Amazon has dominated the online marketplace for years by listening to customers, inventing for customers, and delivering a personalized experience for customers (free two-day shipping doesn’t hurt either). The company has prioritized people, and we’ve recently noticed more people instead of products in the company’s advertising.
For example, this commercial highlights an employee (Tiffany) who wants to help retail-based businesses with black owners. The ad centers around Tiffany and explains the company’s new Black Business Accelerator. When you watch the ad, you’ll notice the focus is on the people. The product is second. Amazon did this intentionally to humanize its brand.
Efforts to humanize a company’s brand revolve around a simple reality: People connect better to people. Amazon knows that almost no one can relate to its billion-dollar status. However, people can relate to Tiffany and her determination to help businesses succeed.
Amazon, even with its dominance in the marketplace, is facing the same predicament as every other company right now. Consumer preferences are changing, and how long a business has been around no longer matters. Consumers care more about the brand’s mission, reviews and experiences from other customers, and perks like quality customer service. In other words, what makes the brand human.
If your business is not relatable, chances are consumers will just try another product or service who they connect more easily with. Instead of missing out on opportunities, follow this guidance to help humanize your brand.
Share your story. Your story should include the ‘why’ behind your business. Sharing the motivation behind your company creates authenticity, transparency, and helps build trust. Storytelling is an important tool for brands because it helps create a connection. Think about it - humans have been telling stories since the beginning of time. It makes sense that consumers relate more to a story than they do an advertisement.
Video is the perfect medium to share your brand’s story. Sight is one of the strongest human senses and gives life to your company story. It creates a connection that copy alone cannot effectively communicate. We’ve told dozens of company stories through video, including our own.
Engage with your audience. So many businesses have started to use social media marketing, but it’s important to remember that social media marketing is most effective when it shows the human side of a company. Creating conversation with your audience, instead of talking at your audience, sets apart brands.
Other tools to engage with your audience include blogs posts, emails, podcasts, video podcasts, live summits, and webinars. The key is to make it a two-way street - so both you and your audience have a voice.
Show off your team. Do robots work at your company? If so, that’s pretty cool, but probably not relatable. Showing the real people behind your product or service creates a human aspect for your company. That’s why we have our team proudly highlighted on our website. We want our clients to know who is making their brand shine (no robots here). Use your own team to prove that you are human and know how to create connections.
Your team can also be displayed on social media, in company videos, and in email updates.
Get your team on board. Now that you’ve shown off your team, put them to work on social media! People engage more with other people. Seeing a face is better than seeing a logo. Some CEOs and top leaders have more followers on their social media pages than the company itself. It’s all about creating a connection, and when your employees share more about your business with others, your network automatically expands.
Overall, humanizing your brand comes down to three simple points:
People respond better to people
Storytelling creates connections
Humanizing creates authenticity, trust, and loyalty
At Lucie Content, storytelling is at the heart of everything we do. We’d love to tell your story and humanize your brand. Contact us to get started today.