Four Ways to Humanize Your Brand

Consumer-brand trust is more important than ever. Even so, many consumers don’t really trust the brands they interact with. Rather, they see them as businesses out to make money, even at the expense of loyal consumers.

Fortunately, there is a solution to the problem, and it involves humanizing your brand. In other words, you need to find ways to make your business appear like a person. People connect with people, so this is an important step if you want to retain customers and bring in new business.

Below are four strategies to help you humanize your brand.

1. Picture a brand avatar.

In order to humanize your brand, you must have a voice and personality. This is a lot more challenging when you think of your brand in terms of a business that is selling a product. To help, picture your brand as a character. Who is this person? What is their name? Are they funny or serious? It may feel odd to do this, but you will see that it’s much easier to assign qualities to your brand when you imagine it as a person rather than an entity.

2. Be present on social media.

So many areas of life require us to be proactive, but scheduling social media posts is not one of them. While it’s fine to schedule some of your posts, do not rely on auto-scheduling entirely. If you do, your followers may notice, and this will put a wedge between you and them. Be active and present on social media so that you can respond accordingly to messages, react in the moment and come across as more human.

3. Take part in discussions.

It’s important that you engage your users in discussions as opposed to just posting social media posts. It may be hard to get people to talk, but start by asking questions. What types of things do your followers like? What would they enjoy seeing more of? If no one is commenting, jump in with more content so that you show you’re there and listening. Eventually, someone will bite and it will be the start of a two-way conversation.

4. Share a laugh.

When we share a laugh, we share a moment. Show users that you aren’t afraid to set aside your professional side to have a few good laughs. You are human, after all. To avoid being offensive or silly, it’s important to match the humor with the type of business that you are. Some audiences are perfectly fine with tongue-in-cheek humor while others would be offended. Be mindful of what your audience will find amusing.

The above strategies are designed to help your brand look and sound more human. Try them out and see what works for you. The point is not to be all business all the time. Humans are connected by their emotions, so the more you remind your audience that you are a person with likes, dislikes and feelings, the better you can reach them on an emotional level and secure the trust you need.