The Power of Multiple Touchpoints
One mailer doesn’t make an impression. A consistent series of them does.
I recently filed for probate on a friend’s estate I’m managing. Within days, the direct mail started showing up. Company after company, all selling similar estate-related services.
Most of them sent one piece. I glanced at it and tossed it. I couldn’t tell you a single name.
But a few companies sent multiple pieces, week after week. And they were consistent. Same look, same colors, same tone. After the third or fourth one, something shifted. I didn’t just notice them. I remembered them. If I had actually needed the service they were selling, those would have been the ones I called (assuming I didn’t already have a strong referral to another professional, which would be better).
That’s the power of multiple touchpoints.
Here’s another example. For over 10 years, a real estate company sent me a mailer every couple of months with listings in my building. Each mailing, I would glance at it and then toss it. But when it came time to sell, that company was the first one I thought of. I’ve now listed two properties with them, my own and the estate’s, and referred someone else in the building to them. Ten years of consistency turned into three transactions.
One impression almost never leads to action. It doesn’t matter how good your piece is, how clever your subject line is, or how well-designed your ad is. A single touchpoint is easy to ignore and easier to forget.
But when someone sees your name, your message, and your brand consistently across multiple touchpoints, something changes. You stop being a stranger and start being familiar. And people hire people they feel like they already know.
The companies that stood out in my mailbox weren’t doing anything more creative than the ones I forgot. They were just doing it more often, with enough consistency for their name to stick.
The takeaway: One touchpoint is forgettable. Multiple consistent touchpoints build familiarity, and familiarity builds trust. Whatever marketing you’re doing, the question isn’t just whether you’re doing it. It’s whether you’re doing it often enough and consistently enough to be remembered.
