The Three-Touch Rule: Building an Effective Direct Mail Sequence

By Lee Garvey

That unopened marketing postcard in your mailbox might be part of a much bigger strategy than you realize.

When your favorite local restaurant sends you a birthday offer, or a real estate agent follows up after you’ve visited an open house, they’re not just sending random mail. They’re executing a carefully orchestrated direct mail sequence—one that follows what you might call the “three-touch rule.”

“The general rule for direct marketing has been for decades that you want to touch people at least three times before they’re going to do something,” explains Lee Garvey, founder and CEO of Click2Mail.

But what exactly is this rule? And more importantly, how can your business use it to transform casual browsers into loyal customers? Let’s dive in.

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What Is the Three-Touch Rule?

The three-touch rule is a fundamental principle in direct marketing that recognizes most consumers need multiple exposures to a brand before they take action.

Research has consistently shown that a single mail piece, no matter how well-designed, rarely drives significant consumer response. Instead, a sequence of communications builds familiarity, trust, and ultimately, action.

“You send them a postcard, and they see your brand – that’s touch No. 1,” Lee says. “You send them another kind of postcard or self-mailer, and they see your brand again – that’s touch No. 2, and they go, ‘Oh, I’ve seen that before.’ And then you send them a third mailer. Now they think, ‘That’s familiar to me, I need to open this and read this.’ And that’s the piece that you want to be rich and full of content.”

This progression makes perfect sense when you think about it. Each time a potential customer encounters your brand, they move one step further in their journey from:

• Awareness (first touch): “Oh, that’s a new pizza place in town.”
• Recognition (second touch): “I’ve heard of them before.”
• Consideration (third touch): “Maybe I should try their weekend special.”

Designing Your Three-Touch Sequence: The Right Format for Each Touch

The effectiveness of your three-touch campaign depends on thoughtful planning across multiple dimensions. Different mail formats serve different purposes in your sequence. Here’s a strategic approach.

First Touch: Introduction

• Best Format: Postcards
• Why It Works: No envelope barrier means immediate visibility for your brand and message
• Goal: Create initial awareness

Second Touch: Reminder

• Best Format: Note cards or another distinct format
• Why It Works: Carly Brown, customer support manager at Click2Mail, notes that a note card-type product “does gangbusters as far as response rate goes, because they’re in a closed envelope space,” she says. “They look fancy, because the addresses are on the outside of the envelope and it’s scripted. It’s just an attractive mail piece.”
• Goal: Build recognition and familiarity

Third Touch: Conversion

• Best Format: Letters with complete information
• Why It Works: “Letters are still one of the highest ROI mail pieces,” says Carly. “I think that’s because when you get an envelope, you’re thinking, ‘This is official, I must pay attention.'”
• Goal: Provide the detailed information needed for a decision

Perfecting Your Timing

How much time should you leave between touches? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, Lee says.

“You can experiment with the timing, but there’s whole theses that have been written about what works best,” he says. “What Click2Mail enables is the use of all different formats in any timing that you want with CRM automation.”

Some general guidelines to consider:

• Too close together: Less than 5-7 days may feel like spam
• Too far apart: Beyond 21-30 days and recipients might forget your previous communication
• Sweet spot: Most experts recommend 10-14 days between touches for many businesses
• Seasonal factors: Adjust timing based on urgency, season, or industry needs

Remember that your specific audience and offer might require adjustments to these general rules.

Beyond the Format: Creating an Effective Offer

While the three-touch sequence gets your message in front of your audience, what you actually say matters tremendously.

“When you talk to professional direct marketers, they say the offer is 40% of the efficacy, the mailing list is 40% of the efficacy, and the creative is only 20%,” Carly says.

This insight has profound implications for your campaign planning. Even the most beautiful, perfectly timed sequence will falter without the right offer and audience targeting.

Some key principles to remember when crafting your offer:

• Free beats discounted: Carly shares an example: “We worked with a client that was a florist and they offered 50% off a bouquet of flowers if you came in and picked it up, as opposed to having it delivered. And they had two people come in. But then when gave away this $3 glass vase to put the flowers in, everybody came in.”
• Use whole numbers: “A lot of people have found that using whole numbers instead of fractions works better,” notes Brown. “We see an awful lot of people who want to use ‘50% off’ instead of ‘half off’ – our brain thinks that we’re getting the bigger deal.”
• Progressive value: Consider increasing the value of your offer with each touch. The first piece might simply announce your business, while the second offers a small incentive, and the third provides your strongest offer.
• Clear call to action: Every piece should make it crystal clear what action you want the recipient to take.

By combining the right sequence of touches with compelling offers, you create a direct mail campaign that builds upon itself, creating momentum that drives customer action.

Ready to Put the Three-Touch Rule to Work? We Can Save You Time and Money

Why spend countless hours printing, stuffing envelopes, and tracking deliveries when you could be focusing on growing your business? Click2Mail makes implementing your three-touch campaign simple and affordable.

Start designing your first campaign today for just pennies per piece—no subscription fees, no minimum volume requirements, and next-day mailing for most products. Our CRM integration makes scheduling all three touches a breeze, and our tracking tools let you know exactly when your mail hits customers’ mailboxes.

Take the first step toward more effective direct mail marketing. Visit Click2Mail.com to get started.