The United States Postal Service is launching the third phase of a campaign directed to small businesses across the U. S. this month.

The direct mail effort offers a free Priority Mail starter kit designed to familiarize small business owners with Priority Mail service and encourage its use. Almost 9,000 businesses have requested the kit, which includes a CD-ROM tutorial on USPS's Click-N-Ship online service, along with a downloadable desktop icon.

In May, the first of three scheduled mailings in the campaign resulted in an unprecedented 4.5% response rate, one of the highest in USPS history. Slightly over 100,000 pieces were sent in the May mailing. The second mailing, in August, resulted in a 5% response.

The campaign was created by Draft Chicago.

"Starting with a basic test among small businesses to determine the right offer, an initial mailing in 2003 -- in which unique source codes were used to help with future targeting - indicated that Click-N-Ship volume and Web site visits increased, and 16% of businesses that requested the kit were using more Priority Mail." said Laurie Nations, senior vice president group account director on USPS at Draft.