B2B marketers have long sought to infuse more humanity into their marketing campaigns. Being genuine and human is easier when a business is small. But when a brand grows, that’s when texts can seem robotic, emails monotone, and social communications downright cookie-cutter and mundane.
Then came marketing automation and, suddenly, marketers could sound more human with a larger group of decision makers. And now that we live in the era of big data, AI, and Moore’s Law, which keeps innovation continuously churning along, becoming human, even at scale, has now become possible.
The question remains then: Why is it important to be human to B2B buyers? After all, this isn’t B2C marketing where you’re marketing to consumers. So, why are researchers, engineers, and tech-wizards hard at work at making B2B brands seem more human? Is sounding like a robot, even just a little bit, really so bad?
Here are just a few reasons you’ll want to make your brand more “human” no matter how much your business grows.
Empathy
B2B technology has always been perceived as difficult to use and B2B marketing has always been seen as less-than-exciting, at least when compared to the more creative campaigns used to market to B2C audiences.
However, times are changing, and B2B tech marketing is largely coming to resemble consumer-centric marketing, and for good reason. As a business-to-business marketing professional, you’re not just trying to reach businesses; you’re trying to connect with living, breathing people.
For that reason, making all your communications seem more human will allow consumers to let their guards down. They’ll be more likely to spill their guts when being mined for information and, most importantly, go with their guts when making a purchase. Having a human on the other end of the chat, email, social post, or even phone call puts consumers at ease, and greases the skids to higher purchases, conversions, and revenue.
Empowerment
When you use real stories about real people in your B2B marketing, it gives your audience hope. A testimonial by a positive customer makes your target consumers want to be just like that guy or gal, smiling and pleased they chose your brand over the competition.
A Gallup poll showed that only 18% of Americans responded positively when asked if they had confidence in big business. Telling moving stories about a faceless enterprise isn’t really possible. However, engaging stories about real people are more assured to hit their mark, ensuring your brand stays top-of-mind for those who decision makers who matter most.
Understanding
94% of B2B buyers do their due diligence online before committing to a buy. The thing is, your target consumers may not know where to go to get the best and most accurate information. It would be great if a human could direct them to your infographic, leading to your free download, your email list, and then your sales landing page – or whichever journey you have planned for your buyers.
When your target audience feels as though a knowing human is helping them learn more, they’ll be more likely to follow your lead, and continue on your planned buyer’s journey.
Intuition
Not only do B2B decision makers expect brands to get them, but they almost expect brands to be psychic. The good news is that AI is becoming so good at analyzing and making sense of Big Data that machine learning technology can now predict with alarming accuracy those products and services that consumers want most.
By being more human and knowing what consumers expect, you’ll quickly establish yourself as the go-to solution in your target market.
Identity
When you infuse humanity into your B2B marketing campaigns, by engaging in conversations and using real faces instead of merely names, your audience will find themselves interacting more.
Put a face to your brand by engaging in creative storytelling through interactive content such as webinars, quizzes, or video and focus on real-time social media posts. While social media scheduling tools are convenient, relying solely on scheduled posts will only distance you from your audience.
Make an effort to engage on social media in real-time and react to relevant conversations in the moment. This will breed comfort and an eventual connection that can help to boost engagement on social and entice the buy.
Trust
People trust other people more than they do companies. When your brand becomes personable, it can become more likable, and trust is sure to follow. Once you have your target audience’s trust, you’ll be more likely to succeed in converting your audience and attracting referrals.
Ensure you use faces, as studies have shown that people remember faces easier than names.
Dominance
The only way to surpass your competitors is to educate and endear your customers to your brand using the latest technology and techniques. This ever-constant race to the top of your consumers’ minds will never cease. Therefore, you should ensure that you do what your competition is doing, only better. You can be sure that your competitors are going to be infusing a human touch into every aspect of their marketing campaigns. Your brand would be wise to follow if you hope to dominate your market for the long-term.
