Mail.dat jobs with Informed Delivery campaigns. • If you have not conducted PostalOne! CAT in the past, start with Step 1 below to create a PostalOne!

CAT account with Permit.

PostalOne! CAT Testing Account with Permit 1. Visit the USPS Business Customer Gateway (BCG) CAT environment at https://gateway-

cat.usps.com/eAdmin/view/signin 2. Create a Business Account as follows:

o Click on Register for Free button o Select Username o Provide Security Information o Provide Phone and Email Contact Information o Provide Company Name Information with Address

When complete, BCG creates a Business account and provides a mailer CRID and MID 3. Once your CAT BCG account is setup, email us at [email protected].

o Send CRID, MID, Company Name, Address, and contact information for a point of contact. o Request that a postage payment account of type “Permit Imprint” is created and activated. o Permit should be funded with a large test balance amount, so that Mail.dat jobs with postage

and campaign data can be submitted. Once complete, the CAT office will link the newly created Permit to the mailer test CRID.

• Once the above steps are completed then the CRID, MID, Permit account number, information can be

used to prepare and submit a test Mail.dat job with an Informed Delivery campaign to PostalOne! CAT. • PostalOne! CAT client can be downloaded from the PostalOne! BCG CAT page (same as the link used to

register as shown above), after login. • For questions or more information use the “Campaigns” email address shown above.


https://gateway-cat.usps.com/eAdmin/view/signin

https://gateway-cat.usps.com/eAdmin/view/signin


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