We are naturally attracted to brands that we can engage and relate to. Think of brands you really like. What do those brands have that other brands do not? Let me guess; probably 90% of you will say the relationship and trust?

The online world is changing, and consumers no longer want to buy from static, hard to get brands. A relationship online is not just about giving the best deal to your customers. People are buying from people. The audiences are drawn to the companies who care for their needs and put real life humans behind the brand. Here are six tips to start humanising your brand today.

1. Humanise your business

Prior to humanising your brand, start with your company first. Have a plan and understand how the brand humanisation will blend into your company’s culture and values. It takes courage and planning to prepare your team to make these steps towards the open, engaged organisation. Are you prepared to listen and contribute to the community? Are you ready to stand for the brand values? If the answer is yes, you are on the right track to humanise your brand.

 2. Create your online brand personality

Knowing your online persona is crucial for building a humanised brand online. What is your character? What are you interested in? What do you want to share with the world? What do you care about? Answering these questions will determine your brand voice, vision, and actions.

Human brands have a personality that connects and unites with their audiences. When established, integrate your brand persona into all organisation elements: your internal and external communications, customer service, and human resources.

 3. Build your online presence

Okay, so you got your team approval and have decided on who is your online persona. Now is the time to start building your online presence based on brand values and personality. While businesses are striving to succeed and keep up with latest trends, they cannot survive without an efficient website. From the first click on the link, your website becomes the determining factor for the consumer’s first impressions as well as your overall online reputation. Website visitors no longer spend long time reading text. An interactive, consumer-centric design with interactive elements, videos, and photography is a necessity to excel online.

First, start reviewing your website-does it fit with the new face, and does it have all the elements for your audience to engage with you? If you have old website that does not fit with main objective, most of the times it is easier and less time-consuming to build a brand new website. Create websites that are user-friendly and fully responsive. Do not forget that you are building it for human interaction, hence your website should provide a great browsing experience, regardless if you are surfing on a computer, mobile device, or tablet.

Give your customers the reason to interact, ask questions, share news, and show your company’s insides. If you are operating in the international markets, have multilingual websites, localise the content, and make it easy for your consumers to interact.

4. Get on social media

A powerful tool of communication-social media helps companies reach their consumers online, while building brand awareness and a consumer base. It is also a great loyalty tool that helps you develop a powerful community that supports your brand. Are you open for two-way conversations, providing your consumers value and support? Connecting to social media channels will play a vital role in your brand humanisation and will help to hold valuable dialog with your customers.

Statistics show that consumers are more likely to buy from a business that already has an established social media presence in comparison to one that doesn’t. It takes courage and time to handle your social media, therefore have a dedicated team that is ready to answer questions, cheer the positivity, and handle the comments. Keep the chosen brand personality and the voice consistent across social media. If it is a funny personality, respond to comments in an easy-going, cheerful manner. Tweet it, share it, pin it, and link your website to social media channels and blogs so that your target audience can interact with you on different online platforms.

5. Get your team involved

Your team can become the valuable, cheerful brand ambassadors when they truly believe and relate to your brand values. Let your team be involved in brand building projects, brainstorming, and innovations. Let your people shine from within. Encourage those beautiful experiences to be shared on social media channels, your company website, and news. Let your customers get to know you from within. Introduce your team to the online world. Show their pictures and stories on your website so that your audience can relate to personalities, not just facts. Share your heartbeat to online communities. Let them convey your stories, your team activities, and exciting projects.

 6. Talk what matters to your audience

When planning your content marketing strategy, make sure it fits with your brand personality and it is relevant to your audience. Think of what information or support your audience needs and give it to them. Act as a human that has emotions, an opinion, and cares for humans. In this caring way, your communications will be more effective and personal. Make people laugh, cry, and surprise them. Emotions are the strongest factor to influence human behavior.

This blog is a part of a brand humanisation online series that includes a full overview on this topic. Subscribe to our newsletter to get the full series straight into your inbox.

What challenges are you facing when transforming your brand to a humanised brand online? I love hearing from fellow marketers and helping them to succeed. Put your comments here and let‘s get a conversation flowing.