Free Assessment: How does your sales & marketing measure up?

Get Started
Close

Free Assessment:

How does your sales & marketing measure up?
Take this free, 5-minute assessment and learn what you can start doing today to boost traffic, leads, and sales.
Get Started
Marketing Strategy  |   Branding

10 Tips to Humanize Your Brand

Brett Casella

By Brett Casella

Jun 14, 2013

10 Tips to Humanize Your Brand

 

How to Humanize Your BrandRecent studies have concluded that your customers are humans. Seems obvious right?


Then why are so many companies treating them like they are robots programmed to absorb their generic marketing messages and corporate offers?


People like knowing that they are understood and recognized as unique individuals, yet the majority of businesses are failing to meet this basic human need.


When a company fails to connect with their customers, their customers fail to connect with them. They want to hear the message of a person, not a company.


People engage, share, connect, understand, and inspire each other in a way that businesses can’t. It is because of this that humanizing your brand is necessary to be loved by your customers.


Here’s how.


10 Tips on How to Humanize Your Brand


10. Start From the Top and Work Your Way Down


Brand humanization is not a small task, and is not one that can be accomplished using solely lower-level employees. It can only be achieved through a full-fledged company initiative, starting with the executives. This process can be accelerated if they not only support it, but practice it as well. This can be done by setting up a Twitter account for your CEO or having them star in your commercials. Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Computers, helps humanize his company by hosting group video chats with his customers.


9. Have a Good “About Us” Page


The “About Us” page is one of the first places a potential customer will look if they want to learn more about your business, so you’d better make sure it’s good! This is the perfect opportunity to show your business’ human side with a story of how you got started. Make sure to liven up the page with pictures and videos!


8. Take Your Customers Behind the Scenes


People love knowing what goes on behind a company’s closed doors. Use your website or social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook to showcase pictures of your employees hard at work or just having some fun around the office. It puts a face behind your company’s logo, which gives your customers a connection to an actual person.


7. Use Video


Video content has been proven to be the most effective in capturing and retaining attention. Use this to your advantage by using videos to extend your efforts. Put them anywhere- your “About Us” page, social media posts, even TV advertisements to show your employees and allow audiences to feel a connection with them.


IMPACT Homepage Video


6. Humor is Human


I’m going to go out on a limb and say that everybody enjoys a good laugh, except maybe grumpy cat and the kid from the Capital One commercials who doesn’t like money either. Not everything has to be business 24/7, especially when you are trying to humanize your brand. A quick picture or joke is the perfect way to lighten the mood of your viewers; who cares if a squirrel riding jet skis is irrelevant? It’s still funny and will get people talking about you.

[display_fullsize]Inbound marketing meme[/display_fullsize]

[display_mobile]


Inbound marketing meme

[/display_mobile]


5. Engage With Your Audience


This one is especially important for social media. When you create a Twitter or Facebook account, you are essentially inviting your consumers to connect with you; being absent from your account is like a broken promise. Be there for them and let them know that your business YOU are there to answer questions, resolve problems, or simply engage in conversation!


4. Encourage Your Employees to Be Social


This applies both online and off. Many companies make their employees sign contracts that ban them from social media or restricting what they are allowed to post on it. While they are trying to protect their image, it can actually hurt it, making them seem restrictive and overbearing. Employees should be encouraged to not only use social media, but also be linked to their company on it. This view of individuality should extend to their physical workspace as well; have employees bring their warm friendliness and sense of humor to work with them.


IMPACT Instagram


3. Don’t Sell Products; Tell Stories


This is what this article is all about. The point of humanizing your brand is not for your business to be known as a business, but as a person. People connect with people, not companies, so give your business some personality by showing a lighter side to it and telling stories to relate to your audience.


2. Have a Plan


Humanizing your company is not easy, and cannot be done on the fly. Like any other key business decision, you will need a plan. Set goals and objectives for both the short-term and the long-term, as well as specific tactics and action to help you reach them. How are you going to measure your results? Set KPIs and make sure they are well defined and reasonable.


1. Talk to Your Audience Like They Are Your Friend


This is the most important rule on here. When constructing your copy, have the mindset that you are talking to someone who is close to you. If you have the image of your made-up buyer persona in your mind, it is going to be clear in your content. Picture yourself talking to a family member interested in buying your product, and word your messages based on that.

Free Assessment:

How does your sales & marketing measure up?
Take this free, 5-minute assessment and learn what you can start doing today to boost traffic, leads, and sales.

Related Articles

What Should a 2024 Content Marketing Strategy Include?

September 21, 2023
Mandy York Mandy York

HubSpot Pricing: Your Guide to Everything HubSpot Costs

August 24, 2023
Will Smith Will Smith

Why Trust Is the True Currency for All Business

August 9, 2023
Marcus Sheridan Marcus Sheridan

10 Marketing KPIs You Should Be Tracking

August 3, 2023
Carolyn Edgecomb Carolyn Edgecomb

How To Become a Better Business Coach

July 31, 2023
Allison Riggs Allison Riggs

Do You Need a New Website? Maybe Not

July 19, 2023
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

How to Create a Content Map To Solve Your Marketing Guesswork

July 6, 2023
Brian Casey Brian Casey

Inbound Marketing vs. Content Marketing: What's the Difference? 

July 3, 2023
Brian Casey Brian Casey

How To Do a Competitive Analysis In 5-and-a-half Easy Steps

June 29, 2023
John Becker John Becker

Why Hiring a Coach is the Surest Way to Spur Business Growth

June 28, 2023
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

Marketing Coach vs Agency: Why You Need a Coach for Real Success

June 26, 2023
John Becker John Becker

LinkedIn Could Become Your Most Powerful Distribution Channel

June 22, 2023
John Becker John Becker

Content Copycat: What To Do When Your Website Gets Copied

June 15, 2023
Christine Austin Christine Austin

My Best Sales Reps Haven’t Hit Their Quotas All Year: What Do I Do?

June 7, 2023
Marcus Sheridan Marcus Sheridan

7 Must-have Word-of-Mouth Marketing Strategies [Infographic]

May 8, 2023
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

What Small Business Leaders Need To Know to Thrive During a Recession

April 19, 2023
Marcus Sheridan Marcus Sheridan

5 Keys to Marketing Your Business During a Recession

April 17, 2023
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

Should Your Demand Gen Strategy Change in a Slumping Economy?

April 12, 2023
Nick Bennett Nick Bennett

Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation: What’s the Difference?

April 10, 2023
Kristen Harold Kristen Harold

How a Lack of Sales and Leadership Buy-in Is Killing Marketing Morale Worldwide

March 6, 2023
Marcus Sheridan Marcus Sheridan

Website Conversions in 2023 — STOP, START, KEEP

January 25, 2023
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Sales vs Marketing in 2023: What’s The Difference?

January 5, 2023
Marcus Sheridan Marcus Sheridan

How To Set Content Marketing Goals for Growth

December 29, 2022
Brian Casey Brian Casey

Should You Hire An Agency to Create Your Content?

December 12, 2022
Marcus Sheridan Marcus Sheridan

24 Essential Questions for Understanding Your Ideal Customer (+ Infographic)

December 1, 2022
Dia Vavruska Dia Vavruska