In 1975, my father passed away.
In the days that followed, my mother received more than two dozen letters from friends and relations. They reminisced about my dad, told age-old stories, and expressed deep, human emotions.
My mother read and replied to each one.
After she passed in 1986, I came into possession of these treasures.
I will, from time to time, re-read them.
They remind me of the simple, quiet, honest dignity of my father.
Recently, another fact hit me: they were all, with one exception, hand-written. From one- to four-page letters, all handwritten.
And none of them showed any corrections, strikeouts, or edits.
All these people, from different corners of the country, different educational and work backgrounds, different social standings, all composed a handwritten letter.
Which made me think…
“Why don’t more Direct Mailers use handwritten envelopes and sales letters?”
I did a little research, and what I found is amazing!
99% of hand written mail is opened and read.
Show me an email that gets that type of open rate!
There are two ways to go: using a service that uses real humans to hand write envelopes, or better yet, software that allows you to use you own handwriting to create a font that you can use for closed-face envelopes and sales letters…even lift notes.
Imagine your best customers response when they get a handwritten birthday wish, holiday greeting, or special notice from the owner of the company.
Just think of the lift in response when you add a personalized Post-it note to your mailing.
And what about a postcard that actually looks like someone took the time and effort to hand write a special note…
I also imagine most of you have two concerns: will it work for my business, and how much does it cost?
Well… yes… it will work for your business.
· Automotive
· Mortgages and real estate
· Nonprofits
· Insurance
· Home improvement
· Financial services
· Healthcare
· Higher education
· Investments
· And more…
And the cost?
How about free!
There are services you can find online that allow you to take you own handwriting, or your favorite employee’s, your spouse, even your child’s, and turn it into a laser font that can be applied to anything you mail.
The process is quite simple.
You need a printer and flatbed scanner.
For the New year, here’s a resolution you can easily keep: Give handwritten Direct Mail a try.
I think that 99% open and read rate will convince you!
Peter T. Britton
Idea Generator. Wordsmith. Resultant.
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