Big Changes Proposed for the 2025 USPS Promotional Calendar

The USPS filed their proposed 2025 promotions with the Postal Regulatory Commission featuring two new promotions and a new add-on program providing customers an additional 1% discount.

SPC has you covered with a detailed breakdown of all the latest promotions and will keep you updated on their status. We expect the final determination of modifications and approvals by early June.

Updates to Existing Promotions

Changing the methodology to how the promotion discounts are applied.

Starting in 2025, all per-piece discounts and incentives will be applied before calculating promotional discounts.  

Tactile, Sensory & Interactive Promotions (4%)

• Decreasing from 5% to 4%.
• Gloss paper stock alone will NOT qualify for this promotion as in the past.

Rebranded Promotions

Integrated Technology Promotion (3%)

• Formerly known as Emerging Technology Promotion.
• Will continue as a flexible 6-month window.
• USPS is considering mandating personalized QR codes for qualification instead of general QR codes.

First-Class Mail Advertising Promotion (3%)

• Replaces the Personalized Color Trans promo.
• Encourages additional marketing content on transactional First-Class letters and flats

New Promotion Introduced

Continuous Contact (3%)

• This new discount is designed to promote continuous touch points to a household address two or more times during the promotion period.
• Each mail piece must be iterative or complementary, not duplicative.

New Add-On Promotions

For any mail piece that participates in other promotions (other than Reply Mail IMbA Base/Primary Promotion), the customer can add on a 1% discount for Informed Delivery or Sustainability. The Postal Service plans to offer these promotions from January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025.

First-Class Mail automation letters, cards, and flats and USPS Marketing Mail automation letters and flats that meet the promotion’s requirements are eligible.

The Informed Delivery Add-On/Upgrade Promotion

• Offers an additional 1% discount for mailings that incorporate best practices and techniques in their Informed Delivery campaigns.
• There will not be a separate stand-alone Informed Delivery promotion in 2025.
• Must be combined with another promotion to qualify.

The Sustainability Add-On/Upgrade Promotion:

• Encourages mailers to adopt a higher level of recyclable paper in their mailings by offering an additional 1% discount to mailers who prove their printer is using one of several approved certifications.
• Certification logo must be printed on the piece or envelope (SFI or FSC). SPC is already equipped with these certifications to help you qualify.
• Must be combined with another promotion to qualify.

Mail Growth Incentive to Continue

The USPS will continue the Mail Growth Incentive into 2025. No changes will be made except for the qualifying dates. Check out SPC’s Mail Growth blog to dive into the incentive’s details.

2025 Dates

Baseline Period: October 2023 – September 2024 (FY2024)
Registration Period: November 2024 – June 2025
Incentive Performance Period: January – December 2025
Earned Credit to Customer Account: July, October, and February 2025

Randy Weiler, SPC’s VP of Postal Affairs and Logistics, and the SPC team are here to field your questions. Simply send your question in an email to #AskRandy and we will respond with an answer.