December 2, 2022
In addition to approving the January 2023 postage rate increase, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) also approved the USPS’s proposed calendar of promotions for 2023.
There will be six promotions, five of which are relevant to magazine publishers. Two of the promotions are new. Here’s a brief summary:
Tactile, Sensory, and Interactive – This program will again run Feb. 1 – July 31, but in 2023 the discount will increase from 2-3 percent to 5 percent. All techniques used to qualify for the TSI promotion in 2022 can be used again in 2023. A new technique eligible in 2023 is applying a scent to the outside of the mailpiece.
Emerging Technology & Mobile Shopping – In 2023, these two promotions will be combined into one. The tiered discount for this promotion, driven by the complexity of the technology employed, will increase from 2 to 3 percent to 3 to 4 percent. This merged promotion will now run for a longer period (seven months), May 1 – Nov. 30.
Informed Delivery – This promotion will be largely unchanged from 2022. The discount will remain at 4 percent, and the promotion will run Aug. 1 – Dec. 31.
Reply Mail IMbA – This promotion is new for 2023. IMbA is a recently introduced automated accounting system for Business Reply Mail (BRM). To encourage mailers to adopt the system, this promotion will offer a 3-percent discount for using static IMbA on BRM and a 6-percent discount for using serialized IMbA. This promotion will run July 1 – Dec. 31.
Retargeting – This is the second new promotion. It provides a 5-percent discount to mailers of First-Class Mail automation postcards to recent website or mobile app visitors that didn’t convert. The promotion will run Sep. 1 – Nov. 30.
The USPS will begin accepting pre-approval requests for 2023 Promotions on Dec. 15, 2022 through the Mailing Promotions Portal. The enrollment period will begin in the Business Customer Gateway (BCG) system on January 9, 2023.