While we are all busy snapping and posting photographs on Instagram, TouchNotes is a service that allows you to send postcards from your phone using that very same photo. The service has been around since 2008, but I just learned of it through an ad on TV and then by downloading the app.
Disrupting the Postcard
For travelers, sending a postcard home often involves the difficulty of finding stamps and the time spent writing out a message. (I know, first-world problems). The ability to take that great picture from my travels to Hawaii or my local tapas bar means that I can send a physical postcard in a snap.
In a world of digital things, something physical stands out. It breaks through the clutter of your inbox, and you get to hold it in your hand. For business, marketing with a postcard or printed materials is being rediscovered by many companies.
In a client’s recent B2B marketing campaign, we combined emails and printed materials so that if our emails get caught in the spam filter, at least our physical post cards land on our audience’s desk. There might be a role in B2B marketing for something clever and different like a TouchNote.
Or maybe you want to connect with your mailing list in a fresh way by sending them a little greeting that doesn’t come in their inbox. Greeting cards may be a big opportunity for consumers, but for businesses looking for an edge, you might consider snapping around this app.
According to an interview with Forbes, the TouchNote founder said
“We’re seeing a lot of people who are coming back to physical cards from exclusively digital social media – they feel that there’s real emotional permanence in sharing a family photo, that it’s a valued way to show friends and family that you care,” said founder Raam Thakrar.”
Started in 2007, the company has sent out over ten million post cards including 2 million in the last year. The peer connection of one-to-one communication is appealing. A postcard is a different way to share a photo and a quick message with a friend or loved one. And I love their focus on doing one thing exceptionally well.
In a Guardian interview, the CEO said was asked to offer one piece of advice to budding entrepreneurs.
“One word: focus. If you want to open a restaurant, offer one dish on the menu, but make it fricking amazing, make it remarkable, make it exceptional. Customers will talk to their friends about it and build your marketing for you. Having the focus to do one thing, but doing it well is super hard. But in this world, we have so much choice, so it’s the only way you can build from zero and get to one.”
He had me at focus.
If your business is struggling to get new customers, generate leads, gain brand awareness or just stuck in stagnant sales, maybe you could use some sage advice. To learn more, call me at 919 720 0995 or email me at jeffslater@themarketingsage.com – Let’s grow your business together.
Photo credit: TouchNote – all rights reserved.
