As human beings, we relate best with other human beings. Connections are built when a person can relate to someone else on a personal level. Personal contacts are what build relationships, trust and leave a lasting effect on a person’s mind. In the same way, if you want to create a brand that builds relationships with every one of its followers out there, it is essential to humanise your marketing. Talking about stories, experiences and giving your brand a personality that your target audience can relate to is what humanising marketing is all about.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HUMANISE YOUR BRAND?
Influencers around the world have managed to build a large and trusted following by humanising their brand. They have shared stories and experiences and have touched on their audience’s emotions to create a loyal following. Some of them have built such good connections with their followers that they think of them as a trusted friend.
Similarly, certain brands Hubspot, FlixBus, Wistia and a handful of others have used social media marketing to connect with their target audience in the same way. They have shown their followers their personality through humanised messaging and have created wonderful brands that stand out from their competitors.
8 WAYS TO HUMANISE YOUR MARKETING
Now if you’re wondering how you can humanise your brand to make it more relatable to your audience, here are nine ways to do so:
THINK ABOUT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
Before you build your brand personality, you need to understand your target audience. Take out some time to deep dive into the mindset and life of your target audience and build a persona. Think about how old is your ideal target audience, where do they live, what do they do and what hobbies they have. Write down what their personality is like, are they outgoing or introverts? Do they like being indoors or outdoors? Are they tech-savvy? Think about what inspires them and what motivates them. Answer as many questions and build a profile of your ideal target audience for your brand.
CREATE YOUR BRAND PERSONALITY
Once you know your ideal target audience and what inspires and motivates them, you can choose your brand personality accordingly. Sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and ruggedness are the five common types of brand personality. Select one based on what would appeal the most to your ideal target audience and accordingly set the tone for all your brand communication.
PERSONALISE YOUR AUTOMATED MARKETING
Another essential way of humanising your marketing is by personalising all your automated marketing messages. This can be done by addressing emails with personalised greetings and using direct language. Choose words like ‘you’ rather than ‘we’ or ‘I’ so that your audience feels that you are talking directly to them.
TALK ABOUT TRANSFORMATIONS
Transformation stories are powerful, and people love to hear stories of transformation no matter how small or big they may be. They are also a fantastic way of humanising your brand, so make sure your communication strategy includes a few such inspirational stories. If you’re an influencer, talk about your personal transformational stories and if you’re a brand, simply ask your users for their experiences with your brand and how it helped them. Transformational stories work well on social media and for weekly email newsletters.
TALK ABOUT YOUR BRAND JOURNEY AND FAILURES ALONG THE WAY
The other thing that makes a brand human is talking about failures and challenges. Talk to your audience about the problems and failures you went through as a brand or an entrepreneur. This will help your audience connect with you and make your brand more relatable to them. The other thing you can do is take them along with you on your journey. You can do this through behind-the-scene videos showing your audience all the work that goes into your brand or product.
SHOW OFF YOUR STAFF
Another great way to humanise your brand is by talking about your team. Use real pictures to introduce the core members of your organisation and tell stories about the funny and quirky side of their personality. This will help your audience relate better and will show them that real people like them run the organisation.
TALK TO YOUR AUDIENCE
Talking to your audience is essential to create a successful brand. Use social media to conduct polls, ask your audience for their opinions and make them a part of your decision-making process. This will help your audience feel more involved in your brand and help build a long-term relationship with your brand.
TURN EMPLOYEES INTO BRAND AMBASSADORS
Turning your employees into brand ambassadors is a risky move, but if managed well, it is an excellent way of humanising your marketing. Ask your loyal employees to talk about their experiences on social media so that you can gain access to their friends and social circle. This can be a great way to cross-promote your brand.
Another way you could use your employees as brand ambassadors is by asking them to take over the social media of the brand for the day. They can use the stories feature on Instagram and Facebook to show the audience what typical day at work looks like for them. This is an excellent way of showing the fun and exciting side of the brand.
