5 Steps to Humanize Your Brand
Human beings are wired to connect with and trust other human beings. So, if people don’t trust your brand, they most likely won’t do business with you. That’s why you need to show potential customers that you’re not only interested in making money. You need to provide names and faces of the people behind the brand so that your audience can relate to it and remember it. In other words, you need to humanize your brand. And we’re offering 5 simple tips to show you how.
Show Your Employees
Showing the people who actually do the work helps build a trustworthy relationship and increases the chances of your clients coming back. You don’t need to show literally everybody working in your company; simply pick several personalities that represent different departments.
Make sure to avoid stock photos and use real images of real employees at your company. You don’t have to hire a professional photographer for this. Anyone with a good smartphone and a basic sense of aesthetics can do the job.
Place the photos on different parts of the company website, such as the Careers page, Home page, or About Us page. Add a photo and a short bio of the author after each article. Don’t forget to share photos on social media. Post albums of company events and outings on Facebook or create a special hashtag on Instagram where you’ll show what happens in the office on a daily basis.
It’s also important to show the spontaneous and funny side of your employees. No one wants to see stiff people with serious faces, but funny individuals who enjoy their work.
Let Your Employees Promote Your Brand
Most of your staff probably has active social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Snapchat where they connect to a bunch of people.
Send out emails to encourage employees to share company-related content. However, be careful who you’re asking to promote you. If an employee has strong religious or political views, it might be wise to use discretion. Since you can’t stop anyone from expressing their opinions, try creating guidelines for employees to follow when posting about your brand. For instance, they can add a blurb saying that their opinions don’t reflect the opinions of their employers.
Write Personality-Infused Content
How many times have you read a boring post online? Probably never, because you most likely leave such posts after reading a couple of sentences. Sometimes companies try to borrow somebodies personality through the use of online influencers however its far better if you can use your own, genuine personality to build an audience.
Writing in a monotone voice and using long, illegible words can make you sound smart but people don’t want that. Interesting articles written in simple, conversational language will make your brand more accessible and human. To infuse your content with personality, strive to be unique. Avoid generic copy and utilize emotions, humor, and wit.
Share Your Failures
Your audience will find it far easier to relate to your brand if you share stories of past failures rather than talking only about successes.
This doesn’t mean you should talk about all the issues your company encounters on a daily basis, like software bugs or irresponsible employees. Focus on sharing personal stories of overcoming difficulties or stories that show how your business can help customers overcome their difficulties.
Personalized Marketing Automation
Make sure that all communication with your customers is personalized where possible. It will help you identify and fix leaks in your online sales and marketing efforts. Avoid using first person pronouns (‘I’ or ‘we’) because they can make you sound like you’re talking at people instead of to them. Instead, focus on using more direct language (‘you’).
In addition, use marketing automation tools to send out emails depending on where your leads are within the customer journey. For instance, if they’re in the learning stage, send useful content according to their previous searches but avoid any promotional copy.
