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Tom Says… Here’s What You Need to Know About the January 2024 Postage Increase

It’s hard to believe that we’re already wrapping up the calendar year, and looking ahead to 2024! As the New Year rolls around, we thought it would be helpful to remind everyone about increases effective January 21, 2024.

In speaking with Tom, we were reminded about the Postal Service’s proposed postal rates that were filed back in October. Before you continue… we want to warn you, the increases are detailed! There are many! But, Tom and our team are here to work through them with you. Together we will optimize your direct mail investment with the end goal of growing your business.

Here’s a preview of what’s included in this update:

  • – Modest postage increases, 1.37% for letters, 5% – 6% for flats (catalogs) effective 1/21/2024
  • – Flats are seeing larger increases because they are not meeting their costs within the USPS
  • – Heavier flats (10 – 16 ounces) will see lower increases, just under 4% on average
  • – USPS is increasing discounts offered on 5-Digit scheme and SCF pallets to offset increases
  • – Similar increases with first class mail, 3% for a 1-ounce letter & postcards are less than 1%
  • – USPS promotions are a must for Direct Mailers to help keep costs in check
  • – All Direct Mailers should sign up for the 2024 Mail Volume Incentive Program
  • – Anticipate much larger increases in the range of 7% – 9.5% with the next increase expected in early July 2024

If you got what you need from our summary, great! If we didn’t scare you off, read on! 

What you need to know about the January 2024 postage increases

The USPS has put into place the following increases in their postal categories. Keep in mind that while these percentages are overall changes, specific sortation increases will be larger in some areas than others creating fluctuations from these announced increases.

USPS Published Rate Increases by Class

First Class Mail                                             1.969%

Marketing Mail                                              1.961%

Periodicals                                                     1.959%

Package Services                                          1.960%

Marketing Mail Increases

Letters                                                           1.333%

Flats (catalogs)                                             3.966%

Parcels                                                         20.029%

High Density/Saturation Letters                 1.073%

High Density/Saturation Flats                    2.144%

Carrier Route                                               3.963%

Every Door Direct (EDDM)                          2.525%

The January 2024 increase seems to be a consistent increase across all sortation levels within a given class of mail.  The reason why Flats & Carrier-Route Marketing Mail in increasing at a larger rate than other classes is because these are considered non-compensatory or under water products and are impacted with additional increases. For Flats, direct mailers can expect to see slightly higher increases at the high density, basic carrier route and 5-digit rates.

Letter Mail

Most letters mail optimally at a 5-Digit/SCF entry mail.  The 5D/SCF for-profit rate is increasing a modest 1.37% to $0.295/pc with non-profit rates increasing 1.47% to $0.138/pc. Drop Ship discounts offered to mailers who entering mail at the destination, are not changing from current rates. 

For-Profit Letter Rates

Flats – Four Ounces & Under

Basic Carrier Route mail will see the above average increases (4.792% at the SCF entry-level), and High Density/SCF entered mail will also see an above average increase of 6.04%. High Density rates did not increase with the last July 2023 USPS change. Good news – drop ship discounts are not changing from current rates. Non-profit rates, four ounces and under, will see lower increases than for-profit mail after experiencing higher percentages increases than for-profit mail in the last few years.

For-Profit Rates 4 Ounces & Under

To better understand the comparison of before and after rates, here are a few for-profit sortation scenarios calculated at different piece weights:

Heavier catalogs will see lower percentage increases that books closer to four ounces.

Flats Postal Discounts

The USPS is again offering higher discounts for Mailers creating SCF and Five-Digit pallets

First Class Mail

  • – A stamped one-ounce letter has increased to $0.68/pc from $0.66/pc (3.03% increase)
  • – First class flats have increased 1.44%
  • – First class postcards have increased to $0.357/pc from $0.355/pc (<1% increase)

USPS Promotions

At Media Horizons, we believe strongly in strategically using the USPS discount promotions to your advantage. As your partners, we can help you identify the promotions and determine how best to use them to ultimately achieve your goals. Here’s the latest:

  • – Tactile, Sensory & Interactive – 5% USPS incentive for Marketing Mail & First-Class Mail – 2/1/2024 – 7/31/2024
  • – Personalized Color Transpromo – 3% or 4% USPS incentive for First Class Mail – February 1st – July 31st
  • – Emerging & Advanced Technology – 3% to 4% USPS incentive for Marketing Mail & First-Class Mail

          NEW – Direct Mailer can pick the 6-month window they would like to use this promotion

  • – Reply Mail IMbA – 3% USPS incentive for First Class Mail – July 1st – December 31st
  • – Informed Delivery – 4% USPS incentive for Marketing Mail & First-Class – August 1st – December 31st

The mail preparer also receives a 0.5% incentive from the USPS

  • – Retargeting Mail – 5% USPS incentive for First-Class Mail – September 1st – November 30th

We’d love to have a conversation about your direct mail campaign, but if you want to quickly scan through the latest details, here they are! Most important takeaways: Beginning in 2025, the mobile shopping incentive will no longer be available and the gloss paper qualification will no longer be available.

Dates to mark on your calendar!

December 2024 – Mobile Shipping Advanced Technology Promotion

Did you know that there are no USPS promotions going to be offered for this coming January? On December 15th, customers should sign up for the Emerging & Advanced Technology Promotion, which can be taken during any consecutive six-month period next year. Included in this promotion is the Mobile Shopping application. By placing a mobile optimized QR code within the mail piece, the USPS is offering a 3% postage incentive during a month that does not have incentives available. The Mobile Shopping incentive offers a no-cost solution to save postage dollars. More information on this promotion is available here.

February 2024 – July 2024 – Coated Paper for the Tactile Promotion

We recommend that customers mailing on coated paper sign up for the Tactile, Sensory & Interactive promotion. The USPS offers a 5% postage incentive for simply using gloss coated paper. All opportunities will be approved in advance by the USPS through their Mailing Promotions Portal (MPP). Many customers are already using gloss coated paper, so this incentive offers a potential no cost solution. Who doesn’t love a no cost solution?! If gloss coated paper is not being used or other interactive marketing elements are desired, the USPS is offering the incentive for the use of specialty inks, sensory treatments, or interactive elements. Pro tip: registration for this promotion also begins December 15th. More information on this promotion is available here.

August 2024 – December 2024 – Informed Delivery Promotion

Filling out the year, another no cost solution that offers a 4% postage incentive is Informed Delivery. Customers can sign up for this promotion starting June 15th. There is a little preparation work required to set up each campaign, but a 4% incentive is nice reward for a little amount of additional work that is required. More information on this promotion is available here.

Overall 2024 USPS Mail Volume Incentive

Lastly, we recommend that everyone sign up for the 2024 USPS Volume Incentive Program. The USPS will be offering a volume growth incentive rewarding customers for 2024 growth in pieces mailed compared with their 2023 volume baseline. The minimum baseline volume will be set at the Mail Owners actual volume or a minimum one million pieces and they are offering up to a 30% rebate on the growth to be used on future mailings after exceeding their volume threshold.

Another date to mark on your calendar! Registration will begin in November 2023, including a verification and approval process by the Mail Owner to the USPS agreeing on the designated baseline volume. The baseline period is marketing mail and first-class pieces mailed from October 2022 through September 2023. Marketing mail and first-class mail volume will be measured separately from one another and will not be combined. 

Postage rebates will be applied towards future mailing through December 2025 with potential credits becoming available in July 2024, October 2024 or February 2025.

These are the newer promotions that stuck out to us. There are others available, such as reply mail, retargeting, etc., which are just as important! 

Whew! You made it through. Thanks for sticking with us. As you know, there are so many details out there when it comes to the USPS. Our goal is to keep you informed while drilling down to the most important information that can benefit your business. As always, we’re here to chat and look forward to solving postage challenges now and in 2024! 

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The difference between multi-channel and omnichannel (omni media)

In our industry, we often find that “multi-channel” and “omnichannel” are not only used interchangeably but are perceived to be the same concept. From our perspective, that’s inaccurate. Yes, we said it!

What is multi-channel marketing?

This is when a brand is utilizing multiple independent channels to interact with its customers. Each channel operates independently. With multi-channel marketing, the brand is focused on providing customers with several different ways to engage with them.

What is omnichannel marketing?

This strategy takes a more integrated approach, aiming to provide customers with a seamless, consistent, and unified brand experience across all channels. With this strategy, customers can transition between digital and offline channels effortlessly – with their interactions and preferences being recognized and remembered. With a successful omnichannel strategy, channels are interconnected and share data and insights to deliver more personalized experiences. Think in terms of integrating online intent with offline channels such as direct mail.

Why omnichannel works:

While multi-channel marketing focuses on providing multiple independent channels for customer engagement, the actual customer experience may not be seamless or consistent across these channels. In fact, they’re often treated as entirely different campaigns or initiatives.

In contrast, an omnichannel strategy facilitates a fully integrated experience. The customer experiences all touch points in a cohesive manner – both offline and online – the creative format and content all flow together.

For example, a customer may begin their shopping journey by receiving a postcard in the mail, continue browsing on the website, and make a purchase in-store, with the brand maintaining a cohesive understanding of their preferences and history throughout. Because of this, a successful omnichannel strategy helps with attribution and thus, more effective marketing techniques to ultimately grow the brand.

How can you be more omnichannel-focused?

Align company goals

Talk to each other internally! Offline, digital, sales, and operations should all be working together. For example, the offline team is reading results from their campaigns while the digital team is doing the same – and they’re not syncing up external efforts (or even internal communications for reading results). Don’t fall into this habit!

Be aware of changing consumer behavior, and get more familiar with your audience

Consumer behavior is consistently changing – make sure you’re staying top-of-mind with your top spenders in terms of brand benefits (loyalty programs, offers) and mission.

Identify key channels and be strategic with them

Ensure you’re being consistent yet innovative across channels. This doesn’t mean serving all the same content – it means presenting cohesive messaging that is complimentary to the branding.

Did you know that “direct mail” is a channel? Make sure you’re not excluding offline channels. The more each channel “talks to each other,” the more successful your campaigns will be.

Integrate your tech stack

Remember that integrations are not one-size-fits-all. Take time to determine the most important tools for your brand and integrate them strategically.

This includes offline! The power of print is real; integrate online intent with direct mail.

Optimize social media

Don’t forget that social media can support your broader business goals such as attracting new customers, building brand loyalty, and promoting brand awareness.

We recommend thinking of an omnichannel approach as customer centric. An omnichannel strategy starts with the customer and ends with a purchase. In fact, it can start offline and end online; or vice-versa. It ensures a smooth, convenient, and unique shopping experience.

Omnichannel is a powerful strategy; in fact, we think it’s THE most powerful. Not only does it help provide a seamless and personalized experience across all channels (both offline and digital), but it can help brands differentiate themselves. Whether it’s building stronger relationships with its audience, figuring out a more effective way to spend your marketing dollars, or testing a new channel (offline or digital!), it will ultimately drive growth and profitability for a brand. Not convinced? Let’s discuss in more detail why omnichannel is the way forward! 

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Tom Says… Here’s What You Need to Know About the July USPS Increase

Thanks for bearing with us this month with this two-part post! We thought it would be helpful to refresh everyone about how postage rates are charged. Now, we can get to the super important details: this month’s USPS rate increase.

Effective July 9, 2023, the USPS has put into place the following increases in their postal categories. Keep in mind that while these percentages are overall changes, specific sortation increases will be larger in some areas than others creating fluctuations from these announced increases.

– First Class mail has increased on average of 5.38%

– Flats (catalog) mail is increasing 7.38%

– High Density / Saturation Flats is increasing 3.07%

– Carrier-Route mail is increasing 7.39%

– Letters is increasing 5.20%

– High Density / Saturation Letters is increasing 5.06%

– Periodicals (Magazines) is increasing 8.12%

– EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail) is increasing 4.76%

Letter Mail

Most letters mail optimally at a 5-Digit/SCF entry mail. The 5D/SCF for-profit rate has increased 5.82% to $0.291/pc. With non-profit rates increasing 6.25% to $.136/pc. Saturation & high-density mail offers lower rate possibilities, but they are very difficult to achieve in national demographic programs.  Commingling offers cooperative solutions to help minimize postage costs and should always be considered for pieces that do not qualify for 5-Digit/SCF entered rates.

Drop Ship SCF discounts for letters is increasing to $0.035/pc vs $0.030/pc & NDC discounts are now $0.027/pc vs $0.023/pc. Non-profit rates are increasing at a higher percentage than for-profit rates.

NEW: Effective with the July changes, the USPS is now offering a SCF entry Discount for 5-Digit & 3-Digit sorted mail. A similar discount was introduced for Flat Mail in July 2022, and it will offer some postage relieve for SCF pallets. Each qualified piece can earn $0.003/pc discount.

Flats – Four Ounces & Under

Basic Carrier Route mail will see average increases (6.82% at the SCF entry level), and High Density Plus and Saturation entry mail will see below average increases. High Density/SCF mail will see no increase after seeing much larger than average increases in the last several postal changes. Origin entered mail will see larger increases. 

As with letter mail, drop ship discounts are growing, $0.091/pc for SCF entry and $0.071/pc, over all sortation levels.

Non-profit rates four ounces and under will also see larger increases that for-profit mail. We have seen this common occurrence with non-profit rates happen over the past several postal changes as they are trying to narrow the gap difference.

The USPS is also increasing their 5-Digit Scheme Pallet and SCF Pallet Discounts to help minimize increases. The discounts are the same regardless of for-profit or non-profit qualified mail.

Flats – Over Four Ounces

There are significant changes taking place with flats mail over four ounces. Previously, postage for pieces in this rate category received a piece postage charge PLUS a pound postage charge applied on each fraction of a pound mailed. The new rates continue to apply a piece rate, but the pound rate will only be applied for each fraction of a pound over 4 ounces (0.25#). Comparing rates from January 2023 to July 2023 will look odd (see chart below) because the new rate structure is pushing more postage in the piece portion and less in the pound portion, it is comparing apples to oranges. Drop ship discounts for pieces over 4 ounces used to be discounted from the pound portion of postage, but it will now be discounted from the piece portion of postage. You can see the differences in the chart below.

To better understand the comparison of before and after rates, here are a few for-profit sortation scenarios calculated at different piece weights:

There are three scenarios above, High Density, Basic Carrier Route & 5-Digit flat postage. As the piece weight grows, the impact of the increase also grows at a substantial rate.  Heavier pieces are seeing much higher than average postal increases.

The same Pallet Discounts as outlined for Flats four ounces and under apply to pieces over four ounces giving some relief.

First Class Mail

– A stamped 1-ounce letter has increased to $0.66/pc from $0.63/pc (4.76% increase)

– First class flats have increased 7.15%

– First class postcards have increased to $0.355/pc from $0.352/pc (<1% increase)

USPS Promotions

As a general best practice, we advocate that all direct mail customers take advantage of the discount promotions that the USPS offers. The USPS has made the approval process much easier and more responsive with the addition of the Mailing Promotions Portal (MPP) on the USPS Gateway. The USPS is managing all inquiries and approvals through the portal, so it is imperative to sign up for the service.

2024 USPS Promotions

– Tactile, Sensory & Interactive – 5% USPS incentive for Marketing Mail & First-Class Mail – 2/1/2024 – 7/31/2024

– Personalized Color Transpromo – 3% or 4% USPS incentive for First Class Mail – February 1st – July 31st

– Emerging & Advanced Technology – 3% to 4% USPS incentive for Marketing Mail & First-Class Mail

*NEWDirect Mailer can pick the 6-month window they would like to use this promotion

– Reply Mail IMbA – 3% USPS incentive for First Class Mail – July 1st – December 31st

– Informed Delivery – 4% USPS incentive for Marketing Mail & First-Class Mail – August 1st – December 31st. The mail preparer also receives a 0.5% incentive from the USPS

– Retargeting Mail – 5% USPS incentive for First-Class Mail – September 1st – November 30th

Not only can we help you take advantage of these USPS promotions, but together we can add strategy and innovation to your print marketing efforts. Additionally, with our network of printers & suppliers, we’re bound to solve challenges together that you may not have known you even had! We look forward to helping you navigate these updates and most importantly, use them strategically to ultimately grow your brand. 

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Tom Says… Here’s How Postage Rates Are Charged

We know you’ve been waiting for Tom’s latest update! So much has happened with the USPS in the last 1+ years, but we’re here to help you navigate this unchartered territory. Before we get into the actual updates that occurred this month, Tom wanted to be sure you understand the structure on how postage rates are charged.

A basic knowledge of sortation and destination entry will help with an understanding of the current rate structure.

Postal Sortation Qualification Requirements

The USPS offers discounted pricing for brands to sort the mail rather than having the USPS manage the sortation process. The higher the sortation level achieved by the brand, the lower the overall postage costs that are charged.  Achieving sortation levels to minimize postage costs are totally reliant upon where pieces are going and what volumes are going to those destinations. Common sortation qualifications include:

From top to bottom, the deeper sortation requires less USPS processing results in lower postal rates to the customer. For mailers to achieve high density & saturation postal rates, there either must be a significant volume of mail, or it must be a very regional mailing. 

Letter mail is sorted to the 5-Digit scheme rather than to the Basic Carrier Route level. The reason for this is because the USPS automation equipment will sort mail at the 5-Digit level, and they do not want mail in carrier-route bundles. The higher postage costs for Carrier-Route Letters discourage Carrier Route mail. There is an advantage for letter mail to sort to the HD, HD Plus or Saturation levels. However, it is very difficult to achieve without significant volumes. Sortation to more efficient levels is why cooperative mailing programs such as co-mail (flats & periodicals) or commingle (letters) exist and should be part of every mailing program.

Destination Entry

The USPS also offers discounts from the base rates if the mailer coordinates dropping the mail into the USPS at the destination rather than dropping at the mailer’s location. This is called destination or drop ship entry.  For this to make sense, the mailer will determine where pieces are mailing to and calculating if the USPS postal discounts exceed the additional freight costs, that the customers will be responsible for paying, in transporting and dropping to USPS facilities at the destination.

From top to bottom entry levels, origin mail is simple, but offers no discounts because the USPS must take responsibility to ship pieces to their destination while progressively larger discounts are offered for NDC, CSF & DDU entry.  DDU entry is difficult unless there is significant mail going into a specific (regional) area.  Most larger mailers will enter mail at the SCF level.

This is just a quick snapshot of how postage rates are charged. However, we felt it was important to reiterate some of these details. We all read headlines about “rate increases” and industry-wide postage changes, so we thought it would be helpful to set the stage. Stay tuned for part two highlighting the actual increases from the USPS this month!

Next up: The July 2023 USPS Increase – what it is and how you can combat it.

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How to Add Innovation to Circulation Planning

As we know, direct mail works. It’s a proven strategy for acquiring new customers. In fact, 74% of marketers say direct mail delivers the best ROI of any channel (source: Lob). However, with today’s economic landscape, we understand that budgets are top-of-mind.

Tighter budgets mean working diligently to keep innovation in your print marketing campaign, which begins with circulation planning. Circulation planning has the power to help clients reach customers effectively, efficiently and strategically.

We thought it would be helpful to share a few approaches to consider.

  1. Back to Basics – As more data about your customers becomes available, selections can create more confusion than clarity. Take a step back and simplify selections. Some things to consider are:
    1. What are you looking for with the segmentation? Over-segmentation can impact the statistical significance of results and make future forecasting difficult—segment for a reason.
    2. How are priorities being assigned in your merge? Prospects should allow for random allocation of duplicates unless there is a specific reason not to do so.
    3. Are you accounting for list fatigue? Remember that even the best models can experience fatigue and diminishing results. Have a plan for resting lists and implement depth tests to have results before needing to increase quantities.
  2. Don’t Outsmart the Model – Although we may develop personas to understand how various markets are addressed, selection models are designed to find commonalities that we weren’t aware of. To do this, providing as much transactional history as possible is critical as is allowing the model to do its job without over applying what we think it should be returning.
  3. Know What the Models are Based On – While we are discussing the use of models, ensure you understand how the models are being built. Coming out of the pandemic, this distinction is critical. Is it looking at the same season in the prior year or the last three to six months? There could be a monumental difference in your outcome. Work closely with your modeling partner to avoid unexpected consequences.
  4. Use All Available Channels – There are more ways to speak to a customer (or potential customer) today than ever before – use them! Studies show that converting a prospect to a customer can take 20 or more touches, so use all the options available to integrate multiple touches (both offline and online), while taking care to create a cohesive and consistent customer experience across all channels (source: Comscore). 
  5. Remarket Prospects Who Raise Their Hand – Has a potential customer spent time on your website? There are programs that help you target this prospect that came in digitally with a piece of direct mail to increase conversion. These qualified prospects can prove valuable!
  6. Test, Test and Test Some More – This is often the first thing to be cut when budgets get tight, but finding opportunities to test campaigns, selections, messaging and formats is essential. Customers and the marketplace are continually changing, so don’t be afraid to repeat tests that have “failed” previously. From our perspective, one of the most dangerous thoughts in business can be: “We tried that before, and it didn’t work.” Clearly define the success parameters of a test and remember that they are not always the same.
  7. Don’t Sleep on Multibuyers – Unless you have only one source of names, you will have multibuyers. Make sure to use them! This may not seem “innovative,” but the effective use of these names is often overlooked. Even a brand with heavy seasonality can use these names to target customers out of season and improve their acquisition.

There’s never been a better time to invest in your circulation plan. A successful circulation that targets the right audience and hits a brand’s budget will ensure that campaigns deliver maximum revenue and improve lifetime value. Get started with an audit today.

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Are You Testing the Latest Digital Channels?

The power of data & analytics is real. Combined with resourceful leadership, your brand will soar. But, sometimes even with great data & analytics in place, you may see performance softening. The best solution to address this? Our answer: testing.

At Media Horizons, we have always believed in the value of testing. By strategically testing, brands can further identify more active audiences, more effective channels, more relevant content, more precise geographic locations, and other areas for growth. In fact, targeting has never been so accurate, especially through the lens of direct response marketing.

However, we understand that what seemed new and innovative a few years ago may not be so relevant anymore. We thought it would be helpful to share new channels to test today – and how they can positively impact your omnichannel strategy.

Voice Search Optimization

As a form of SEO, it is the optimization of keywords and keyword phrases for searches using voice assistants (source: Tech Target). Think, “Hey Siri…”

Back in 2018, voice searches made up 20% of Google search queries (source: Tech Target). Today, 50% of the U.S. population use voice to search daily (source: UpCity via Oberlo). Not surprisingly, smartphones and smart speakers are the most popular devices for voice search, but watches, TVs and home appliances are slowly gaining momentum.

Voice Search is most easily tested with PPC. With PPC, marketers will receive more detailed reporting that can be used to optimize future search initiatives. We recommend starting with a smaller budget. This capability is well-suited for location-specific businesses as you’re able to test into query modifiers such as “near me,” “open now,” “local,” or “find me.”

Results from Voice Search tests can have numerous applications for brands, including website optimizations (i.e., content should be written in natural language to capitalize on how people speak), business intelligence on any differences in search queries using voice, and more. 

Chat Bots

You’re likely most familiar with chat bots for customer service inquiries or scheduling appointments. However, chat bots are an interesting digital channel for marketers to test.

Officially, chat bots are “computer programs that use artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) to understand customer questions and automate responses, simulating human conversation,” according to IBM. While they add efficiency to daily lives, what you may not know is that this technology is everywhere today. Because of this, brands can personalize more shopping experiences. (source: IBM). Chat bots have the power to improve customer engagement and brand loyalty, reduce costs and boost operational efficiency, generate leads, and increase customer satisfaction (source: IBM).

Consumers often use chat bots to locate retailers, restaurants and businesses. Therefore, there is a hyper local search element here. More specifically, chat bots are ideal for lead generation as they allow you to capture important prospect information for a sales team to follow up on. They are also available 24/7 which is a huge benefit for businesses.

Social Video Marketing

The idea of creating videos for marketing purposes. Therefore, the focus is on creating something engaging for social media (source: Medium). Today, consumers are consuming 2.5+ hours of video on a variety of platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and others (source: Statista, Techjury). As of this year, 93% of companies have acquired new customers via social media video (source: Sprout Social).

Video gets more exposure and engagement on Instagram specifically as the algorithm favors these assets. This allows you to get in front of potential consumers easier and at a higher frequency than with standard images. Video brings a level of personalization to your brand that helps connect better with your audience. Video is a powerful sales tool. It allows brands to showcase products or services in a dynamic way, adding valuable context that is not possible through a photo. Specifically, TikTok and Instagram Reels are booming. As younger generations come into shopping ages, it’s critical to have your brand present in the channels they are using. If you’re not testing these channels, you’re missing out.

Social video testing should be focused on creating engaging, quality content that resonates with your target audience – and have your audience engage with your brand.

Testing should always be part of your Marketing strategy, keeping your brand at at the forefront of new channels, technologies and customers.  

Are you interested in learning more about which channels could be more impactful to your audiences?  If so, contact us today for more information and a consultation. 

Last month, RIS – Retail Info Systems reported, “To continue to grow profitably, retailers need to unlock new revenue opportunities.” We couldn’t agree more. Digital transformation and brands’ ability to adapt will augment success. We can help with this adaption.

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Tom Says… Here’s What You Need to Know About the Latest USPS News

Recently we sat down with our colleague, Tom VanWestrienen, also known as our resident USPS expert. We thought it would be helpful to share that latest USPS news with you – and what this means for your direct marketing efforts.

On January 22, postal rates for all classes of mail were increased. Average increases by class were +4.20% (First Class), +6.25% (Marketing Mail Flats), +3.29% (Marketing Mail Letters), +4.20% (Periodicals), and +20.49% (Parcels).

While we know this news is less than ideal, we’re here to help you optimize your direct marketing strategies in the most efficient way possible. In fact, we are excited to share several incentives that would help offset some of your clients’ new costs. Check out our recommendations here: 

  • The USPS is offering a 5% postage discount for their Tactile, Sensory and Interactive promotion from February 1 – July 31, 2023 on First Class and Marketing Mail products. The USPS has approved this promotion for mailing direct mail on coated paper stocks (coated gloss, matte, soft gloss, SCA, etc). 

Our recommendation: All direct mailers should consider applying for the promotion to mitigate the recent January 2023 postal increases.

  • Adding to the Tactile, Sensory and Interactive promotion to maximize postal savings, direct mail marketers should plan on seeking the 2023 Informed Delivery promotion running from August 1 – December 31, 2023. As with 2022, the USPS is offering a 4% postage discount for using Informed Delivery. This provides direct mailers with an effective USPS promotion strategy spanning all of 2023.

Our recommendation: With USPS increases happening twice a year for the foreseeable future, it is critical for customers to come up with an effective strategy that provides savings opportunities throughout the year. Many direct mailers embraced the Informed Delivery promotion in 2022 and this promotion should be mandatory in 2023.

  • The USPS is again offering the Emerging Technology from May 1 – November 30, 2023 (3% or 4% incentive). If customers opt for this promotion, the USPS is offering a new promotion called Retargeting, which provides a 5% incentive from September 1 – November 30, 2023 for Direct Mailers sending out First Class postcards to recent visitors to their website or mobile apps that did not convert.

Our recommendation: There has never been a better time to explore retargeting as an acquisition tactic. If you are not currently retargeting your website visitors, get in touch with us to implement a solution

It is important to note that registration for these promotions needs to take place in the Business Customer Gateway (BCG).  Many of these promotions require advanced USPS approval to ensure the mail pieces meet the requirements of the promotions. Located within the BCG is a Mailing Promotions Portal (MPP), brands can seek approval for individual mail pieces. Refer to the guide here.

Insider Tip: The USPS encourages all approval requested to be entered through the MPP. All samples being sent for USPS approval must be shipped through USPS products, UPS and Federal Express packages will not be accepted.

Unfortunately, Tom says to expect another postal increase in early July. At this point, the impact of this increase is unknown, but changes in the 3-6% range should be expected.

Considering this news (and anticipating more changes!), there’s never been a better time to explore relevant digital channels to help maximize your offline investment. We can help support with various audits to provide valuable insights and recommendations. Diversifying your media mix will propel your business forward.

As always, we asked Tom to describe today’s print marketing environment in one word. For the beginning of Q1 2023, he said “defensive.” Specifically, Tom shared, “It feels like one on one basketball right now. We’re all trying to react effectively while not knowing what challenges the USPS is going to drop on mailers’ laps these days.” Let the teamwork continue so we’re all shooting nothing but net with our marketing campaigns!  

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How Artificial Intelligence (AI) Can Benefit Marketers

Last week, we reported all there is to know about the transition to GA4. In that piece, we specifically talked about machine learning and its application within reporting tools. Today, we’re excited to discuss how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can benefit marketers and enhance your business more broadly.

Defining AI

Let’s start by first defining some key terminologies and explaining the difference between them:

->Artificial Intelligence (AI): Advanced technology that allows machines to mimic human behavior through vast amounts of data, intelligent algorithms, and patterns. It is the broader concept that machines can carry out tasks that humans would consider “intelligent.”

-> Machine Learning (ML): A subset of AI that uses statistical data sets, adapts with minimal human involvement and evolves independently as it ingests more data. ML is considered one of the applications of AI.

Why Marketers Should Care

If implemented and utilized correctly, AI can be incredibly helpful for marketers. AI offers advertisers the power to…

– Improve the customer journey and create more personalized experiences

– Create more efficient and effective marketing campaigns and improve business impact KPIs (acquisition costs, ROI)

– Gain insight into target audience through big data and ML

– Create and develop content, PPC ads and even web design

– Utilize chatbots for campaign purposes, customer service and more

Google and OpenAI

Google and OpenAI have been in the news recently for their AI contributions and we expect this to continue to develop across industries.

Right now, Google’s technology is expected to be more relevant. Earlier this month, Google announced its new AI chatbot, “Apprentice Bard.” Apprentice Bard is like ChatGPT, but Apprentice Bard’s answers can include recent events (source: CNBC).

How can Apprentice Bard do this? “Google can crawl the web in almost real-time and process that information faster than any other company,” reported CNBC.

For example, Apprentice Bard picked up on the news circulating about the Google layoffs and was able to respond immediately. We have no doubt that Google will continue to add innovation to Apprentice Bard. We are excited to see how OpenAI will respond with ChatGPT and InstructGPT. Stay tuned!

How Marketers Can Use AI

AI can dramatically improve targeting for advertisers. With ads that are “more realistic, engaging and versatile than ever before,” Data to Biz and Times of India predict that “AI will take up 80% of global advertising spend in the world.” For application, advertisers can use AI to:

– Segment more relevant audiences by applying behavior trends and pattern data

– Automate tasks like copy and creative development

– Improve targeting

– Improve reporting with more real-time enhancements, predictive forecasting / modeling, and more personalized recommendations

At Media Horizons, we believe that AI needs to be the focus of how we innovate. AI will continue to grow in utilization and will eventually impact multiple facets of marketing and thus, business success. It’s important to start the conversation now! Reach out to us today to talk about ways that we can integrate AI into your campaigns and reporting. We are excited to see where industry benchmarks change, and how we can work together to stay on top of them.

Additional Sources: Jumpstory.com, Martech.org, Meltwater.com

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How Advertisers Can Prepare for the GA4 Transition

Since its inception, Google or Universal Analytics (GA) has established itself as a key platform for today’s marketers. It’s no secret that GA helps companies explore who their customers are – featuring information such as demographics, location, retention, and device technology. Because of GA, marketers have been able to more accurately interpret the impact of marketing campaigns and segment audiences accordingly.

Google Analytics 4, or GA4, is the newest iteration of GA. All GA users will need to transition to GA4 by July 1st, when Universal Analytics will stop processing data. Keep reading to discover what you need to know to prepare for this change!

About GA4

According to Google, GA4 will enable users to measure traffic and engagement across your websites and apps, effectively combining data across platforms in the same property.

Key Components of GA4

  • – Collects both website and app data for brands to better understand their customer’s journey
  • – Uses event-based vs. session-based data
  • – Includes privacy controls like cookie less measurement and behavioral and conversion modeling
  • – Predictive capabilities offer guidance without complex models
  • – Direct integrations to media platforms help drive actions on a brand’s website or app
  • – For more specific details, visit here

Recent Developments

Earlier this month, Google revealed that it will automatically create a GA4 property for users starting in March if you have an eligible GA property.

While this should allow users a sigh of relief (believe us, we get it!) if you have not yet made the switch, it is important to know that this should be the start – not the end – of your migration process (the end will be July).

This latest update from GA is a good start and should help more brands get over the initial hump of implementation. Furthermore, it will allow brands to get familiar with the platform’s new interface and selection of tools.

How Your Brand Will Be Affected

With innovation comes opportunity. We are excited to work with both our partners and clients to determine how GA4 can be used more effectively and efficiently to drive business insights.

In fact, the new key components can be used to improve business decisions. Here’s how:

  • Collects both website and app data

Why this is important: The cross-platform analytics can help give a more unified view of the customer’s journey.

  • Uses event-based data vs. session-based

Why this is important: Events give additional insight regarding details like button clicks, form completions, external link activity, and more. Therefore, there will be major differences in how data is measured, analyzed, and applied to business decisions. (source: Lookinla.com)

  • Includes privacy controls like cookie-less measurement and behavioral and conversion modeling

Why this is important: With more brands and legislature taking a privacy first approach, GA4 is addressing similar challenges and proactively offering solutions including IP anonymization, data storage duration settings, and more.

  • Predictive capabilities offer guidance without complex models

Why this is important: Machine learning can help define trends in customer behavior and create more actionable segments to target. This can also allow for more efficient ways to assume business outcomes.

  • Direct integrations to media platforms help drive actions on a brand’s website or app

Why this important: Not only will this facilitate more business insights, but it will provide improved functionality and ease of access. This will make in-app social sharing more seamless (source: SocialMediaToday.com and ToTheNew.com).

If you’re unsure of what some of this means, or how it will impact your business, we can help! Reach out to us here.

Our Recommendations

At Media Horizons, our goal is to provide consistent updates and a helpful starting point for you during this transition period. Overall, we think it is helpful to keep high-level and overarching goals in mind, so you can stay focused on your business objectives and growth. Here is what we would recommend:

  • – Define your overarching objectives and goals with the migration
  • – Operationalize the migration for a seamless experience
  • – Develop enhanced marketing strategies that leverage the new tool suite
  • – Create more robust segments to measure success / impact on business
  • – Analyze results and improve business practices based on insights

We understand that this is a lot to absorb and may be overwhelming. Did you know that we can set up your brand’s GA4 account for you and ensure a seamless transition?

More specifically, we are available to provide support, guidance, and resources to help with the migration (initial setup, advanced configurations, setting up goals and events, updating dashboards/reports, etc.). We deliver dynamic full-service solutions to meet your brand’s marketing needs! Get in touch to begin your GA4 transition today.

On a different (but related!) note, have you heard about Google’s new AI chatbot named “Apprentice Bard?” Google is just the latest platform to enter the conversation about AI. In our opinion, there are many potential opportunities for AI in advertising. Stay tuned for our next blog about AI and why marketers should be interested in it.

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The Impact of Privacy Settings on Digital Advertising

What Changed and Why?

Beginning in 2020, we started to prepare our clients for the iOS 14 update. Even then, data privacy was top-of-mind for marketers. With the iOS 15 update underway, it is more relevant than ever today.

Apple created the ‘Apple ID for Advertisers (IDFA),’ which is used to help advertisers (and brands) measure ad effectiveness through a series of engagement and conversion indicators. This also allows social media platforms to track devices and people at an individual level. Historically, the data applied to 100% of audiences AND allowed for various levels of data including visitation, engagement and click behaviors as well as purchase detail for both the platform and brand site. 

With these iOS updates, Apple iPhone users have been permitted to opt-out of brands’ (company) websites/apps and social platforms like Facebook and Instagram tracking their behavior – that is, across apps and websites owned by other companies. Did you know it’s estimated that ~96% of iPhone users opt out of app tracking today?* 

Additionally, many brands have taken a privacy-first approach and are requiring cookie consent when a consumer enters their website. This comes with varying degrees of options that are defined by local legislature, brand risk appetite and data best practices. Some brands take a simple yes/no approach while others feature layers of options for what can and cannot be tracked to consumers.  

As data-driven marketers, we understand the severity of the situation. Unfortunately, these updates affect today’s marketers and brands’ omnichannel strategy most. However, with all challenges come opportunities. We’re here to share what you need to know, how your business can adjust your marketing strategy to be more effective and share our predictions for the future.

Today’s Situation

  • Tracking is now significantly limited.
    • Currently, a consumer’s experience on a given app or platform will not change, regardless of their tracking status.
    • However, if a consumer opts out of tracking via the iOS update by selecting “Ask app not to track” then the app developer will no longer have access to the IDFA tracking code. This means the app – Netflix, Drizly or Ticketmaster, to name a few – will not know the individual device, where the consumer came from (source) or the consumer’s behaviors (i.e., any click or engagement actions) while in an app like those mentioned above.
    • Right now, Android and its browser, Chrome, allows users to not be tracked, but it is not yet as prescribed as the iOS version (however, we predict that it’s coming!).
    • This scenario also adversely affects remarketing campaigns because the consumer is not identified as having visited the platform. For example:
      • A consumer selects “Ask app not to track.”
      • That consumer visits Facebook and clicks through various links, and ultimately clicks through to the brand website to make a purchase.
      • Facebook would report a general conversion event (in this case, a click-through to the brand site) and the brand would report the transaction. However, because the consumer requested to not be tracked, the brand would not know that they came from Facebook or their engagement while on Facebook.
  • Social platforms like Facebook also made some adjustments to their reporting methodology. Prior to the updates, Facebook had a default setting for a 28-day click or one day of viewing your ad to attribute a purchase. Since the iOS 15 update that has changed to a seven-day attribution model to offer a more realistic view of ad performance for the platform. This means that if a consumer clicks on your ad and makes a purchase from Facebook the next seven days that behavior will be attributed to a brand’s marketing campaign.
    • Using the above Facebook example, if the transaction happened within seven days of being exposed to the ad, they would attribute the transaction to the brand’s ad campaign.
  • If a consumer opts out of cookie consent on a brand’s website, the brand will no longer know who that consumer is, what source they came from, or what they engaged with while on the brand’s website. They will still know if that consumer makes a transaction, as well as the contents of the basket. Due to reduced tracking capabilities, visitation numbers will skew lower. For example:
    • Brand A has 100,000 users visit their website, but 20% of them have opted-out of cookie tracking.
    • Google Analytics will show that 80,000 users visited the website.
  • Purchase data is still trackable. This means that brands will still see 100% of the transactions – on social platforms and on their brand eCommerce sites – but will not have additional data on what the consumer did leading up to that purchase (if the consumer has opted out of tracking).
    • Using the above example, let’s assume that Brand A also had 5,000 transactions.
    • Google analytics would show 5,000 transactions.
    • However, the conversion rate would be calculated using the 80,000 vs.100,000, resulting in a 6.25% conversion rate instead of the actual rate of 5%.
  • Brands can expect lower “reported” visitation/audience sizes, more inflated conversion rates, changes in reporting, and how that data can be used for advertising. 

To summarize, if a consumer opts out of tracking, the brand will only know about the purchase itself; they will lose valuable information including who the consumer is, what source they came from, and what they clicked on. This affects performance marketing elements including targeting, optimization, and reporting, and should be accounted for in marketing strategies.

Pro Tip: Beware of inflated conversion rates! In theory, brands will still have the same site visit volume, but that data will no longer be available in Google Analytics, or its respective reporting tool (due to the shifts in cookie consent and iOS tracking). However, the transaction data is still 100% of the true purchase audience. Google Analytics will recognize lower visitation, so a brand’s conversion rate will appear higher. In reality, it likely is not.

As marketers, we’re all navigating these unchartered waters. We’re here to be your partners and provide as much insight and real-time updates as possible. In fact, we are pleased to offer you a more detailed report which includes what these updates mean for you and our predictions. Reach out today for this white paper!  

*Source: Apple Insider. Please note that purchase data is still trackable, but with limitations on who the consumer is and how they entered and engaged with the platform. 

**Source: Statisa.