On today’s episode, Kunle interviews David Wachs, CEO of Handwrytten, a Phoenix-based automated handwritten notes company. He started the company in 2014 on the back of a successful career in digital marketing.

David shares how wanting to build better customer experiences inspired him to transition from electronic media to handwritten notes . He shares real-world use cases of how handwritten notes can lead to ROIs of over 300% for Ecommerce and DTC businesses.

In our post-pandemic world, where more and more businesses are going online, using handwritten notes can prove to be a powerful weapon in your branding arsenal. In today’s episode, you will learn how to leverage handwritten notes for providing an unparalleled level of personalisation and boosting your ROI.

The conversation circles around the “Why” and “How” of handwritten notes. You will get to hear specific examples of how companies use handwritten notes to get a leg up on their competition.

Here is a summary of some of the most important points made,

• Handwrytten is both a DTC and B2B company
• Ecommerce websites can quickly integrate Handwrytten using Zapier
• Handwritten notes drive brand reinforcement and retention better than most electronic mediums
• The open rate of a handwritten note is 3-times that of junk mail

Use cases for sending customers hand written notes:

• Winback campaigns
• Sales Letters
• Sales Event Reminder Letters
• Holiday Cards
• Birthday Cards
• Anniversary Cards
• Handwritten Postcards

Covered Topics:

On today’s interview Kunle and David discuss,

• Brand Reinforcement
• Building truly personalised experiences
• Using Handwritten Notes to drive ROI
• Specific use cases and strategies for DTC businesses

Timestamp:

• 00:02 – What to Expect from this episode
• 05:20 – The problem: Building a bond with your customer without your message getting lost in all the noise
• 06:15 – “Nothing grows unless you automate” – so David built 95 robots to write for him
• 08:10 – Here’s why David believes in handwritten notes, and why they work:
  • How much is too much communication and when do you lose track?
  • The average worker gets over 115 emails everyday and spends 20% of their time dealing with them
  • Most adults get over 4000 text messages every month
  • Too many messages are “lost in the shuffle”
• 10:03 – Services offered by Handwrytten:
  • Hand written notes
  • Gift cards / Greeting cards
  • Magnets / Stickers
  • Launching soon: books and other non-perishable items
• 11:36 – Why customers hold onto your handwritten note (sometimes for upto a year!)
• 12:03 – How it works:
  • Majority of the company’s business is B2B via integrations
  • Ecommerce and DTC businesses can integrate quickly using Zapier and APIs
  • You can also simply log into their website and upload a spreadsheet
• 15:00 – Use handwritten notes to nip bad reviews in the bud
• 18:18 – “The gift of attention is soo rare these days”
  20:25 – Recommended cycles to send out handwritten notes as per use case
• 22:03 – Turnaround time on orders:
  • Note is mailed out within 1 business day of order + 4-6 days for delivery
• 25:50 – How to use Handwrytten as a non-B2B customer
• 29:40 – Ideas and strategies to get a leg up on the competition using handwritten notes
• 30:22 – Your campaign isn’t truly “Omnichannel” without this
• 33:00 – Effectively segmenting customers and getting started with handwritten notes
• 35:00 – How to use physical notes to go viral on social media
• 41:00 – Why online brands are better placed to create personalized experiences than traditional “In-face” brands:
  • Online businesses can make data work to their advantage
  • In-store staff are supposed to build a personal connect, but do they really have the time?
• 43:00 – Choosing your writing style on Handwrytten:
  • They have 21 styles that cover most bases
  • You can also create a custom template of your own handwriting for a one-time fee of $1,000
• 48:00 – Special offer for 2x listeners

Takeaways:

• It is easy for your messages to get lost in the overload of electronic messages
• A handwritten note makes you and your message more memorable
• Handwritten notes cost more than other mediums but offer higher open-rates and ROI
• Handwritten notes can be easily integrated and automated to be sent as per your criteria
• Handwritten notes can take your brand reinforcement to the next level

Tweetable Quotes:

“The gift of attention is soo rare these days”

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SPONSORS:

This episode is brought to you by: