Inboxes are inundated, and many people are overwhelmed by the notifications on their devices. Want to reach your audience? Try using handwritten notes instead. In a world where communication is largely done on a screen, it might be difficult to gauge whether a tried-and-true business standby—handwritten notes—actually works. For years, Ben Graham, leader of the Graham Group Real Estate at Infinity & Associates Real Estate in Chandler, Ariz., sent old-school direct mail and letters to potential clients with standard No. 10 envelopes. He says it was likely rare that anyone opened those mailers, as he didn’t get much feedback.
A few years ago, however, he came to the realization that handwritten notes—rather than printed mailers and marketing materials—work. He now averages three cards per day but uses a handwriting service to save time and effort in his busy life as a real estate professional.
He’d had a client interested in buying an empty lot that bordered their property, but the client couldn’t figure out how to contact the owner of the lot. Graham did some digging and found contact information for the owner, and he decided to send an unassuming, handwritten letter.
The handwritten card explained to the owner that Graham had a buyer interested in the land. The owner did open the note, and though it took a while, the deal went through.
The reality is that as a society, we’re overwhelmed by electronic communication, to the point where we tend to ignore it all together.
Research from Mailchimp, a well-known email marketing platform shows that only 20% of all emails sent are opened. Handwritten notes, however, are nearly always opened because they’ve become such a novelty. The 2020 Household Diary study produced by the Postal Regulatory Commission estimates that households receive an average of 21 pieces of handwritten mail per year.
In short, if you’re looking for a fresh marketing effort because others are falling short, it might be time to pull out pen and paper. Though he says it’s hard to quantify whether it’s the handwritten notes that turn into referrals, Graham says he knows his efforts are appreciated.