You know that saying: “It’s the thought that counts”? Well… not in marketing.
Someone sent me a note the other day – and while the intention was right (a personal, local outreach asking if someone wants to sell or rent their home), the execution was, frankly, an eyesore. Picture this:
- 😬 Weird, robotic font spacing
- 🧻 Centralised text that screamed “junk mail”
- 🔍 Unclear message (Are you buying? Renting? Just lonely?)
- 🕵️ A whiff of scamminess, however unintended
Let’s be real – it looked like something generated by a free template in Microsoft Word, printed in haste, and delivered by hope alone.
The kicker? The sender said they were getting “OK” results.
OK?! That’s like saying you’re eating well but surviving on instant noodles.
The Problem Isn’t the What. It’s the How.
Handwritten marketing absolutely can work – I’ve spent years testing campaigns, layouts, fonts, pitches, and delivery methods to death. I’ve tested headed paper vs. plain, scripts vs. scrawls, centre-aligned vs. human-left-ragged. And let me tell you: style, tone, and delivery make or break a campaign.
The message you send – and how you send it – matters more than ever in an era of hyper-automation.
Take that yellow note. The concept wasn’t bad. But it looked deceptive, felt insincere, and shouted “ignore me.” People are suspicious of anything that even vaguely smells of a con. That means your note needs to look genuine, human, local… real.
Case in Point: What Actually Works
At Pen Written Post, we’ve made it our mission to rescue the UK from tragic handwritten campaigns 😂. Because when done right, this medium flies.
Results from our estate agent clients?
✅ 5–10% response rates
✅ £500k+ off-market properties landed
✅ Genuine human conversations sparked
And none of it looks like a bot vomited onto a banana peel.
Instead, we use notes that feel neighbourly, look authentically penned, and say just enough to be intriguing without tipping into “sales mode.” Think: warmth, clarity, curiosity.
Delivery Is Half the Battle
Oh and don’t even get me started on Royal Mail. If you’re sliding your masterpiece in with Domino’s menus and sofa clearance flyers, you’ve already lost.
We recommend hiring local teens through Facebook groups – it’s cheaper, more reliable, and more connected to the community. Plus if they are instructed to have either a GPS or cheap body cam and you say you will pay on successful delivery and checking the footage/ route. You know that your marketing notes will not end up in a bin / hedge/ garden/ lake etc.
Don’t DIY the Details
So here’s the offer: if you’re currently running a handwritten campaign (or have in the past), send me a photo of your actual note. I’ll give it a constructive, professional, and brutally honest critique. If it’s good, I’ll say so. If it’s fixable, I’ll tell you how. And if we can do better, we’ll show you what works – transparently.
No fluff. Just real marketing that gets real results.
We usually suggest at least 5000 notes for a campaign to get proper traction. The lower the number, the harder it is to spot trends – and the easier it is to chalk up bad design to bad luck.
But if your notes look like the one I saw, trust me, it’s not luck. It’s layout.
Bottom Line?
📌 Handwritten marketing isn’t dead. It’s restoring an effective nostalgic retro champion in a digitally fatigued world
📌 But ‘bad’ handwritten marketing should be.
Let’s raise the bar, raise the responses, and get real letters into real hands – ones that start conversations instead of landing straight in the recycling bin.
👉 Ready to see what good looks like? Ask me, I will share.
Let’s make your pitch personal – and powerful.
Daniella Paolozzi – Founder of Pen Written Post
daniella@penwrittenpost.co.uk
