Track your mail and packages with Informed Delivery
Wondering where mail is scanned for informed delivery?
You’ve come to the right place. let’s dive right into it. The United States Postal Service (USPS) has developed Informed Delivery to help consumers digitally preview incoming mail and manage packages scheduled to arrive soon.
Businesses can also make their direct mail campaigns more effective with informed delivery. adding color and links to informed delivery previews can triple campaign response rates.
Read on to find out why Informed Delivery is useful, how much it costs, how to sign up, and what precautions you should take to use it.
what is united states postal service (usps) reported delivery?
USPS Informed Delivery is a free service that gives customers early access to their incoming mail.
provides scanned images of the mail to be delivered. it’s available via email, the usps.com account control panel, or the mobile app. With this tool, marketers can know when the mail was sent and delivered, allowing them to coordinate their marketing campaigns.
- once you send an email, it is scanned by the postal services and registered in the informed delivery tool. this tool notifies senders as a piece progresses through the various stages of its delivery cycle.
- When the mail reaches its destination, the carrier sends a final scan notification to the sender. informs them that the shipment has reached its final destination.
With these near real-time delivery notifications, marketers can launch complementary campaigns targeting the same customers.
For example, launch a digital campaign that is triggered once postal delivery has been confirmed. this is effective because it maximizes the impact of each message on these target audiences.
Where does US Postal Service take a picture of my shipment for Informed Delivery?
mail is scanned for informed delivery as it passes through the postal service’s automated mail sorting system. This only happens at large USPS sorting facilities, not your local post office.
how does informed delivery work?
As a mail recipient, USPS sends you a preview of your email prior to delivery.
You can see images of your mail as it went through the automated mail sorting system where machines scanned it. these preview images arrive in your inbox as an email notification. If email isn’t the best option for you, you can also receive informed delivery notifications via text message or access more information through the USPS mobile app.
To use Informed Delivery, you will need to register with the USPS.
You will be prompted to enter information for the verification process. after that, you will receive a daily email with previews of the first ten emails you will receive.
You can see the rest of your mail in the Informed Delivery Dashboard.
why use informed delivery?
Some people like to see what they get in the mail every day. others find it useful to know when a very important letter arrives.
You can also use informed delivery to see the tracking number on a package. With this information, you can inform the carrier where you want the package to be delivered if you know you will not be at home. If the delivery time is not convenient for you, you can also schedule a new delivery through the informed delivery app.
Informed delivery is also useful from a marketing perspective. here’s why:
monitor your direct mail campaign with informed delivery
Before you send your campaign, you can match your mailing list with informed delivery users to make sure you’re targeting the right people.
after sending the campaign, you can monitor the reports to see its progress.
leverage the data provided by informed delivery
Marketers can monitor their direct mail as it moves through the mail flow.
They can see when they arrive at the warehouse, when items are sorted, and when they arrive at their final destination. this allows brands to create digital campaigns timed to coincide with the arrival of direct mail.
coordinate your postal and digital campaigns
postal touchpoints are an essential part of multi-channel marketing campaigns.
When you know the delivery stages of your mail, it’s easier to run a successful campaign. multichannel campaigns are successful when they work together. for example, you can send coupons by mail.
once delivered, you can follow it up with more detailed offers or digital campaigns to reinforce the impact of the original message.
how do I sign up for informed delivery?
To enroll in Informed Delivery, you must meet the eligibility requirements and confirm your identity with the USPS.
You must also have a personal usps.com account to register. To do so, follow these steps and you should receive notifications within a week.
Step 1: Go to informeddelivery.usps.com.
step 2: click “sign up for free”.
Step 3: Enter your address to see if you can use it for informed delivery. If it’s not available to you, you can still create an account and use USPS Click-n-Ship® and the Postal Store.
Step 4: If your address is eligible, create your USPS account and select “informed delivery” on your profile page.
step 5: click “enroll”, scroll down to “account management” and select the “informed delivery” box.
Step 6: Select the relevant fields, such as terms and conditions, and address certification from the dropdown box. click “enroll in informed delivery” and answer the identity verification questions.
Who can use Informed Delivery?
feature is available to residential customers and eligible personal PO Box addresses.
You can use informed delivery as long as you live in a qualified zip code and confirm your identity. If you live in an apartment or condo, your address may not have a unique code and therefore is not eligible for reported delivery.
how much does usps reported delivery cost?
usps has made this excellent service completely free to its customers.
so if you receive an email with a link to sign up for this paid service, please do not click on it. instead, please report the email to us. postal inspection services.
is usps informed delivery safe?
usps informed delivery is a great service, but there is a security issue because you don’t have to prove you live at the address you registered with. But USPS takes the security of its customers’ data very seriously.
A customer verifies their identity online during the registration process. the site asks for previous addresses, phone numbers, and multiple choice questions that only the user can answer.
The USPS has also taken the following steps to improve the privacy and security of all Reported Delivery mail:
- only the outside of the envelope is scanned; the contents of the envelope are not accessed.
- all information shared complies with privacy law and is subject to strict conditions under which data can be shared.
what can’t you see in usps reported delivery?
usps reported delivery scans are limited to letter size items or smaller.
so you won’t be able to see magazines, larger ads, or catalogs in your ID notifications. Because this is a USPS service, you will not receive scans for items that arrive via UPS, FedEx, or similar services.
the usps also only sends out ten scans per day. so if you receive more than ten shipments in a day, you will only see the first ten.
Daily Notifications: 5 common questions about Informed Delivery
Do you have a problem with reported delivery? Let’s take a look at some of the most common questions.
1. Why have I not received notifications of packages and/or images of reported delivery mail?
If you are not receiving notifications from USPS, it may be because you have incorrectly configured your spam filter.
Make sure the email address in your profile is correct and add the usps email to your contact list to prevent spam filters from blocking messages.
2. Why am I getting reported delivery emails but can’t log in to my dashboard?
You should have received an email from usps right after your initial registration.
will contain a unique link that will allow you to complete your account registration. If you haven’t completed these steps, you won’t be able to access your control panel.
3. when are reported delivery emails sent?
Notifications are sent once a day before 9:00 AM. m. on days when there is mail to deliver.
If there is no mail to deliver, you will not receive any messages. notifications are also not sent on Sundays and holidays.
4. Why am I getting notifications about someone else’s mail or packages?
informed delivery cannot distinguish your mail from others if you live with someone at the same address.
If you have a shared mailbox, the post office will display images of delivered mail in notifications for all incoming packages.
5. my mail piece was scanned but not delivered: what went wrong?
If you’re concerned that an email was scanned but not delivered, don’t panic. instead, wait one business day and see what happens.
if the piece of mail hasn’t been delivered by usps after two business days, contact the post office and let them know something is lost or stolen.
A better way to track your mail
informed delivery allows brands to maximize the impact of their marketing efforts by knowing when their shipment arrived in the mail, but there’s an even better option.
postalytics has developed an affordable and effective alternative to informed delivery for marketers. Thanks to postalotics, you can now track the progress of your campaigns in real time with automated campaigns.
You no longer have to worry about where your mail is scanned for informed delivery as you go through the mail delivery process with the USPS.
thanks to the qr code we print on your material, our system can link each email to a contact record. This gives us real-time information from the USPS as you scan.
That way, you’ll know exactly where your mail is and when it’s delivered. We’ve also developed direct mail tracking dashboards with easy-to-use features so you can monitor your campaign.