It came through the post
We hear - and see - so many ads on social media that unless they are really engaging, well, we ignore them, don't we? There is so much trying to grab our attention that it can all get bewildering - and we turn off.
So all that effort spent on design, and writing, and researching the social media market comes to not very much. Which can be frustrating for everyone who has put together the advert for that critical campaign. They sweated blood, worked into the night, and didn’t see their children for weeks.
Well, maybe it wasn't that bad, but there would have been loads of effort and creative thought that went in.
I know how creative staff live their projects. So inventive and passionate about their work.
So I thought about them when I had a surprise through my letterbox.
A postcard.
We probably all get them from time to time, possibly from friends and family who refuse to use social media. No, really, they do exist. My family send me holiday postcards, always have.
But this one was different. It wasn't from a friend or relative. It was from a business contact who I had met for the first time a few days before. She told me about her business of coaching business owners and that she was going to write a book. I told her I was a copywriter and she laughed and said I could help her with her book.
We parted, and I didn't think much more about it, I had met several new contacts and was planning my strategy for connecting via LinkedIn and Facebook.
Then yesterday I bumped into her again, another interesting conversation and I was invited to an early morning business networking meeting. (It’s tomorrow at 6.45. I'm not a morning person, oh well).
So, on arriving home, there was the postcard on my doormat. It was from Anu Khanna, and it was brilliant. A short message saying it was a pleasure to meet me and hoped to meet again in the future. And a reminder about the book. It was hand-written and personal. And it got my attention because it was different and had clearly been thought about.
So next time I try to get someone's attention I might think that the old-fashioned way - post and stamp and handwriting - might just make the difference as to whether or not my contact will remember me.
After all, it could make the difference between getting a loyal life-long client or not.
Postcards, perhaps they’re the future.
Anu Khanna is a business coach for Action Coach (Other Action Coaches are available)
