Being Human; 3 tips for making your marketing more human
Having a strong humanity at the centre of your brand is invaluable. It goes a long way to creating an image that is accessible, approachable, trustworthy and reliable.
In an age when so many brand functions are reliant on automated technology, the human touch is an important way to remain engaged with customers and continue personalisation. This week we’re looking at three important ways you can be more human centric in your marketing.
1. Put emotion at the heart of your brand
Emotion is one tool that automated marketing technology has yet to master, and injecting your marketing strategy with feeling can be a vital way to draw an emotional response from your target audience.
This is exactly what Microsoft tried with their launch of an emotive Windows 10 campaign back in 2015.
Speaking to Marketing Week last week, Microsoft’s top marketer Kathleen Hall argued that the campaign was part of a wider goal to reposition Microsoft as far more than a tech giant. Microsoft now aims to focus on what the device can do for people, rather than the technology in and of itself – an approach that hopes to stand out from the technology crowd.
Hall argues ‘the idea of humanising [Windows 10] really resonated with people. We look at recall, the message landing, branding metrics and all that was the best we could have hoped for. And the upgrade data is all where we want it to be.’
By tapping into the emotion that connects people to your brand, it is possible for even the most tech-heavy offering to convey emotion and humanity. Check out our blog about how to channel emotion in your marketing campaigns.
2. Promote an idea
Personal marketing can go far beyond selling a product or service. It can become the foundation for promoting an idea, an ideology or even a way of life.
This is exactly what Samsung have sought to do with their recent Olympic-inspired campaign “The Anthem.” It’s primary function is to promote the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. Adweek argues that ‘at a time when the world feels like a scary, fragile place, it focuses on bringing people together at one of the world’s biggest events.’
Taglines include ‘one world, one anthem’, ‘proud sponsors of a world without barriers’ and the hashtag #DoWhatYouCant. Their campaign has tapped into notions of friendship, community and multiculturalism. It promotes a humanity that will resonate with many around the world.
3. Inject humanity where it is least expected
Do you surprise consumers with humanity where it is least expected? It’s a great way to enhance the brand-consumer relationship across the marketing mix.
One such option is search. According to Australian site AdNews, search marketing is starting to get some soul. It is argued that despite the financial benefits of search ‘it’s the human insights that get search marketers fired up in the morning.’
Now marketers are seeking to make search more valuable for users too. Features like audio search and YouTube are becoming central to how people search for brands and information.
CMSWire has similarly argued that industry sectors like e-commerce can benefit from becoming more human. Marketers are trying to simulate authentic, emotional shopping experiences such as visiting a boutique or artisan store. In doing so, e-commerce can become a much more experiential and social affair and benefit from humanisation of its strategy.
Whichever combination of top tips you choose, emotion, ideas and surprise are the order of the day. Personal marketing is an important way for your brand to remember its humanity.
Do you want to talk about human centric marketing for your business? Get in touch with our creative experts to see how we can help you connect with your audience.
