When considering e-commerce businesses, handwritten cards aren’t the first thing you think of — and probably not the second, third, or fourth either. Handwritten cards seem to many a quaint relic from the past — the method we used to communicate before the internet killed them off. 

 And yet, the internet is creating a handwritten card revolution, single-handedly bringing back the art form and elevating it to new heights. With Simply Noted, businesses can send handwritten cards automatically in the same way they might send an email or a text message. Our handwriting machines use real ballpoint pens and sophisticated font technology to produce handwritten cards indistinguishable from the real thing. 

 Handwritten notes are making a resurgence because of the internet, so it only fits that e-commerce businesses should embrace the technology. It allows them to ground their businesses, taking an ephemeral internet store and representing it with physical, handwritten cards. Each communication gives physicality to the ethereal, providing a real-world manifestation of your brand. 

 This article will address the many ways that e-commerce businesses can harness the power of handwritten notes to drive new business, stay in touch with valuable customers, and build a strong customer base.

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WELCOME NOTES THAT DRIVE NEW BUSINESS

E-commerce businesses embrace automation. It drives their customer interactions, helps increase upsells, and serves as the backbone of the industry; automation elevates sales to a science.  

 But this comes at a cost. Data collection feels cold and impersonal. It creates privacy concerns that are troubling to consumers. Customers feel helped and simultaneously violated. E-commerce businesses must work hard to maintain their customers’ trust.  

 Smart online retailers are turning to automated, handwritten notes to add warmth and physicality to their online experience. Imagine if you could have a unique, handwritten card sent whenever you add a new customer. See the surprise in their eyes as they breeze through a message that seems to have been written by hand. Suddenly your online store has a shape — a form. It’s real people helping people, creating a valuable shopping experience.  

 Simply Noted cards perfectly replicate the subtlest details of authentic handwriting to create an experience that has no rival. And they’re ready for automation, providing integrations to leading CRM and automation packages, including a custom API. 

 With automation and handwritten notes, you can provide a refined onboarding experience for new customers that makes a strong impression. Add coupons, store credit, or special offers, and you’ll have a beaming new customer that’s excited to spend money with you.

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SEND PERSONALIZED BRAND UPDATES

Businesses across a range of industries benefit from personalization. Take the online self-care industry, for example. Companies in this space frequently pull influences from the past to create online businesses that feel like charming corner stores. This aesthetic is a perfect match for handwritten cards, which telescope its retro sensibilities into the real world. Brand updates will never be the same. 

 Imagine announcing a new product line or a breakthrough feature with a personalized, handwritten card. You would violate your customer’s expectations in the most wonderful way, creating a lasting impression. Running a special year-end sale? Send a handwritten marketing blitz along with your online announcement. Using Simply Noted’s integrations, you could have individualized cards sent to everyone on your mailing list. We can handle orders in the tens of thousands and more. There are no limits on what you can do with handwritten cards.

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MAKE BIRTHDAY OFFERS SPECIAL WITH HANDWRITTEN NOTES

Most online businesses collect their customers’ birthdays to surprise them later with a well-times birthday email. Married with personalized special offers, these messages convert customers’ birthdays into sales opportunities. 

 But a birthday email rings hollow. It has no substance, and the customer knows that it takes no time to create. It’s just a bunch of pixels pushed through the internet, each person getting the same message every time. Your customers may never open your message when it arrives through email. It will be indistinguishable from the hundreds of sales emails they get each day. With that kind of competition, your birthday message can’t land, causing your sales opportunity to fall flat. 

 Automated, real handwritten cards are the better option. Instead of a cold, generic birthday email, imagine sending out a tangible birthday card with your birthday message and sales offer penned inside. You want to stand out? That will do it. Your birthday message would likely be the only one your audience sees. The rest would melt their inbox’s background noise.

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STAYING IN CONTACT MORE EFFECTIVELY

Yes, sending out email is cheap — nearly free. But it’s also often ineffective. Unless your customers are singularly devoted to your brand, your email efforts are likely falling on deaf ears. It’s a case of “you get what you pay for,” and if no one’s seeing your messages, are you really staying in communication with your customers? 

 Contrast this against quarterly or monthly handwritten cards. Your message would be the only handwritten envelope in your customers’ mailbox instead of one of 150 faceless emails filling up their inbox. When you want to connect with your customers and build a meaningful relationship, you need to do it in a way that the message conveys.  

 Real handwritten cards, automated through advanced technology, are authentic and emotionally appealing in a way that’s impossible to recreate with an email. They help keep your brand top-of-mind with your customers while simultaneously building a relationship that stands rigid against assaults from your competition. 

 How do handwritten cards build a wall against your competitors? Because you can’t break a bond forged with handwriting by lobbing email grenades. The first feels like a personal connection between the customer and their brand. The emails feel like junk mail. 

 If you own or work for an e-commerce business, give Simply Noted a call to learn more about what our unique handwritten marketing service can do for your company.

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