Checking the mail is a task more than 40 percent of Americans look forward to each day. There’s a chance of something special arriving just for them, after all!

Much of what they’ll find among all theprinted materials is some form of direct mail marketing. It’s still an effective tool to gain and retain customers. Personalization and a human touch improve its power, which is why many marketers turn to handwritten messages as part of their marketing strategies.

Handwriting has become less common in this age of computers and smartphones, which is part of its appeal. Let’s look at a few ways it can improve the success of your next direct mail campaign.

 

Stand Out

More than half of the mail delivered to American households is marketing mail. Little of the rest is deeply personal, which makes it possible to stand out in each delivery when you use handwritten text.

Even if it’s just the address on an envelope, handwritten marketing improves the odds of your piece being opened and read since it looks like “real” mail. If your target market is business executives, the handwriting makes it look like personal correspondence, which makes it more likely to get past a gatekeeper and to the intended recipient.

 

Build Relationships

While you might think the younger generations are only reachable by digital means, surveys show that isn’t the case. They receive very little personal mail so when they do, it makes them feel special.

Using handwriting as part of the design increases the personal feel and forges a positive connection with your brand. It makes them feel that the relationship is more than just business and doesn’t feel so much like marketing. Handwritten envelopes that don’t look like they were done by machine create the impression of human interaction much more than a typed version.

 

Get Responses

While engendering good feelings is helpful, the main goal of any direct mail piece is to get people to act. In general, direct mail enjoys high open rates, but handwriting can give you a boost to where almost everyone opens your piece.

The open rate is just one piece of the puzzle, however. Direct mail in general benefits from the decrease in personal mail, which allows it to deliver much higher response rates than other marketing options. The response rate is more than double that of email and social media and far easier to personalize.

 

Make Handwritten Printed Materials a Part of Your Strategy

In a digital era, direct mail can prove to be an effective marketing tactic for any small business. Printed materials like personalized postcards offer the opportunity to introduce the human element through handwriting fonts. They make your customer feel special, improve your open rate, and help you stand out in a crowded mailbox.

Interested in adding handwritten printed materials to your marketing mix? Get a custom quote for your project or contact us to learn more about our services.