Pelican Hill’s clever, personal touch to mass emails.

Next to my desk I have a stack of postcards and postcard stamps.

When someone does something nice for me like pitch in on a research project or write a guest post with nothing in return, I’ll take a minute to send a personal thank you. Like most things done on such a personal level, the effects of such notes far exceed the time I put into them.

But this post, unlike those cards, is not addressed just to Soandso from Pebble Beach or Whatshisface from Pinehurst. Instead, it’s addressed to everyone.

An Unnecessary Concession
It’s the same with email. Every email marketing message is, by its very nature, impersonal. But I think we sometimes concede that point entirely – removing any semblance of personality – when that doesn’t have to be the case.

Take this email from Pelican Hill for example:

Note three things as you glance back over this intro image and paragraph:

1. The Voice: it’s written like a personal card.
2. The Length: it’s reads like a note, not a novel.
3. The Name: it’s ends with the author’s signature.

So while this email may have been sent to 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, or even a million people, it carries a hint of the personal value attached to those notes sitting on my desk.

Simple Lesson
I think the lesson here is clear but I’ll reiterate it to be sure of it.

A simple idea, but one that I’ve seen yield powerful results in my experience.