USPS Office of Inspector General

The mailbox cannot live by ad mail alone. It needs other types of mail to boost ad mail’s effectiveness.

That’s the key finding from our recent white paper, Advertising Mail: Mail Mix Matters. The presence of a non-advertising mailpiece in the mailbox enhances the likelihood that a person will read, positively react to, and respond to a piece of advertising mail. Both First-Class Mail and Periodicals (such as a magazine) proved effective in driving those outcomes.

Ever watch an ad on YouTube and think, “I don’t get it?” It’s likely the ad was directed at a certain customer segment – like, say, millennials. Companies target their advertisements in a variety of ways to reach different types of customers, and age segmentation is one of the most common.

A microbusiness is just what its name implies. Very small. As in nine employees or less. But don’t let size fool you — microbusinesses are essential to the U.S. economy, making up roughly 75 percent of private businesses.

You can find microbusinesses in agriculture, law, and online marketplaces. They have a range of needs, some common to all businesses but some quite unique. For example, time and resources are in tight supply for microbusinesses.