The days of handwritten notes for marketing are over, at least for the foreseeable future. Why? since they outperform a plethora of alternative marketing tactics. Consider email as an example. Handwritten messages are much more likely to be opened and read. In addition, handwritten notes are preserved and shared with others.
We all know that handwritten notes are quite useful, but the appropriate method is necessary to get the desired outcomes.
Let’s examine why handwritten notes are so effective and receive some professional advice for outstanding outcomes!
Handwritten Note Definition
A handwritten note is exactly what it sounds like: a handwritten piece of writing. Over the years, you’ve undoubtedly written hundreds or maybe thousands of letters similar to this one. The majority of individuals are unaware of their full potential when it comes to company promotion.
People are being pushed farther and farther away from one of the original ways to engage with clients ever since the digital world ate up one-on-one connection.
Email, social media, and printed materials are the usual foundations of marketing initiatives, and each has a role in the game. Nevertheless, clients expect the company to interact directly with them because they have been living in virtual isolation for the past few years.
All business sizes and industries, regardless of the recipient, recognize the value of personalized attention, and handwritten notes satisfy that requirement for each and every one of their clients.
These seven professional pointers will help you stay on course if you want to write handwritten notes correctly the first time.
1. Advice: Have a plan before you start.
Before launching a new campaign, you must plan everything out, just like you would with any marketing strategy. Provide answers to a few questions to begin your strategy.
Who will get the letters written by hand? Focus on a certain niche when it comes to your target audience. A different handwritten message is needed to retiree homeowners who are wanting to downsize, for instance, than if you are a real estate agent attempting to attract new business. You may make each note more intimate the smaller the target list.
What is the main point you wish to make? After your list has been refined, choose the point you want to make with it. In this instance, you will follow the note’s intent. Returning to the real estate example, an agent’s note to a lead who has a foreclosure house will be different than one sent to a lead who has unpaid taxes.
How many notes will be sent to each recipient? The misconception that handwritten notes are a one-and-done marketing tactic is unfortunately widespread among businesses. Would you have a single discussion and end it there if you were speaking with a lead in person? For every campaign, we recommend sending at least three messages to each lead (or client).
2. Advice: Compose a Message the Recipient Will Understand.
Where in life are the receivers of your handwritten notes at this moment? The message’s tone and delivery will be different whether you’re addressing 20-somethings vs 60-somethings. There are two reasons why the language used by the two generations would change.
- Age. In a conversation with her 100-year-old vampire partner, the lead character in the YA film Twilight remarks, “You speak like you’re from a different century.” Since the dawn of communication, there have been generational differences in language, and these differences now frequently result in modifications to the official English lexicon.
- Life stage. CEOs of companies used to be older when they rose to the top, but that is no longer the case. More young professionals are successful in starting and running businesses, managing them, and engaging in entrepreneurship. While other members of the same generation are going to trade school or college, twentysomethings nowadays may be in charge of an entire firm. When deciding how to compose handwritten notes, consider where your leads are in life.
3. Tip: Avoid using flowery language
Don’t overuse long, complex phrases and sentences while composing handwritten notes.
This practice is well described by Simon Fraser University. “Flowery language is when complex words are utilized in place of simpler ones and lengthier sentences are employed in an attempt to communicate more than one topic. It’s an attempt on the writer’s part to seem more knowledgeable about the subject by tying disparate ideas together and use technical terminology.
You’re not composing handwritten messages to esteemed colleagues or individuals inside your industry. Rather, your attention is directed at leads, clients, and consumers who most likely have no idea what specialty jargon is. This principle relates to the last piece of advice: write in a language that the receiver can understand.
4. Advice: Maintain Simplicity
Building on the last piece of advice, omitting the flowery language is insufficient. Your handwritten notes should be both sufficiently extensive to thoroughly describe your proposal and sufficiently brief to hold the reader’s interest.
We advise you to limit the length of your communications to between 600 and 750 characters, or 85 and 188 words.
With limited words, the handwritten letter must be addressed directly to the receiver, briefly describe yourself and the purpose of the message, and conclude with a memorable call to action and heartfelt farewell.
Your goal while writing handwritten notes for business is to convey your ideas succinctly and clearly without further complicating the subject.
5. Advice: Use Your Real Name to Sign the Note
When your nurturing or marketing message is done, how are you going to sign the handwritten note? Whose name will be on it? When deciding who to give credit to for the message, there are two guidelines to follow: never use a department name that is too general and always use a genuine name. Here are few instances:
YES:
- John Smith, CEO
- Laura Smith, Customer Service
- Terri Smith, Sales Executive
NO:
- Customer Service
- Management Team
- Sales Crew
The third requirement is that the person who “wrote” the message ought to be a genuine person who the client, customer, or lead can reach out to. Leads will go on and leave your business behind if they phone and want to speak with John Smith but nobody by that name works there.
6. Writer’s Block: Beat It with a Template
Had you had a template for your history assignment from seventh grade, wouldn’t that have been nice? One that would offer you a strong foundation upon which to construct your work?
If there was a writer’s block template, that would be much great. I’ll stop stalling now. Many free templates for handwritten notes are available.
We wouldn’t advise following a single template word for word. You can always personalize it; the templates you see online are probably already used by someone else. Among the templates we provide to readers are:
The following categories include templates of handwritten notes for real estate, mortgage brokers, and insurance brokers.
Everyone has encountered a wall where words refuse to join to make phrases. It might be difficult to overcome writer’s block when you’re crafting a message that you want to boost traffic, leads, clients, customers, conversions, and sales, or whatever the campaign’s objectives may be.
7. Advice: Customize Your Message
Personalization in marketing refers to creating and developing in ways that align with consumer preferences. According to a 2022 review article published in the scholarly journal Psychology & Marketing, “content and goods tailored according to consumer preferences might minimize customer weariness and delay in selecting selections, hence lessening their cognitive load.”
A unique message is simpler for the client to read and comprehend.
The name of the message recipient “raised the chance of the receiver opening it by 20% (from 9.05% to 10.80%), which led to an increase in sales leads by 31% (from 0.39% to 0.51%),” according to a 2018 article published in the journal Marketing Science. Just adding the recipient’s name completes the task. The message may also be customized by adding the place and season.
