Handwritten notes as a strategy

In a world of spam emails, handwritten notes cut through. Why is that? It’s not because a handwritten note says more, is more ecologically friendly, or even easier to read. They cut through because someone took a moment out of their day to write something for us. We love feeling like someone sees us and cares about us.

I remember when my dad first showed me what email was. I must have been five years old. “How long does it take to get there?” I asked. “About 30 seconds” he said. In 1999, email was fun. Getting one meant someone cool wanted to send you a message. Now, when you get an email, it’s almost always anything but fun and cool.

Right now, AI is fun and cool. Seeing a cartoon of yourself, or getting your emails written for you is exciting. No doubt, AI will change the world more than email did. But with all this AI content, I wonder if the handmade stuff will cut through. Will brands use human-made content as a strategy? Will in-person meetings become more powerful?

I suppose we’ll find out.