Informed Delivery

What is USPS Informed Delivery?

Informed Delivery is a USPS service that gives participating consumers a digital preview of mail that is expected to arrive soon. The preview is sent through the Daily Digest, an email containing images of the mailpieces being processed for their mailing address.
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How does 24pound submit direct mail for Informed Delivery?

24pound inserts your postcard as an interactive campaign, meaning your mailpiece preview appears at or near the top of the Daily Digest in full-color and is accompanied by branded, clickable content. This creates an additional digital impression before the physical mail is received.
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How long after someone opens their Daily Digest will the physical mail arrive?

The Daily Digest is generated from USPS processing information and shows mail that is expected to arrive soon. Most often, the physical piece arrives that very same day.
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Does everyone who receives the direct mail receive an Informed Delivery email?

No. The recipient must live at an eligible address and be enrolled in Informed Delivery. That being said, about ⅓ of households are signed up for the service, and inside those households there are often multiple members who receive the Daily Digest. In our experience, 20% to 25% of direct mail recipients will not only receive an Informed Delivery email but open it and see your digital mailpiece.
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What type of reporting is given with Informed Delivery?

When the campaign is over, we'll provide Informed Delivery reporting including the number of Unique Household Email Opens, mailpiece clicks, as well as ad position details—all in an unbranded detailed report that could be shared with your customer.
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USPS Mail Tracking

What is USPS Mail Tracking?

The USPS uses Intelligent Mail barcodes, mail-processing scans, container information, and other operational data to provide near-real-time information about your direct mail as it travels through the Postal Service network.
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Does USPS Mail Tracking tell me exactly when my direct mail will arrive?

USPS can generate a Logical Delivery Event, which provides a strong indication of when a mailpiece was expected to have been delivered. However, that event is inferred from USPS processing and delivery information rather than from the carrier physically scanning that particular letter at the recipient's mailbox. While on a specific mailpiece basis, this does not always indicate a delivery, over a large chunk of mail, you can count on its relative accuracy for peace of mind or to time other marketing activities.
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Once my mailing enters the mailstream, will I see tracking immediately?

Not necessarily. "In the mailstream" does not always mean that an individual mailpiece has already received a trackable USPS scan. Mail can be transported, staged, containerized, commingled, or drop-shipped before the individual barcode reaches equipment that produces a piece-level tracking event.

USPS describes Informed Visibility as providing near-real-time tracking data, meaning data can become available quickly after USPS records the applicable event—but not necessarily immediately after the mailing is physically handed over.
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How does drop shipping affect when tracking begins?

A drop-shipped mailing may be transported closer to its destination before it enters the USPS processing operations that generate individual mailpiece scans.

As a result, you may see little or no tracking activity during the transportation portion of the journey and then begin receiving results once the mail reaches downstream USPS processing equipment.

This can make a perfectly normal mailing appear to have "no activity" for a period of time.
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Is it possible for a mailpiece to receive no tracking at all or for tracking to suddenly stop, but the mailpiece still deliver?

Yes. An individual piece can move through the USPS network and be successfully delivered without producing a usable tracking record for us to report, or it may receive several processing events and then have no additional physical scans before delivery. Mail-processing methods, automation, the availability of a readable barcode event, and how the mail enters and travels through the USPS network can all affect visibility.
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