When was the last time you felt fully thanked after making a purchase? Was it enough that the vendor you bought from sent you an electronic “thanks” message? What would the effect have been had you received an actual, human-written thank you note?
My guest, David Wachs, CEO of Handwrytten, a Pheonix, Arizona-based company, is of the view that there’s a lot of unlocked value in sending old-fashioned, written-notes to consumers. While the “handwritten” notes his company creates are actually written by robots (he’s got 200 of them churning out about 20,000 “handwritten” messages each day), they all pass the infamous “smudge test” used to discern fake handwriting from real handwriting and are otherwise indistinguishable from genuine human-written messages (his robots actually use ballpoint pens for maximum apparent authenticity).
I wanted to touch base with David to better understand the power of handwritten notes and get his insights into marketing in general. We touch upon a number of interesting topics, including:
- The appeal of handwritten notes in a digital age, given their uniqueness and sensory appeal.
- The value of showing appreciation to clients and donors, using handwritten notes or other personalized gestures to express gratitude.
- The effectiveness of handwritten notes in direct mail marketing.
- The importance of segmentation in premium direct mail campaigns.
- Why ROI-oriented discussions are misguided when it comes to thank-yous and gratitude.
- Non-obvious categories where handwritten notes can be effective, such as politics and end-of-life pet care.
- How handwritten notes can create durable impressions in various industries.
- How Handwrytten is an “API-first” company moving towards completely API-driven production, allowing for one-off custom cards with real-time updates.
- The use of QR codes in direct mail marketing
- How Handwrytten is incorporating AI into its production process to improve efficiencies and enable hyper-personalization.
