INFORMED DELIVERY. Interactive Campaign Guide

Transcription

1 INFORMED DELIVERY Interactive Campaign Guide Purpose of the Document This guide provides interested mailers with a how to guide for initiating an Informed Delivery interactive campaign. United States Postal Service, Products & Innovation, Version 2.0

2 Table of Contents 1. Background Availability How It Works for Consumers/Mail Recipients How It Works for Mailers/Mail Owners Benefits for Mailers Participation Criteria Campaign Information... 5 Types of Interactive Campaigns... 5 Campaign Data Elements... 7 Image Requirements... 8 How to Submit a Campaign Campaign Stages Pre-Campaign Pre-Campaign Saturation Report Pre-Campaign MID Report Campaign Post-Campaign High Level Summary Report ZIP Code Level Report (9-Digit) Appendix A - Mailer ID (MID) and IMb Information...12 Appendix B The Mailing Life Cycle.13 Appendix C: PostalOne! File Formats...14 Change History Document Section(s) Change Description Author Date Version Updated 1.0 All Initial document created Carrie Bornitz 02/28/ Appendix C Added missing header record and CAT information Carrie Bornitz 04/03/ United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 1 of 27

3 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 notification that includes grayscale images of the exterior, address side of incoming letter-sized mailpieces. Users can also view their household s mailpiece images on the dashboard at informeddelivery.usps.com, which displays images for a seven-day period. In some instances, users will have the ability to interact with digital content associated with their mail images (e.g., related links). Participating mailers can replace or supplement the grayscale image from their letter-sized mailing with an interactive (clickable) color image, allowing users to take immediate action on a mailpiece. For the purposes of this discussion, these are referred to as Informed Delivery interactive campaigns or just campaigns. Exhibit 1: Depiction of Informed Delivery daily digest The United States Postal Service (USPS) is currently conducting operational testing of this campaign functionality with a limited number of mailers. Exhibit 1 shows a sample digest with a personal scanned handwritten letter on top. The blue letter circle and gray line indicate a separation between individual mailpiece information in the digest. The bottom section depicts an interactive campaign that is included with the grayscale scanned image of a business letter. Underneath the scanned image is a clickable Ride-along image. Mailer information and another clickable link are provided as well. 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 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 2017 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 2 of 27

4 consumer has signed up for both Informed Delivery and My USPS, they will see an integrated 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 Sample Customer 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 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 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 3 of 27

5 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, 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 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 Sample Mailer Sample Customer 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 open rates (70% daily average) 2017 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 4 of 27

6 Informed Delivery interactive campaigns provide additional benefits, allowing mailers to: Enhance the presentation of the scanned mailpiece images that consumers are already receiving 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 , 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. 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 three types of Informed Delivery campaigns available Ride-along, Representative, or Dual. 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 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. Representative: Campaign includes an image provided by the mailer in lieu of a flat-sized image or in place of a grayscale letter-sized image. This image is not clickable/interactive. o Grayscale images of flat-sized mail are not provided at this time. Dual: Campaign includes both Representative and Ride-along images United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 5 of 27

7 Exhibit 6.1.1: Informed Delivery Ride-along image campaign illustration (as shown in consumer ) 2017 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 6 of 27

8 Exhibit 6.1.2: Informed Delivery Representative & Ride-along image campaign illustration (as shown in consumer ) Campaign Data Elements There are several data elements that are required to conduct a campaign. While the concept of the Ride-along, Representative, or Dual campaign discussed in the previous section still applies, the data elements and file format vary depending on whether the campaign is submitted via or PostalOne! o Exhibit 6.2 shows the data elements required for submission. o PostalOne! data elements are discussed in Appendix C. o See Section 6.4 for additional information on campaign submission options 2017 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 7 of 27

9 Exhibit 6.2: Informed Delivery Campaign File components ( 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 or compelling offer. Representative and Ride-along images must: Not exceed 200 kilobytes (preferred is not to exceed 100 kilobytes), Be in JPEG (.jpg) format 2017 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 8 of 27

10 Meet minimum or maximum pixel height/width, which varies per image type. Our Campaign Elements Guide, available at usps.com/informeddeliverycampaigns provides additional details on recommended image sizes and content. How to Submit a Campaign There are currently two ways to submit an Informed Delivery campaign: via or PostalOne!. Interested test participants can work through their Sales representative or contact the IDPO at USPSInformedDeliveryQuestions@usps.gov. 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 Campaign data is routed to the IDPO via 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 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 IDPM 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 and then submit another campaign for , 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 Mailer Campaign Portal is also 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 mid United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 9 of 27

11 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 Pre-Campaign Saturation Report: This optional stage 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 provides an example of how the Pre-Campaign data must be presented to USPS. It is preferred that just the 11-Digit Delivery Point Barcode (DPBC) is provided. Alternately, the full IMb can be provided. o This data is not traditionally stored in a mailing list or customer database; therefore it needs to be created after the mailpiece addressing and barcoding process, which requires close coordination with the printer. Exhibit 7.1.1: Example of Pre-Campaign data submission 11D DPBC This Comma Separated Values (CSV) file must be submitted to USPS via . In the future, the Mailer Campaign Portal will support this functionality. USPS will cross reference this list against a current Informed Delivery user list and provide an aggregate response indicating how many consumers are in both the mailer and USPS list (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 , are generally provided within 4-5 business days after submission Pre-Campaign MID Report: This optional Pre-Campaign analysis provides MID level information, indicating how many of your hardcopy mailpieces were sent to Informed Delivery users/mail recipients in eligible ZIP Code locations. This report provides summary information on the number of Informed Delivery users that you would have reached had a campaign been conducted on mailpieces using a unique MID that is assigned to a mailer. This analysis is not available for shared a MID, such as those used by MSPs. This report is available upon request. Inquiries should be sent to USPSInformedDeliveryQuestions@usps.gov. 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) United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 10 of 27

12 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, nonoverlapping Serial Number ranges are required. 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, either during the campaign or 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 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 , the open rate, and the number of click throughs. Regardless of the submission method (PostalOne! or ), these files are provided to the test mailer (or designated MSP) via 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 Mailer Name Campaign Title Num of Physical Pieces Num of s % of Physical Pieces Included Num of Opens % of s Opened Num of Clickthroughs % of Clickthroughs in Sample Mailer % 97 81% % SM Nov Campaign % 76 84% % SM Nov Campaign % 21 72% % Detail Report (5-Digit or 9-Digit) This report is currently under construction. It will provide a greater level of detail, at the 5- or 9-Digit ZIP Code level, which is often required for in-depth analysis of how a particular mailing campaign performed. This additional information can help determine how Informed Delivery users responded compared to non-users United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 11 of 27

13 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) 2017 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 12 of 27

14 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 Mailer/Mail Owner Creative Printing Processing Analysis 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 Ridealong and/or Representative image(s) and URLs. Exhibit B.2: Illustration of mailing list breakdown for Informed Delivery campaign use 2017 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 13 of 27

15 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 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 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: through upper serial: , then a campaign is created to capture all pieces within the given range. If another campaign is submitted later for lower serial: through upper serial: 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 , 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 o Start Date of Campaign o End Date of Campaign o Ride-Along Image URL (identified by type of A in the RMR) 2017 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 14 of 27

16 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 , 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 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 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 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 15 of 27

17 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 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 16 of 27

18 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 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 17 of 27

19 Informed Delivery Interpretation Informed Delivery uses the data that is received at piece level and creates one or more range-based campaigns United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 18 of 27

20 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 o o o o o o o o Job ID Same as Job ID of the Mail.dat job. 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. RMR ID Type Field values must be one of the following: P = PDR, B = PBC, C = CPT. 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. 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. Date Start Date Start date of campaign. Date End Date End date of campaign. RMR Template Code Field values must be one from A-Z. Template code used for campaign. RMR Record Status O, D, I or U Record Status United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 19 of 27

21 Mail.dat Specification INFORMED DELIVERY INTERACTIVE CAMPAIGN GUIDE REFERENCEABLE MAIL RECORD -.rmr Field Name Position Length Data Type Field Code Descriptions Job ID *k A/N RMR-1001 (Zero fill prior to numeric, if numeric only). See Header File s Job ID definition. RMR ID *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 *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 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 20 of 27

22 REFERENCEABLE MAIL RECORD -.rmr Field Name Position Length Data Type RMR Content Type Field Code Descriptions *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/image 2. 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 C 3. 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 Delivery 4. RMR Value 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 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 IDPM 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 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 21 of 27

23 REFERENCEABLE MAIL RECORD -.rmr Field Name Position Length Data Type Field Code Descriptions End Date 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 A/N RMR 1008 RMR Template Code, one of many templates provided by Postal Service, Possible values can be A through Z. Code RMR Record * A/N RMR 2000 O, D, I, U Status Closing Character O = Original, D = Delete, I = Insert, U = Update * 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 Type Field Code Descriptions Referenc eable Mail Start Date Referenc eable Mail End Date A/N CSM-1199 Start date for the Referenceable Mail. Default to blank spaces when no constraint requested; YYYYMMDD (cannot be all zeros) 8 A/N CSM-1200 End date for the Referenceable Mail. Default to blank spaces when no constraint requested; YYYYMMDD (cannot be all zeros) 2017 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 22 of 27

24 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 Referenc eable Mail Record Count Referenc eable Mail Status * N HDR-1190 The number of referenceable mail records in this Mail.dat 1* A/N HDR-1191 O, D, R, N, C, U United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 23 of 27

25 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 Referenceabl 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 Referenceabl block consists of the following data elements: Referenceabl ID Identifier (unique per mailing group) of Referenceable Mail record. TemplateCode Field values must be one from A-Z. Template code used for campaign. Referenceabl DateStart Start date of campaign. Referenceabl DateEnd End date of campaign. Referenceabl ContentType 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. Referenceabl ContentLink 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) United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 24 of 27

26 Specification Qualification Report Detail Create Request 2017 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 25 of 27

27 Mail Piece Create Request INFORMED DELIVERY INTERACTIVE CAMPAIGN GUIDE 2017 United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 26 of 27

28 PostalOne! Onboarding & Contact Information As part of the testing of the campaign creation feature, all mailers planning to participate in an Informed Delivery marketing campaign test are requested to work closely with the Informed Delivery Program Management Office (IDPMO) and PostalOne! Customer Acceptance Testing (CAT) office prior to conducting a PostalOne! Informed Delivery marketing campaign test. The IDPMO can be reached by ing USPSInformedDeliveryQuestions@usps.gov. The PostalOne! CAT office contact information is POCAT@usps.gov. Onboarding Check List Send an to CAT office at POCAT@usps.gov and to USPSInformedDeliveryQuestions@usps.gov, stating your intent to start testing Informed Delivery Campaigns using PostalOne! Please provide pointof-contact name and phone number. Check to see if your organization has participated in PostalOne! CAT in the past. 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. 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 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 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, the CAT office at POCAT@usps.gov. o Send CRID, MID, Company Name, Address, contact information for a point of contact. o o Request that a postage payment account of type Permit Imprint is created and activated. 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 Mail.dat jobs with Informed Delivery campaigns to PostalOne! CAT. PostalOne! CAT client can be downloaded from the PostalOne! BCG CAT page (same as the link used to register), after login. The CAT BCG page is located at Questions or Information POCAT@usps.gov United States Postal Service. All Rights Reserved. 27 of 27