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Direct mail piece still bringing in results – two years after dispatch

This week we received a surprise phone call from one of our long-term clients, a catalogue mail order company. They were delighted to tell us how a catalogue we’d posted out for them in early 2010 had just provided them with a sizeable order.

The client explained that their mail piece had been left in a rented house after the previous incumbent had left. A new tenant – who happened to be the purchasing manager for a large industrial firm – rented the property on a short-term lease while between house moves. He found the catalogue, flicked through it and was clearly impressed. He contacted our client to place a trial order, which has now been successfully fulfilled. Our client was thrilled to say that thanks to the longevity of their mail item they had been able to sign a significant new customer.

That phone call served to demonstrate the power that a physical mail piece can deliver. It’s a key benefit that can’t be matched by other forms of marketing – where emails or text messages would have long since been deleted or lost in the electronic wilderness, the humble catalogue was still capable of facilitating a big sale a full two years after first being delivered.