Learn About Bulk Mailing and Tracking → Personalizing Bulk Mail

Yes, you can include some personalized information in USPS Marketing Mail ("bulk mail")

 Scott Hochberg
 Postage $aver Software


Many mailers think that all pieces in a USPS Marketing Mail mailing must be identical except for name, address and salutation ("Dear Bob"). But that's not correct. There are some important exceptions that you can use to your advantage to make your mailings more effective. And there are also some specific things that are not allowed.

Nonprofit mailers should be aware that their mailings are subject to additional rules beyond those discussed here. A good place to review the rules for nonprofit Marketing Mail is the USPS Nonprofit Eligibility Guide.

Here's what this page covers:

What is considered personal information for USPS Marketing Mail?

The "directly related to content" exception.

The "two identical pieces" rule.

Bills and statements prohibited, unless for enclosed goods.

Handwriting and typewriting prohibited, but there are exceptions.

Personal information generally cannot be included in mail sent using Marketing Mail rates (though I'll discuss exceptions below). So it's important to know what USPS considers to be personal information.

Personal information (for USPS purposes) does not include:

• the date of the letter;
  
• the names and addresses of the sender and the addressee;
  
• and the name, address, and alphanumeric information that constitutes the sender’s internal routing numbers (sometimes labeled “membership,” “account,” “file,” “case,” or “control”).

So you can include those items in Marketing Mail without any restriction.

Personal information (for USPS purposes) does include any other information specific to the addressee. For example:

• The amount of the addressee’s previous contribution or contributions.
  
• The total amount of donations by the addressee for the previous year.
  
• The duration of the addressee’s membership (“member since 1979” or “graduating class of 1979”) or contribution history (“loyal donor since 1979”).
  
• The expiration date of the addressee’s membership.
  
• The birth date, occupational title, and similar personal information about the addressee.
  
• The age, ethnicity, gender, or other demographic characteristics of the addressee, or a medical condition of the addressee or a family member.
  
• The region, metropolitan area, or neighborhood where the addressee lives.
  
• The addressee’s polling place, precinct, electoral district, or elected political representatives, and listings of political candidates, ballot propositions, or initiatives recommended by the sender for the precinct or other electoral district of the addressee.
  
• The number of members or supporters of the mailer in the area where the addressee lives.

So you can not include those items, and others like them, in Marketing Mail unless they meet the "directly-related to content" exception below.

You can use personal information in Marketing Mail if it meets the requirements in the following rule:


For example, if you're soliciting contributions to your church, you can say:


In this letter, there is clearly a solicitation for a donation, as required by (a). The personal information (the amount of last year's contributions and the amount requested this year) are directly related to the solicitation as required by (b). And the only reason the amounts are included are to support the solicitation, as required by (c).

But, you cannot say:


By adding the last line, the personal information now serves a second purpose: completing the recipient's tax record. Since the personal information now serves a second purpose beyond just supporting the solicitation, the letter cannot be sent using Marketing Mail.

In another example of personal information that was allowed in Marketing Mail, USPS ruled that including a subscriber's expiration date in a subscription renewal notice was ok, since the expiration date was included to support the solicitation for a renewal and served no other purpose.

USPS has also ruled that a person's voting location can be included in a Marketing Mail campaign piece encouraging the recipient to vote for a candidate or ballot proposition, as long as there is no other purpose for including the voting location.

Here are more details on the "directly-related" rule.

The rules for Marketing Mail never say that all pieces must be identical. What the rule actually says is that every piece in a mailing must be identical to at least one other piece in the mailing, not to every other piece.


That means that you can mix pieces with different content in the same mailing (for example, to do A/B testing), as long as you don't violate the personal information rules discussed above.

Generally, you can't send bills or account statements as Marketing Mail, since they contain personal information and can only be sent using First Class Mail even if there's advertising included with the bill.

There is an exception, however. Under Rule 243.2.5.2, USPS allows "incidental First Class Mail attachments or enclosures" to be included in a Marketing Mail piece without causing the piece to have to be sent as First Class Mail. By incidental, they mean that the attachment or enclosure is "closely associated with but secondary to the host piece."

A bill is considered to be an "incidental First Class Mail attachment or enclosure" if the bill is for a product or publication that is the main contents of the Marketing Mail piece. Similarly, a statement of account is allowed if it is for past products or publications like those that are the main content of the piece. This exception even allows a personal message or greeting included with a product, publication, or parcel and mailed as Marketing Mail.

There is a fine line here, so if you are considering using the exception, it might be worth checking with USPS first.

Handwritten and typewritten material is generally prohibited in Marketing Mail under Rule 243.2.4, but again, there are exceptions. Most of the exceptions are obscure and would not likely be something you would come across when preparing Marketing Mail.

The following are allowed in Marketing Mail even if handwritten:

• The sender’s and the addressee’s names, occupations, and addresses, preceded by “From” or “To,” and directions for handling.
  
• Marks, numbers, names, or letters describing the contents.
  
• Words or phrases such as “Do Not Open Until Christmas” and “Happy Birthday, Mother.”
  
• Instructions and directions for the use of the item mailed.
  
• A manuscript dedication or inscription not having the nature of personal correspondence.
  
• Marks to call attention to words or passages in the text.
  
• Corrections of typographical errors in printed matter.
  
• Manuscripts accompanying related proof sheets and corrections of proof sheets including corrections of typographical and other errors, changes in the text, insertions of new text, marginal instructions to the printer, and corrective rewrites of parts.
  
• Handstamped imprints, unless the added material is in itself personal or converts the original matter to a personal communication.
  
• Matter mailable separately as USPS Marketing Mail printed on the wrapper, envelope, tag, or label.

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