Handwritten Letters Are Personal

Handwritten letters are a dying, lost art. But, written correspondence is growing fast as a vital tool for marketing and building relationships with clients.

Handwriting is often looked down on by some as old-fashioned; nevertheless, handwritten messages offer something digital cannot: authenticity and personality.

The customer experience is a massive part of marketing. According to HubSpot, “A positive customer experience promotes loyalty, helps you retain customers, and encourages brand advocacy.” Most importantly, it influences how a customer feels about the product. If they feel good about it, they might come back or recommend it to their friends. Personal mail makes customers feel like you value them.

Send personalized snail mail on birthdays, thank customers after using your service with a handwritten card, send formal letters of congratulations, and so much more! The options are endless.

Connect With Customers Intimately

Handwritten letters are a great way to show your customers you care about them! When we write a thoughtful letter and share it with prospects and customers, it feels like they’re getting something special. According to MarketReach, “Direct mail can generate positive emotional responses from recipients. 66% of audiences reported it was the right way of informing, and 48% understood what was relevant to them and what was not.”

And in this digital age of instant gratification and impersonal connections, handwriting allows us to feel close to someone or receive personalized attention from companies on any level – a note on a piece of scrap paper would suffice.

I think the feeling is due to one-off, personalized interactions. When you get personal letters, it feels like someone wanted to send that message to you because they cared about you. It makes the experience much more memorable.

Essentially, personalized marketing is about tailoring your communications to speak with each individual’s unique personality and interests.

You can cater communications based on their gender, location, likes/dislikes, and purchase history, all by putting pen to paper. So they know they’re talking to a human being as soon as they encounter your message.

Handwritten Letters Are Opened More Than Email

In an age when we are all so busy, and the majority of our communication happens via email, there’s something special about receiving a note in your mailbox from somebody.

A handwritten letter is a personalized, tangible way to connect with someone. It makes you feel more connected and cared for.

The average open rate for email marketing is around 20%, according to research by MailChimp. For context, the open & action rates of other forms of desired advertising range from 24% (print ads) to 40% (TV commercials). It’s important to note that this doesn’t include spam email, which has an open rate of just 3%.

A handwritten letter seems to come as a delightful surprise, whereas even the most well-crafted email feels like it’s one of many unread messages in the inbox. There is something so personal about receiving a handwritten letter, no matter what you’re communicating about.

The personal touch will pay off with an open rate near 100% – that can’t be denied! If this is your goal, the investment in time and energy will bring outstanding results.

As for response rates, The Data & Marketing Association shares, “When compared to email, paid search, and social media, household mail has a higher response rate at 9%, with the former being only at 1%.”

Handwritten Letters Overpower Generic Copy

Handwritten notes may not be a common form of marketing nowadays, but they are highly effective. Rather than the same old vague descriptions that don’t offer any opportunity for interaction with potential customers, handwritten notes help you talk about specific things your business does well rather than just making general statements or claims.

Generic marketing copy lacks creativity and personality. The phrase usually refers to content copied wholesale from other sources and then mass distributed without modification for the new audience.

People dislike generic writing because it lacks creativity—cookie-cutter copy might not elaborate on essential details or paint a vivid enough portrait, making it challenging to keep the reader engaged.

Copy like this may also feel impersonal and cold as if you’re not telling your company’s story but sending a letter from HR instead.

Handwriting is often thought of as antiquated in this digital age where we’re all typing away on our keyboards. But handwriting has been around since humans began communicating long before there was ever such a thing as “texting.”

Handwritten Letters Grow Leads

Relationships make it possible for us to establish trust with others through cooperation and empathy. If you want to do business with a company or person, you must have a personal relationship with them to be successful.

Furthermore, recent studies show that “social capital” has become an economic necessity when applying for jobs, planning market strategies, or even motivating employees; basically, any activity involved in the business is made more effective if there is a deep trusting relationship established on both sides.

A solid understanding of the other person’s needs will increase sales by building rapport, critical in business. As Tony Robbins explains, “It’s your tool for nurturing strong relationships while sharpening your capacity to influence others. When you establish rapport, you’re able to engage your team and customers on a human level where loyalty and connection occur.” There’s also the human need to connect with others- we crave conversation and relationships, and if our communication is always one-sided, it can leave us wanting more.

Sending handwritten cards to people in your network can be an effective way of building relationships that could lead to new clients for your business. Think about it, JICMAIL claims, “A whopping 31% of all mail items were still at home a month after they were delivered.” Especially now, with technology so prevalent and social networks such a big part of our lives, it’s important to take time out from screen time every once in a while and get back to the old school touch!

Handwritten Letters Spark a Bond

Imagine the delight of getting a handwritten letter in your purchase! Imagine how much it would mean to know that another human being took time out of their day for you.

A handwritten note is your opportunity to seal the deal with a customer and increase retention. Your customer will unbox the package, open the envelope, and read your handwritten note before they’ve even opened their product.

A thoughtful touch like this goes a long way toward keeping your customers satisfied, and often they’ll comment on it on social media. That’s powerful word-of-mouth marketing right there.

Word-of-mouth marketing has the umpf to spread your message without your input and at a fraction of the cost. This type of promotion works by getting customers to refer you to their friends and family through personal conversations or social media.

Studies have shown that word-of-mouth advertising is more effective than any other form, such as print, TV, or online ads. This type of advertising is powered by trusted sources – people who know the product better than anyone else.

Some people prefer formal letters because they are more personal and thoughtful. Handwritten letters can be paired with business cards or other promotional items to create a more thoughtful gift.

Handwritten Communication is Just Plain Nice

A handwritten letter is a perfect way to show someone that you care.

This craft allows individuals a chance to express themselves and create something one-of-a-kind for their loved ones, friends, and family members while also enduring an old-fashioned sense of sincerity in communication with another person.

A good handwritten letter can be just what some people need – something simple yet special enough; it’s thoughtful; it feels personal because no two notes are alike; there’s nothing more satisfying than receiving a handmade gift!

Consider this: “Nearly 90% of Millennials love receiving mail. This fits with their affinity for physical media — like vinyl records. The study also revealed that 57% of Millennial respondents acted on direct mail offers,” according to the USPS.

Handwritten Letters Can’t Be That Easy

There are two “problems” with writing letters as part of a marketing campaign: scale and time.

With marketing, scaling by definition means going up in level and quantity. So if you want to scale marketing or scale your business, that would mean you are looking for more prominent clients who have more money than the people you’re already doing business with.  But, scaling is unlikely if you find yourself severely limited in ways to personally communicate with them because of geography (or other restraints).

The reason is that you need an influential partner or a new source of content to take advantage of when trying to scale handwritten formal letters. Suppose either one of those things is absent. In that case, it will be difficult for your marketing plan to grow fast enough given the constraints preventing you from making your connections and reaching out independently.

As for time, there is no specific answer for how fast someone can write a letter. It’s just one of those things that vary from person to person. Some people take longer than others to write a letter because they’re slower at writing, their minds wander, or their thoughts are more distracted by other ideas when they try to focus on the task.

Some people will spend less time with the task and be less likely to get distracted than others! And some people might need breaks in between parts of the letter because it’s so mentally taxing for them.

What we know, for sure, is that a human isn’t as fast as an AI-powered robot that’s putting pen to paper. But that’s where things get exciting in today’s fast-paced world. Writing and hand lettering has a new superhero that uses the same pen you do to write words and a return address on the envelope – no breaks required!

How Do You Scale Handwritten Letters?

Technology has come a long way. AI took off around 2007, and a large part of that growth could be attributed to deep learning. AI is improving at tasks humans have solved with verbal reasoning (specifically) or vision systems.

The human brain might not have the computational power of a computer to perform specific tasks. Still, it’s capable of leaps in creativity and imagination combined with an understanding of sensory inputs from the body all working together.

It looks like partnering humans, and AI may be the best way to make use of all available resources – that’s how you scale the handwritten letter today.

Once we have the text in hand, we fire up our pen pal, the handwriting robot, to start writing on high-quality stationery. You craft words like a love letter to your prospects or customers. Once complete, the robot writes the recipient’s address on an envelope, we affix an actual stamp and deliver it to the post office for you.

Don’t have the recipient’s address – we may be able to help. One of the many benefits we offer is lead research. We help you find people interested in your product or service so you can start “writing” your letters much faster.

If you’re a small business, it’s hard to compete with the big guys. But there is one thing we can do better than them – personalization. They don’t have a way of sending handwritten letters to their customers, but we do! We use AI-powered robots that write personalized notes for your clients and prospects. Our handwriting is indistinguishable from a human, so your recipients will be impressed by how much time you’ve spent on letters just for them!

So, whether you want to thank employees, congratulate colleagues, push out some handwritten notes for real estate prospects, or something else, book a DEMO today and see how it works for yourself.