Is letter writing a dying art? Not so fast.
In today’s day and age, retro is cool again. Nostalgia is huge, and brands are increasingly marketing nostalgia to consumers who want to return to the 1990s or even earlier. Most U.S. adults want nostalgic products back on the shelves, and Generation Z is actually the most nostalgic generation of them all, whether it means using a traditional camera for pictures, listening to oldies or wearing a prior generation’s favorite clothing.
This brings us back to letters. Even in a world with emails, text messages and ChatGPT queries, letter writing is an analog art with an important place in 2025.
The Power of Personal Touch in Business
Think about it from a business perspective. If you run a small business like a public relations agency or marketing firm, you want to stand out from the competition. You don’t want to be a dime a dozen because clients don’t pay for a dime a dozen—they want to pay for the best. At the same time, they want to know, like and trust you.
Who wants to do business with someone unlikable or untrustworthy? That’s right: No one.
Clients want to feel special, like the person servicing them really cares about their problems and genuinely wants to find solutions. In client service, your clients’ problems need to become your problems, and you come to solutions together.
You can boost your client service by offering a more personal touch in the way that you interact. If you know that your client is taking a long-overdue vacation to Europe, writing a letter that wishes them safe travels is one way to show that you care. Similarly, if your client is going through a difficult time at work or outside of work, writing them a letter offering best wishes can mean a lot when it’s needed most.
Let’s say that your client’s child makes the high school varsity team for soccer, and they share the good news with you. Sending them a handwritten letter with congratulations can be very, very touching.
Of course, you just need to read the room and be honest about your relationship with the other person, so you’re not stepping over the line. Making them feel uncomfortable is a no-no.
Why Handwritten Letters Stand Out
But letter writing can go a longer way than an email or a text message. After all, virtual communication takes mere seconds, whereas a handwritten letter requires you to find paper (or go to the store and buy a card), write out your message by hand and send it in the mail. This is a much more time-intensive process that shows you’re not just doing something transactional; you’re doing something more meaningful than that. And the recipient knows it.
Especially when handwriting is uncommon, handwritten letters are differentiators. I have used handwritten letters to make friends, solidify existing relationships and even gain new clients. If a prospect is choosing between your firm and another one, writing them a letter—sharing just how much their business would mean to you—could be the difference between winning the account and not. You never know.
Letter writing can also be really fun. We spend hours and hours a day on screens, and the analog arts represent a reprieve from screen time. There is something very soothing about sitting down and putting pen to paper, like drinking a hot cup of tea or relaxing in a sauna. Trust me: You don’t get the same feeling from typing on a computer.
Whether the recipient is a client, a friend or your own child, show people you care. It can help not just in business, but also in your personal life. In a world dominated by screens, people are longing for connections that feel deeper and more real. Writing a letter is like fuel that lights up a connection, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s a new contact or a business partner dating back 30 years.
Even if nostalgia weren’t so cool nowadays, writing and sending letters would still be the right thing to do in many cases. But knowing that people are more and more nostalgic about the “good old days,” letter writing certainly rides the wave of a popular trend.
People will likely give you positive feedback—I have received so many compliments based on letters that I’ve written. It starts a chain reaction, with people writing and sending letters back to you, and that is a wonderful feeling.
If it’s not already, make letter writing part of your brand. There is no downside, only a lot of upside.
This article originally appeared on the Forbes Agency Council CommunityVoice in June 2025.
