The power of gratitude-based marketing for your brand

Two tiny words mean the world to customers:

thank you.

When it comes to building customer loyalty, gratitude is the holy grail.

Have you ever received a personalised thank you from a business? If so, how did it make you feel?

Offering that personal touch to our customers after a purchase may seem like a small gesture, but it can go a long way in boosting our relationship with our customers, making them feel appreciated and valued.

In today’s digital age, customers are overwhelmed. Their brains process, on average, a staggering 34gb of online information a day. Our human relationships have become online and digitised- chatbots and ai have overtaken real-time, face to face interactions.

Out of all the ways you can say thank you, offline approaches are becoming increasingly more powerful as a way to surprise and delight your customer - after all it’s easy to insert <name> into a thank you email on Mailchimp, isn’t it?

“Thank you notes are effective because they’re a bit of a lost art. Think about the last time you actually sent a handwritten letter, instead of quickly firing off an email or a Facebook message. Those mediums allow for incredible efficiency, but a handwritten card goes beyond the ephemeral nature of our digital inboxes and creates something tangible and meaningful” - Shopify

Why are thank you letters so effective at building customer relationships?

They’re different:

By doing something that most of your competitors wouldn’t have the inclination or the time for, you’re standing out from your competition. To take a step that to some may seem old-fashioned, you’re adding a thoughtful touch to any customer that purchases from you.

Everybody likes feeling appreciated:

Handwritten notes are the ultimate way to build customer loyalty, and even brand champions.  Your customer is spending valuable time and money interacting with your brand, so by showing your appreciation you’re far more likely to boost their loyalty to you, and continue shopping with you.

Can help boost engagement:

Writing handwritten notes to customers can only serve to strengthen the relationship you have with them. You need to ‘surprise and delight’ in order to boost engagement, and that’s why taking the time out to write a personal thank you note will impress your customer. You’re not just a number to them; you’re a human who you’re interested in building a relationship with.

Aim for hearts, not wallets:

In a recent Forbes article, they note that:

The emotional response that is most likely to drive loyal behavior, according to Boncheck, is gratitude.

It’s really a no-brainer that gratitude increases loyalty.

When your partner thanks you for taking the bins out, it feels good, doesn’t it? That’s the power of appreciation, and it’s no different when building a relationship with our customers.

Thank you notes are likely to be re-shared online:

A handwritten note, if done well, looks cute, and is a true rarity in today’s age. That kind of personal touch will not only get talked about, it’s more likely to get shared on social media - further leading to more valuable and positive exposure for your business.

Rectifies poor experience:

Writing a thank you note to your customers strengthens the emotional bond you have with them. At present, they’re probably just indifferent to your brand, and those lukewarm to disengaged customers will be easily won back just through showing you care.

Drives profits

This kind of ‘gratitude-based marketing’ is not just a passing fad. According to the Pareto principle, 20% of your customers drive 80% of your profits, so it makes sense to focus on cultivating that relationship with them will drive profits. Why? Generosity pays off. Not only will it make those important 20% more likely to buy from you, it will increase sales of referrals from these people, too.

Gives a memorable finish to an interaction:

Hex, a fashion tech accessory brand, made it’s name on Instagram after sending 13,000 personalised handwritten notes to customers thanking them for the purchase. Your customer has been with you along the sales funnel - from seeing an ad about your product, right through to purchase, so this approach really sweetens their overall shopping experience with you.

More human, and thoughtful:

Above all, in today’s digitised world, writing thank you notes to your audience shows that you’re making the effort. In an age where it’s so easy to fire off an automated thank you email, a written note is a gesture that feels human, authentic, and real.

Driving customer loyalty by writing handwritten thank you notes (or these cool letters from Pensaki) could be one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies in today’s digital world.

After all, you can’t buy loyalty - you have to earn it.