The Postal Service Can Help Your Campaign Deliver the Win

USPS has developed a campaign guide for reaching voters through direct mail.

The 2020 election year is unique in myriad ways, but one thing remains the same – a candidate’s desire to influence voters and achieve victory. Now more than ever, candidates must reach voters where they are – largely at home.

To help campaigns during these unprecedented times, the United States Postal Service has developed a campaign guide – Connecting to Voters: How to Deliver a Personal Touch During Times of Uncertainty – with expert tips and both quantitative and qualitative research we have conducted over the past few election cycles.

Our research shows that even before the pandemic, voters weren’t waiting to decide at the ballot box who would win their support. Sixty percent of voters responded that they determine who to vote for a few months or a month before the election, 25 percent of voters said they decided the last month before the election, and just 10 percent of voters said they decide in the last week. This is why campaigns must reach voters now. Direct mail has a historic track record of delivering success, and recent technological advances have made direct mail even more effective in reaching voters in a timely, impactful way.

In fact, the Postal Service has several unique tools to help campaigns Deliver the Win® in November, including:

Tag 57: Identifies campaign direct mail and provides greater visibility to mailings as they move through processing and distribution operations. ​And, should a problem occur, there is a dedicated web form that directly alerts the appropriate postal officials. ​ 

Postal Portal: To report mail notifications, inquires, and help navigate mail programs through the system. Notifications are directly routed to your assigned sales representative.

Informed Visibility® Service: Brings near real-time tracking data to deliveries of direct mail pieces. Campaigns can use this to execute phased communications – knowing that the mail piece has arrived enables a campaign to then contact voters through other advertising channels to reinforce the messaging.

Informed Delivery® Service: Allows residents to digitally preview incoming direct mail and packages scheduled to arrive soon. It offers campaigns the opportunity to engage voters through synchronized direct mail and digital marketing – voters can see the mail piece that has arrived at their house, and then click on the link to a campaign or donation web page.

Share Mail® Service: Customizes direct mail so that works like a word-of-mouth marketing tactic. It enables campaigns to pre-pay for postage and then track usage – the invoice comes at the end of the month and the campaign only pays return postage for mail pieces that are sent.

Direct mail is tried and true; it is proven and effective. The Postal Service stands ready and able to help campaigns make the final push to win a voter’s trust and inspire them to vote. Whether it is direct mail insights, consulting on direct mail design, or navigating operational support, the Postal Service is committed to helping campaigns Deliver The Win®. If you would like to talk to a direct mail specialist, please contact us directly or visit us at www.deliverthewin.com. 

*Statistics are sourced from the Connecting to Voters: How to Deliver a Personal Touch During Times of Uncertainty whitepaper. The research includes post-election voter surveys in five states, a consultant survey from this year, and consultant tips and testimonials.