March 2021 -

4 ways to get referrals from handwritten letters

Posted on March 20, 2021October 10, 2024 by Ilan Mann

The folks who say “the best things in life are free” have never been to Disneyland. But, they’re on to something when it comes to business. Entrepreneurs love nothing more than free advertising. No advertising works like a referral. Social Media Today drops some key stats that reveal why. 60% of marketers say that referral programs generate a high volume of leads. 54% say that referrals have a lower cost per lead than other methods. And marketers rate referrals as the second-highest quality source of leads.

When it comes to lead generation, the best things in life really are free. That’s the great thing about referral marketing. All it costs is being great at what you do and a great person to work with.

There’s nothing not to love about referrals. The question is: How do we get more of them? Simple: being top-of-mind at all times for your past and loyal customers. That way, when their friends and family ask for a recommendation—say, needing a realtor for a first-time home buy—you’re the first person in your industry that comes to mind.

But how do you stay top-of-mind in a meaningful way? By creating meaningful connections and relationships with customers. The kind that transcends the transaction and becomes authentic and human. No method of communication creates a bond like handwritten letters. Handwritten letters help produce grateful, happy customers—the ones who recommend to others. How? Consider these four ways handwritten notes can boost your referral marketing.

1. Send an anniversary letter.

Let’s say you’re a realtor who helped a young couple buy their first home. That’s a huge step for any couple and one that is rich soil for a lasting, loyal customer relationship. Keep track of your sales and send a handwritten letter on the first anniversary of the buy. Imagine getting a home ownership “anniversary” letter: a reminder of this important milestone. Use the letter to reiterate how grateful you were to help and your best wishes for the customers’ future. It’s a warm human touch, and it will keep you top-of-mind for those customers well after you worked with them.

2. Encourage customers to leave an online review…

The digital revolution has brought with it new methods of referral. Strong online reviews have become non-negotiable for successful businesses. Nearly all consumers—97%—use online media when researching products and services in their local area, according to a consumer tracking study by BIA/Kelsey’s. And that research has a major impact on where consumers choose to buy.

The modern customer crowdsources trust from the digital market. 82% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, according to the Local Consumer Review Survey, with the average consumer reading a whopping ten reviews before feeling able to trust a business. Your online reviews can make or break these digital-first customers. “Positive reviews make 91% of consumers more likely to use a business,” notes the Survey, “while 82% will be put off by negative reviews.”

The transition between an analog marketing experience and a digital one is seamless. To that end, a handwritten letter is a great way to request an online review from a happy customer. You could send a short note thanking them for their business, explaining the importance of their review for your success, and providing a QR code or other link to your Google Review. It’s an intentional, impactful way to inspire a customer to leave a priceless five-star review.

3. …And then thank customers for their online review.

Imagine how good a customer will feel if you send them a letter thanking them for positive reviews. Thanking someone for an online review in such a touching, personal way leaves an imprint in customers’ memories that no competitor could match. You will be the first name on their list when friends or family ask for recommendations.

4. Stay in touch for the long-term, using handwritten letters and free information.

With handwritten letters, you can find creative ways to stay in touch with customers. No hard-selling is needed. Do better: you can use these regular touchpoints to share your expertise for free. It’s counter-intuitive, but offering useful, free insights is a great way to “acquire” customers for no cost, create a sense of reciprocity while growing market share—a critical component of business success. Consider: An accounting firm might send a letter in the months leading up to tax season. The letter could share an overview of new tax changes—and a phone number if clients want to chat more.

A realtor may include a handwritten letter with a newsletter-style mailout, sharing an analysis of the real estate market. Think of it like opening the front door a bit, so customers can peek in and see everything you have to offer. There’s no better way to prove value than to share it. And expertise shared once is expertise that can be shared again. Potential customers will pass that information onto friends and family or will refer them to you. And in the case of past customers, they will be reminded repeatedly of the value you offer.

All four of these are critical ways of staying top-of-mind. And a top-of-mind business is one that will enjoy the fruits of referrals: high-quality lead generation on the cheap. If handwritten letters sound like the right referral marketing solution for you, well then, allow us to refer you to some folks who can help with that.

Three ways to frame choices and get better answers with direct mail

Posted on March 12, 2021August 29, 2024 by Ilan Mann

Every day, people make decisions. We make those decisions of our own free will. Or do we? Consider: you walk into a grocery store to buy a carton of eggs. We want to buy one thing: that carton of eggs. But then we pick up a loaf of bread, primed by a bright yellow “For Sale” tag that tells us the loaf is a steal. Then we notice a chocolate bar at eye level and grab that too. We’re home-free to the checkout line, but then we notice a bag of chips right below the register. We buy chips too!

Yes, we are free to make our own decisions. But in making decisions, we face what behavioural psychologists call “choice architecture.” It refers to the context and conditions of a decision that shapes our choices. By shaping those choices, we influence them. So, for instance, we are more likely to buy products at eye level. We are unconsciously primed to buy a product when it seems cheaper than normal.

These and other tactical framings of choice architecture form the basis of nudge theory. It’s a popular movement of psychological insight in marketing, government, and every area of human life. It’s all based on a simple idea: How can we frame peoples’ choices to encourage better choices?

You can integrate the insights of nudge theory into your direct mail campaigns. Here are three ideas for how to be tactical about choice architecture. These ideas will help you get better results through your direct mail campaigns.

Help readers stick with the crowd

You’ve heard the adage that humans are social animals. But that’s so much more than conversation and cliques; social life requires much unspoken cultural understanding. From firm handshakes to eye contact in conversation, unspoken rules define social life. These social norms can be powerful tools: psychological cues to encourage particular behaviour.

For instance: littering. In 1990, researchers wanted to determine what social cues might encourage people to litter. Their results found that participants were more likely to litter in a space where litter was already present. They were even more likely to litter after watching someone else litter first. But they were less likely to litter when they saw neatly-swept piles of litter in the same space. These subtle cues set the norm for whether it was acceptable to litter in the area or not. People responded right on cue.

How can we use this in handwritten letters?

Use your letter to show readers how most people are behaving in a given situation. They will aim to ride with the crowd. British taxpayers late on their return received letters with social norm messaging, like “9 out of 10 people in your area are up to date with tax payments.” Recipients of these letters were 15% more likely to end up settling their debts. Find ways to establish similar social norms in your own letters. For instance, share a fact like “9 out of 10 donors donated at least $100.”

Research shows that the social norm effect becomes even more influential when visualized. Show the people setting the norm. Britain’s Behavioural Insights Team once worked with a client to encourage greater employee charitable giving. All employees received a card from an existing donor to the charity, explaining why they give and why employees should donate. A control group received the same card but with a picture of the donor. This control group gave at much higher rates than the non-control group. For example, why not throw in a picture of yourself if you’re a realtor mailing potential clients?

Anchor readers’ choices to encourage the best option

Let’s say you walk into a high-end clothing retailer. You see a t-shirt priced at $1000. “That’s ridiculous,” you think. But a step later, you see another t-shirt “on sale” for $200. Still a ridiculous price for a shirt? Yes. But you’re now primed to see that $200 t-shirt as a bargain because the first shirt you saw set your expectations. Psychologists call this the anchoring effect. The first information received about a particular subject will distort our thinking.

This effect is so powerful, it can undermine our objectivity. And it can manifest in ridiculous ways. One study showed participants the last two digits of their social security number and then asked them if they would pay the same amount as those digits for a series of products. There is no connection between the two. The price of a chocolate bar shouldn’t be set to $21 if the last two digits of your social security number are 21. Yet, the study found that those with higher digits priced the same items at higher amounts. That’s how powerful this effect can be.

How can we use this in handwritten letters?

Here’s one way we can put the anchoring effect to good use in fundraising letters. Let’s say you are mailing donors on behalf of a food bank. Open the letter with the number you’re hoping these recipients will gift. Even the presence of the number will prime readers to give that amount. For instance, you could write: “It costs our food bank $100 to feed one client for a week.” Then, later in the letter, ask for $100. The anchoring effect will go to work in priming potential donors to give your preferred amount.

Don’t ask readers to take action. Give them a plan to take action.

You’ve decided you want to lose 20 pounds. Good for you! But we’ve all seen the following happen. We commit to weight loss, cut back on meals or exercise a bit more, then fall back time and again. The ones who make it happen are always the ones who put together implementable plans. In nudge theory, this is known as implementation intentions. It’s the process of planning out specific actions in pursuit of a goal.

In the case of losing weight, that could be how often one will exercise, at what time, and how much; meal-planning in advance to improve nutrition; and more. Research suggests that implementation intentions have an enormous effect on ensuring that intended outcomes happen.

Behavioural scientists put this insight to the test during the 2008 U.S. presidential election. They studied the effects of implementation intentions by helping potential voters enunciate a specific plan for voting on Election Day: “What time they would vote, where they would be coming from, and what they would be doing beforehand.” Turnout among this control group grew by nearly 10%.

How can we use this in handwritten letters?

Let’s say you’re a realtor sending out a solicitation letter to potential clients. Put together a specific, step-by-step strategy for anyone looking to sell their home. Include a list of questions and considerations for every stage of the process. Show the potential clients what the process looks like. Provide clarity and prove how you can help. Watch as these soon-to-be customers recognize your expertise and follow your plan.

Bring back pen pals!

Posted on March 12, 2021October 10, 2024 by Ilan Mann

Imagine meeting your best friend for the first time, after sixty years.

That’s the story of Canadian Dolores Baily and Australian Lyn Carpenter. They started corresponding at age ten through a school pen pals program. They haven’t stopped writing since. They bonded over their mad love for the Beatles. They sent photos and little gifts to each other. They got through the teen years together. They celebrated marriage, had kids—writing letters to each other all the time. And in 2019, Dolores finally hopped on a flight to Sydney, Australia, to meet Lyn for the first time.

“She’s the friend I’ve had the longest,” as Carpenter put it. All made possible by the simple joy of writing a message and mailing a letter.

Reading this story got us thinking: Whatever happened to pen pals? We recently shared how writing letters fights depression. And the reason is: When you can’t have a conversation in person, a letter feels like a conversation apart. Letters are authentic – the deepest form of human connection, next to physical interaction. A reader will feel the investment of time, energy, and emotional output that went into a letter. Letters are intimate. Letters are personal—especially in an era of impersonal, easy methods of communication. Notes feel special and make the reader feel special.

Which brings us to our question: Whatever happened to pen pal programs? We’re happy to tell you—they never went away. Pen pal programs are in schools all over the world. Some pen pals never stopped writing to each other, like Dorothy or Lyn. Or Britain’s Nona Avery and Ohio’s Alice Powers, who have written more than 1,000 letters to each other over 72 years. Their letters followed every moment of their lives—including the sad passing of their husbands. “Obviously, we were both on hand to write letters of condolence and share our grief,” says Nona.

“I know Alice’s letters will comfort me. Our correspondence shares the sadness, ¬the happiness and everything in between.”

PBS Kids makes a strong case for the benefits of pen pal programs for young people.

Writing letters grow literacy skills. Communicating via letter is a great way for kids to practice writing skills. Not just the technicalities of writing, like grammar and structure, but also communicating effectively and compellingly with a real person.
Writing letters teaches kids patience. We live in the era of instantaneous gratification—the funny YouTube video, the video game, or the text message to your best friend, are always a click away. Part of the joy of letters is their infrequency. Once a kid sends a letter, they have to wait to receive a reply. The reply won’t come five minutes later, with a notification on their phone. In a time when good things happen faster, learning patience young is critical.
A pen pal is a great way to teach kids about other cultures. Many kids were and are fortunate to have pen pals in different countries. What an incomparable opportunity to explore other languages, other cultures—all the insights gathered from genuine friendship with those different from us. That’s a special experience for any young person, made possible by having a pen pal.

And pen pals aren’t something only kids enjoy. Adults like Dorothy, Lyn, None, and Alice want them too. The pen pals subreddit has 134,000 members as of this writing. We’re happy to say there are many websites, apps, and platforms where prospective pen pals pair up.

So, what happened to pen pals? That’s up to you. This is a time where we could all use a little more connection in our lives. Try doing it the old-fashioned way, made new again. Sit down and write a letter to a stranger. Watch how quickly a stranger can become a lifelong friend.