Do You Hand Address Your Envelopes?
21st November 2009
Speak to many marketers about the strategies for success when compiling a mail shot campaign to small businesses and they’ll probably tell you to address each envelope in your own fair hand and use a stamp instead of franking machine in order to increase response rates.
Well I’m here to argue that this idea is a load of old tosh!
Hand Addressing Your Envelopes
The Argument For
However in case you’ve not come across this concept before, here’s the argument for it:
- Addressing envelopes by hand to the recipients in your mailing list, is deemed to present a more personal approach to them and as such, is more likely to result in an opened letter. Using a typed address label is likely to give the impression that the letter is impersonal and forms part of a mass mail out.
- Similarly, the use of a postage stamp instead of an office franking machine mark or SmartStamp® label, makes the recipient feel the letter is unique to them and is not part of a bulk mailing campaign. Again, the technique is said to result in an increased probability that the letter will get opened upon receipt.
The Argument Against
Having previously used this technique in my own business I can’t say that I’ve ever noticed any greater degree of success when it comes to mail-shot response rates over the accepted technique of mail-merging address labels followed by a whizz of each neatly addressed envelope, through a franking machine.
Instead what I did discover was the inconvenience of having to queue alongside the local pensioners, petty cash in hand, down at my local Post Office, in order to buy stamps. Having driven back to the office, I succumbed to writer’s cramp as I began to hand address each envelope and was left with a sticky fingers as I applied a couple of hundred stamps to a couple of hundred envelopes.
Practical disadvantages aside, can it be said that this “hand addressing” technique actually gives an improved response rate to any mail shot campaign?
I’ve stated above that my own personal experience tells me “no it doesn’t”. As someone who has been on the receiving end of such formatted mail shots, I accept that a hand addressed envelope will result in me opening the letter (after all it may be a cheque)! But to be honest, all mail sent to my company get’s opened anyway.
It’s stopping me chucking it in the bin once opened, that’s the difficult part from the senders’ standpoint.
Uphill Struggle
However, I can categorically say that if someone I’ve never heard of, sends me a hand addressed envelope with a stamp on it with the intention of influencing my opinion or buying habits then they have an uphill struggle on their hands, with the technique increasing the chances of the mail out ending up in the recycling bin!
Here’s why.
- To me a hand addressed envelope says “I don’t know how to use mail-merge”. A sender credibility issue.
- It gives the impression they can’t be bothered to print a label off.
- It looks unprofessional and indicates to me they are not really a serious business.
- The sender doesn’t know how to position an address on the typed letter inside and as such, isn’t able to use a window envelope. Again a credibility issue.
- If the sender is unknown to me a hand addressed envelope is being overlay familiar in my book. A manners issue.
So if someone sends me a neatly typed and labeled envelope with either a franking mark or SmartStamp print in a good quality envelope, to my place of business. Then I perceive that person to be ready to to do business. That’s the impression I get and I haven’t even opened and read the letter yet.
Forget all this handwritten envelope tosh! Handwritten envelopes are for Christmas and Birthday Cards not business. Unless they contain a cheque that is!
What’s your experience? Is this a technique one you use with good results in your own business? Or do you agree with me?
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Tags: Sales and Marketing
