Do you want to create awesome direct mail pieces that stand out and get results? Well now you can and reduce your postage cost! The US Postal Service’s The Tactile, Sensory & Interactive (TSI) Promotion offers marketers an opportunity to get creative and save 5% on postage. This USPS promotion runs from Feb 1, 2023, through July 31, 2023. All eligible pieces qualify for the 5% discount. There are specific requirements to qualify so you need to make sure you meet them. Neyenesch Printers can help.

The purpose of this promotion is to encourage sensory engagement with physical mail pieces. This is our favorite promotion USPS because direct mail is the only marketing channel that provides a tactile customer experience. No other marketing channel can do this!

New developments in papers and paper stocks, substrates, finishing techniques, and inks can be incorporated into your mail pieces to create a multi-sensory experience through special visual effects, sound, scent, texture, and even taste! Features like pop-ups, infinite folds, and other dimensional treatments encourage interaction and drive customer engagement which increases your ROI.

There are 3 featured categories in this promotion:

1. Specialty inks – Qualifying inks may include but are not limited to:

• Conductive inks: Inks with a circuit that can be used to activate an electronic device.  Users press a “button” to activate lights, sound chips, or other electronic sensors and components.
• Leuco Dyes/Thermochromics: Heat sensitive dyes or inks change color in variation in temperature.
• Photochromic: Changes color with UV light exposure.
• Optically Variable Ink: Contains metallic materials that change appearance when viewed from different angles.
• Piezochromic: Change appearance under pressure.
• Hydrochromic: Change appearance when exposed to water or liquids.

Each of these inks are unique and interactive. They can make your mail piece fun for your customers and prospects.

2. Sensory Treatments – Use unique treatments and paper substrates to trigger engagement. They must be connected to the marketing message on the piece.

• Paper: Paper that has soft touch, leathery, crinkly, or feature embossing.
• Print and finishing: Add tactile coating, raised UV, digital dimensional coating, emboss or deboss.
• Scent: Utilize scented varnishes, coatings, or labels to create unique aromas that complement content on your mail pieces. Scents such as cookies, fresh bread, or bubble gum, and grass.
• Sound: Incorporates sound chip or speakers.
• Taste:  Paper that incorporates edible components.

I don’t think using taste on a self-mailer is a good idea but if you have a message best conveyed with taste you can enclose the piece in an envelope to keep it clean. I really love soft touch; I can’t help but to keep petting the mail piece. There are so many coatings you can use for a wide range of different experiences. Coatings are the most cost-effective options for qualifying for the discount.

3. Interactive Elements: Take engagement to whole new dimensions with pop-ups and complex folds on your mail pieces. These features must be in support of the mailer’s marketing message.

• Infinite Folds – These fun folds provide a message at each turn of the fold and are usually folded through at least twice as they drive curiosity.
• 3-Dimensional – These can be really unique and drive interest. As they are not flat pieces of paper but all kinds of things in boxes or tubes.
• Pop-ups – These mailers are fun and a little scary. They deliver flat and when you open them the pop up into a form.

My two favorites from this group are the infinite folds and pop-ups. There are so many ways you can create interactive mail pieces and they are super fun to use.

All mail pieces must be submitted via USPS mail to the TSI Promotion Office for review and approval no later than one week prior to the mailing date. Neyenesch Printers can help you with this. Are you ready to get started and save 5% on your postage?