How to Scale and Personalize Human-to-Human Engagement

In the eons that came before the internet, telephone, and even written language, if we wanted a bit of human-to-human engagement we sought out our target and had a face-to-face conversation. The process was simple, effective, and even scalable — sort of.

Because one could simply talk to more people at once if they had a message to share with a group. But as that group got larger, organizing the conversation became progressively more difficult. Even today, that proves a challenge. We have digital technologies that allow us to connect face-to-face with groups of people regardless of distance. But anyone that's ever tried to organize a Zoom meeting with more than ten people can attest to the challenges involved in large groups.

Other digital technologies like email and text messages solve the problem of scaling but lose the personal touch you find with face-to-face conversations. It's a trivial matter to send tens of thousands of emails at once, but each one is indistinguishable from the rest, and none of them feel warm or inviting.

On the flipside, handwritten notes have style, warmth, and personality to burn, but until recently scaling them to any more than a handful of people was an arduous task. Each one had to be written by hand. If you made a mistake you had to live with it or start over; neither one is a good option.

So how do you scale human-to-human interactions to any volume without sacrificing critical personalization? You switch your communications to handwritten notes and you automate the entire process.

Close up on a Simply Noted handwriting machine.

How Do Automated Handwritten Notes Work?

To understand how automated handwritten direct mail works, consider a standard email campaign. Marketers use their customer relationship management (CRM) package along with marketing automation software to segment complex audiences and generate workflows that automatically target specific groups of prospects and customers with emails customized to their target and purpose.

Now imagine that you could link your marketing automation software to a company that uses a fleet of advanced handwriting robots to create convincing handwritten notes in any volume without the need for human intervention. You could send the same sorts of targeted, hyper-personalized messages you might with email, but in an accessible handwritten format.

Automated handwritten notes bridge the gap between personalized and scalable communications. They're easy to create, personalize, and send, just like an email, but they create an emotional connection with your prospect and customers like only a handwritten letter can do. With automated handwritten direct mail, you get the best of both worlds, and you don't have to pay through the nose for it. How much better does it get than that?

How Realistic Are Automated Handwritten Notes?

This question tends to be a sticking point for some people. That's because previous attempts at automated handwritten mail were no more than handwriting fonts rendered with laser printers. There was no variability between letter sizes and shapes and no telltale indentation in the paper to let you know a pen was pushed down into its surface.

In short, it was trivial for anyone reading these notes to recognize that they weren't actually rendered by hand. But that changed with Simply Noted.

We've built a fleet of the most advanced handwriting machines on the planet. Not only do they hold real ballpoint pens, but our robots' stylus arms are also driven by proprietary, AI-powered smart fonts that recreate the subtle variations found in real handwriting. The advanced handwriting fonts don't look like fonts because letter sizes, shapes, and spacing all change dynamically as your notes are written.

Consider that when you write something, you can't get every letter "E" to look identical. The analog nature of handwriting ensures that no one document looks exactly alike. Our "Infinity" fonts recreate this analog variability in a digital form. Once rendered, our handwritten notes are indistinguishable from the real thing.

This realism allows you to realize the full benefit of automated handwritten communications — people read handwritten cards, but only if they think they're truly handwritten.

A large stack of different handwritten notes.

Does Handwritten Personalization Mean the Text in Every Note Can Be Different?

Automated handwritten personalization wouldn't be of much use if you couldn't alter the text within each message. Simply Noted accomplishes this with custom fields. These are simple variables that have a specific text string substituted for them each time a new card is written.

You might create a custom field called "Name" and then tie that variable to a column of names within a spreadsheet. With each card written, our machines will select the next name on the list and use that text for the "Name" field. Alternatively, you can link these custom fields to data inside your CRM. This is the most efficient way for businesses to scale their human-to-human engagement because the fields can be populated on the fly; there's no need to compile a spreadsheet first.

With custom fields, you can design even complex personalizations, each field pulling data from its own repository. Imagine creating a handwritten customer welcome mailing where you use custom fields for the recipient's name, city, join date, and some small fact that's specific to each person. With skillful use, you can create natural-sounding handwritten notes that are perfectly tailored to the individual. It's like creating a genuine handwritten note automatically with none of the effort and all of the heart.

What Are Software Integrations and How Do They Work?

Integrations allow different pieces of software to talk to each other where they normally can't. For example, your CRM package can't normally talk to your email app. They're separate pieces of software designed by different companies. They simply don't know that the other exists.

However, if your CRM includes an integration for your email app, you can link the two and pass information back and forth. You might then create a workflow where your CRM makes note of every client email you receive in your inbox adding it to the customer's data file. Integrations make both pieces of software better by allowing them to collaborate.

Software integrations expand the utility of handwritten notes by allowing you to trigger messages based on specific events. When someone fills out a form on your website or makes a purchase, you can automatically send them a handwritten note.

You might also set up drip campaigns, which are sequences of automated handwritten notes that get sent over time. For example, you could create a campaign for new customers that sends them three handwritten notes spaced out over their first month.

Simply Noted offers powerful integrations to link your full marketing ecosystem with handwritten notes.

Salesforce

Salesforce is the world's leading CRM package, used by Fortune 500 companies and small businesses alike. It's a comprehensive system for managing your sales pipeline, but it also includes powerful marketing tools.

Our Salesforce integration links these two systems together so you can use handwritten notes to support your marketing efforts. For example, you can automatically send a handwritten thank-you note to every new customer.

Our tight integration gives you access to deep information on each account and powerful workflows. Rapidly create even complex handwritten marketing workflows that build trust with your customers.

Zapier

Zapier is a software platform that connects different apps together. Zapier "zaps" allow you to set up automated processes that would otherwise be impossible.

At Simply Noted, we support the Zapier app making it simple to connect to the 1,500+ apps that Zapier supports. Once you've connected your apps, you can set up zaps that automatically trigger handwritten notes whenever certain events occur.

With Zapier, you don't need a custom integration for every app you use; you can use Zapier as a go-between. Create links between our servers and any one of the apps Zapier supports. Zapier ensures that you can create any workflow you can imagine.

You can use our Zapier app to send handwritten notes in response to:

New form submissions
New CRM entries
New e-commerce orders
New support tickets
New app users
and more…

With Zapier, the options for automated handwritten notes are nearly limitless. You can use Zapier to connect Simply Noted to the apps you use every day and make sure your customers always feel valued and appreciated.

Shopify

Handwritten notes are immensely useful for e-commerce businesses. They help to humanize what is otherwise a very antiseptic shopping experience. With our Shopify integration, you can automatically send handwritten notes to your customers at key points in their customer journey.

For example, you can set up a workflow that sends a handwritten "thank you" note to every new customer. You can also use Shopify webhooks to trigger handwritten notes based on specific events, such as when a customer makes a purchase or abandons their shopping cart.

With Shopify, it's easy to add a personal touch that will make your customers feel valued. Simply Noted makes it easy to automate your handwritten note campaign so you can focus on running your business.

MAILCHIMP

Mailchimp is the world's leading email marketing service. Over 15 million people and businesses use Mailchimp to send billions of emails every day.

With our Mailchimp integration, you can automatically trigger handwritten notes whenever someone subscribes to your mailing list or makes a purchase. You can also segment your list and send different handwritten notes to different groups of people.

For example, you could send a "thank you" note to all new subscribers and a " congrats on your purchase" note to all customers. With our Mailchimp integration, it's easy to add a personal touch to your marketing campaigns.

Zoho

Zoho is a comprehensive suite of business productivity apps. It includes everything from a CRM to an accounting package. Zoho also has a powerful marketing module that you can use to reach your customers.

Zoho's marketing module includes a feature called Zoho Campaigns. With Zoho Campaigns, you can send automated handwritten notes to your customers. This is a great way to scale and personalize your human-to-human engagement.

When you use our Zoho integration to send automated handwritten notes, you can choose from a variety of templates. You can also customize the message to include the customer's name and other information. This makes the note feel more personal and less like a form letter.

Zoho Campaigns makes it easy to send automated handwritten notes to your entire customer base. But you can also use it to target specific segments of your list. For example, you can create a segment for customers who have made a purchase in the last 30 days. Then, you can send them a handwritten note thanking them for their business.

With Zoho and Simply Noted, you can easily scale and personalize your human-to-human engagement. This is a great way to build better relationships with your customers.

The Benefits of Automated Handwritten Notes

There are several key benefits of using automated handwritten notes over other mediums like email or even phone calls. First, people actually open and read them. Studies show that average email campaigns realize a 21% open rate. That's not bad, but it means that 80% of the emails you send are never opened. By comparison, handwritten notes enjoy a phenomenal 99% open rate. That's five times better than email and almost a perfect score.

Second, handwritten notes are more personal. They're not just a communication medium; they're also a physical object that someone has to hold in their hands. That tangibility makes them feel more personal, and as a result, they're more likely to be read and remembered.

Third, automated handwritten notes are scalable. You can send as many or as few as you want without having to worry about the cost or logistics of handwriting each one by hand. They're also incredibly fast; you can target and segment your audience, write personalized messages, and have them in the mail within days.

Finally, automated handwritten notes are just plain cool. They're unexpected, which makes them all the more attention-grabbing. If you want to stand out from the crowd and make a lasting impression, there's no better way to do it than with an automated handwritten note.

If you're looking for a way to scale and personalize your human-to-human interactions, look no further than automated handwritten notes. They're fast, they're scalable, they're personal, and they're attention-grabbing. What more could you ask for?