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Handwritten Marketing

Tips • 9th May, 17 • 0 Comments

 

Have a think now. When was the last time you received a handwritten envelope? Or the rarest of mailing beasts: a handwritten letter? I can remember both of mine, but I think that is because I adore all things hand written.The last handwritten envelope was my Weight Watchers team leader, explaining she was sad she hadn’t seen me at the last meeting, and the meeting before that… and the meeting before that. I like cake, what can I say!
 
The last handwritten letter I got was from the perfume company, Jo Malone. I purchased from them and they wrote to thank me. I was so made up. The handwritten envelope was waiting for me when I got home from work. “Ooh, what’s this?” I thought. I was so excited, I dropped my bag on the floor and tore it open to find… more handwriting! Wow! 

 

 

42 handwritten words on a square piece of card, that's all and I told everybody; I showed everybody. I tweeted about it, I put a picture of it up on Facebook, I've now told you all on LinkedIn about it.  

Now yes, I am a sucker for handwriting. I love to see somebody’s handwriting. But why? 

It’s certainly not because if they dot their I’s a certain way it means they have a particular personality trait (I do find that to be nonsense). I like to handwrite letters myself, and I do find some connection with others who also handwrite. You can’t just copy and paste a handwritten letter, you know the letter was written for you, with you in mind. Yes, the basis of the letter may be very generic but they were writing this one out for you. I find that very special.

I like to know somebody wanted to market to me personally that they would put in that time and effort. Because handwriting does take time and effort: if you make an error there is no backspace. Edouard Gentaz, professor of developmental psychology at the University of Geneva explains “Handwriting is a complex task which requires various skills – feeling the pen and paper, moving the writing implement, and directing movement by thought, children take several years to master this precise motor exercise: you need to hold the scripting tool firmly while moving it in such a way as to leave a different mark for each letter.” Operating a keyboard is not the same at all: all you have to do is press the right key. It is easy enough for children to learn very fast, but above all the movement is exactly the same whatever the letter. 

In the grand scheme of things, my spend on perfume was very little, yet time and effort still went in, by Amy’s own fair hand to thank me. For the cost of the stationary, Amy’s time and a frank they had indirectly marketed to my parents, my friends, my work colleagues, my twitter followers and so on. 42 handwritten words on a square piece of card, that's all and I flaunted it around. Don’t underestimate the power of a handwritten directly mailed letter.  

Give it a try. Let me know how it goes. 

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