Latest / The Copywriting Podcast with Fexingo: Sales Letters, Headlines, and Persuasive Writing / How a Handwritten P.S. Boosted Response by 38 Percent
Transcript
- Lucas: You know that moment when you open a piece of mail and there's something handwritten in the margin — not a printed signature, but an actual pen-on-paper note — and you feel like the sender actually cares? Luna: Absolutely. It breaks through the noise. Even if I know it's marketing, my brain registers it differently. Lucas: That's exactly what we're talking about today — the handwritten P.S. in a typed sales letter. It's one of those old-school direct mail techniques that sounds almost too simple to work, but the data keeps showing it does. I've got a specific case from 2024 that's really clean. Luna: Let's hear it. I love a good A/B test story. Lucas: So there's a small e-commerce brand called Thimble & Spool — they sell sewing patterns and fabric kits online, mostly to a middle-aged female audience. They sent a four-page typed sales letter promoting a new subscription box. The control was the standard letter — clean, professional, no personalization beyond the name and address. Luna: And the variant? Lucas: The variant was identical — same body copy, same layout — except in the bottom margin, the founder had handwritten a two-sentence P.S. in blue ink. It said, 'Tricia, I personally cut the first ten yards of this fabric myself. Hope you love it as much as I do. — Sarah.' That's it. No offer change. No discount. Just a handwritten note. Luna: Two sentences. What was the lift? Lucas: Thirty-eight percent. Response rate went from 2.1 percent to 2.9 percent. For a mail drop of five thousand pieces, that's an extra forty-two orders. At their average order value of sixty-seven dollars, that's roughly twenty-eight hundred dollars in incremental revenue against a cost of maybe fifty cents extra per letter for the handwriting — which was just the founder's time. Luna: That's a massive return. But the key is that the note wasn't generic — it used the recipient's name, mentioned a specific product detail, and came from a real person, not the company. Lucas: Right. And that's where the psychology gets interesting. Robert Cialdini's work on liking and reciprocity — the handwritten note signals effort, which triggers a subconscious urge to reciprocate. The reader thinks, 'She took two minutes to write this for me, the least I can do is read the letter.' But there's also something deeper, which is that handwriting is uniquely personal. No two people write exactly the same way. Luna: It's the opposite of automation. And I think that's why it works even more today — we're so inundated with mass-produced everything that a real pen stroke feels like a gift. Lucas: Exactly. And this isn't new. Claude Hopkins was doing this a century ago. In his book 'Scientific Advertising', he talks about a test where a handwritten P.S. on a form letter more than doubled the response. He said, 'A personal touch is worth a dozen arguments.' The tools change, but the principle doesn't. Luna: I want to push back a little though — if everyone starts doing it, doesn't it lose its power? Like, if every envelope I get has a handwritten note in the margin, eventually I'll just see it as a gimmick. Lucas: That's a fair concern. The effect probably does diminish with overuse. But here's the thing — most companies won't do it. It's labor-intensive. It doesn't scale. You can't automate a genuine handwritten note, not really. Even handwriting fonts don't have the same impact because they're too perfect. A real human hand has subtle pressure variations, a slightly crooked line, ink that fades—those are cues of authenticity. Luna: So the barrier to entry is also what protects its effectiveness. Not many will bother. Lucas: Exactly. And the ones who do bother are usually smaller, more authentic brands — which is exactly the kind of business that benefits from the trust a handwritten note builds. There was another test, by a B2B software company, where they sent a handwritten P.S. on a cold email — not snail mail, but a scanned image of a handwritten note embedded in the email body. That one lifted reply rates by 22 percent. Luna: Wait — a scanned handwriting image in an email? That's clever. It's not physically handwritten, but it still conveys the same perceived effort. Lucas: Right. And the key is that it's not a font. A font is recognized subconsciously as fake. But a scanned note — even if it's the same note sent to a hundred people — still feels like a real person wrote it once. Now, you have to be careful: if the handwriting looks too perfect, or if the ink color is too uniform, it can backfire. The recipient might think, 'They printed this.' So the trick is to use a real pen on real paper, scan it at high resolution, and don't clean up the imperfections. Luna: So the goal is to signal that a human was involved, not to create the perfect visual. In a weird way, the messiness is part of the proof. Lucas: Exactly. And that brings me to the P.S. itself — what should you write? The Thimble & Spool example worked because it was specific and personal. They didn't write 'I hope you enjoy our products.' They wrote about a specific action — cutting the fabric — and used the recipient's name. That's a formula: a specific detail that shows the sender knows something about the recipient or the product, plus a warm closing. Luna: And it should be handwritten, not typed. I've seen people try to just add a typed P.S. at the bottom of a letter, and it doesn't have the same effect — it's just another line of copy. Lucas: Absolutely. The typed P.S. is just part of the letter. The handwritten P.S. is a separate signal. In fact, in the Thimble & Spool test, they also tested a version where the P.S. was typed but in a different color — still no lift. It had to be handwritten. Luna: I'm convinced. So if a listener wants to try this — say they're a small business owner sending out a hundred letters — what's the practical advice? Lucas: First, keep it short. One to three sentences. You don't want to overwhelm the reader or make it look like you spent too much time — that feels forced. Second, use a contrasting ink color — blue on a black-typed letter is classic, but even red or green can work if it's consistent with your brand. Third, include the recipient's name. Fourth, mention something specific to them or the product. And fifth — this is important — actually handwrite it. Don't use a font, don't print it. Your own handwriting, even if it's messy, is better than perfect typography. Luna: And if you're sending email, scan your handwriting and embed the image. But don't overdo it — one note per campaign, not every email. Lucas: Right. And measure it. Run an A/B test with a hundred names in each cell. If you see a lift, scale it. If not, refine your note. The data should drive your copy, not the other way around. Luna: You know, I realize this ties back to something we've talked about before — the idea that small, human touches in marketing can outperform big, expensive campaigns. A handwritten P.S. costs almost nothing, but it requires genuine effort. Lucas: Exactly. And that effort is what the reader perceives. It's not about tricking them; it's about demonstrating care. And that is always going to be persuasive, as long as it's authentic. Luna: Speaking of small touches making a real difference — and I don't mean to shift gears too much, but this is something that's been on my mind. This podcast itself is a labor of love. We don't run ads, we don't have sponsors. And like a handwritten note, that's a choice we make because we want the conversation to feel genuine. Lucas: It's true. And the only reason we can keep doing that is because some listeners have chosen to support us directly. If you've ever gotten a useful tip from this show — maybe something you've actually used in your own copywriting — a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going. Luna: Yeah. It's like, if you've ever thought 'I wish more podcasts were ad-free and just focused on the craft' — this is how you make that happen. Buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's it. Lucas: And we're grateful for every single one. It's what lets us keep digging up these little experiments and sharing them with you. Luna: Alright, back to the P.S. I want to ask — what about the placement? Should the handwritten P.S. always be at the bottom, or can it go elsewhere? Lucas: Great question. In the tests I've seen, bottom margin works best — that's where readers naturally look after finishing the letter, or even before, because the eye is drawn to the anomaly. But some copywriters put it in the upper right corner, near the salutation, or even in the middle of the text as a margin note. The key is that it stands out from the body copy. It should look like an afterthought, even if it's carefully planned. Luna: An afterthought that took thought. That's a nice paradox. Lucas: Exactly. And the final thing I'll say is — don't overpromise in the P.S. It's not a place to add a new offer or a deadline. That dilutes the personal feel. Use it to reinforce the relationship, not to close the sale. The sale happens because the letter works; the P.S. works because it makes the letter feel human. Luna: So the handwritten P.S. is a trust builder, not a closer. Lucas: Exactly. And that's why it's survived for a hundred years. It's not a gimmick; it's a genuine signal of care. And as long as marketers care, it will work.