Sometimes it is a good idea to lead your clients up the garden path

What happens to mail after it’s been delivered?

To find the answer to this question, we had to ask a lot more questions. We’ve just completed an ethnographic study of mail in the home and the results are astonishing. Mail’s journey isn’t over when it hits the doormat. In fact, it’s only just begun.

Mail is filtered, handled, shared, discussed, displayed, kept and filed in more ways and for longer than anyone previously thought.

People read mail all over the house. It’s read in the hallway, kitchen, front room, bedroom and even on the loo. How’s that for a captive audience! Even within the same household different people have different habits.

Our research showed that an incredible 80% of people keep the mail that’s sent to them, the average is 17 days for advertising mail and 38 days for door drops, and it can be much, much longer.

What’s more, mail is shared, which means your message is shared too. In fact, an average 23% of mail gets shared in the household. Just think of the multiple audiences. If your mail piece is also a conversation piece it’ll get your brand talked about over and over again.

And if we’re talking stats and facts, perhaps the best of all is, 39% said they had a dedicated display area for mail, usually in the kitchen. Which means, mail doesn’t just deliver your message, it nails it to the wall.

Download The Private Life of Mail here