The human touch: achieve humanization in a digital ... · Content marketing – the secret to...

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98% of your website visitors don’t inquire, we can tell you who they are

The human touch: achieve humanization in a

digital marketing world

Learn how to create an individual and memorable B2B marketing strategy by stimulating a sense of “real human interaction” without

needing face-to-face contact.

Brought to you by the Lead Forensics Knowledge Base | Revolutionizing the world of B2B Marketing

“ Because we’re in business-to-business instead of human-to-human, we forget how to have human conversations.

It’s time to start sounding like humans again ”

MELANIE SPRING (FOUNDER & CEO OF BRANDED CONFIDENCE)


As people, we trust other people more than machines. We know this, and yet in marketing we rely so heavily on a digital world to create marketing campaigns, that head-to-head would have little to no competition

against human interaction. Let’s look at humanization in B2B marketing, how it’s done in a digital world and how it can change the way we work, not just today, but long into the future…

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What do we mean by “The human touch”?

B2B marketing – what have we learned?

The current problem with content marketing

Why we see social media as “human”

Technology of tomorrow

Video marketing – can it work for B2B?How can humanization benefit B2B marketing?

More from Lead ForensicsAll about Lead Forensics

Inject humanity into your content strategy

The danger of social media in B2B

Humanize your SEO

What about webchat functions?A little bit about Lead Forensics

Don’t sell a product – promote an idea

A human social media strategy – dos and don’ts

Don’t just humanize your marketing, humanize your brand

How can responsive marketing help?

Intro

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Content marketing – the secret to “appearing human”

The power of social media

Using humanization to prepare for the future…

Let’s get innovative with humanization…

A bit about us…

At Lead Forensics, we’re passionate about helping B2B marketing and sales professionals gain the ultimate in new business lead generation success by identifying anonymous website traffic.

We work with over 10,000 organizations, who last year made over $1billion in revenue thanks to our software solution. Book your free demo & no obligation trial today!

GET STARTED

https://convert.leadforensics.com/free-lead-forensics-trial

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What do we mean by

“The human touch”?

We’re talking about that little bit of magic…

We’re all looking to create a lasting impression, to stand out loud and clear above the noise of competitors. It can seem an eternal struggle, with no clear answers, but we all already know that humans connect with, relate to and identify best with other humans.

This is what most B2B marketers are missing, an element of “human” in their marketing strategy. By “Human” we mean when your prospects receive an email or read a post on social media, and feel like it’s been written just for them by another person. Think about business events – people get the chance to be immersed in your brand for a few minutes, as they learn about how great you are, directly from someone present, in “the here and now”.

“As humans we connect, relate to and identify best with other humans”

That’s what we’re getting at here, consider a way to bring the magic of face-to-face discussion to your digital marketing strategy, through email marketing, content marketing, social media, SEO, the lot! It may sound like a far-fetched idea, but it is 100% doable.


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How can humanization benefit B2B marketing?

We wouldn’t be shrewd marketers if we didn’t ask – how can bringing “the human touch” to a marketing strategy benefit those all-important results?

It will come as no surprise to you that face-to-face interaction is what B2B buyers see as the most trusted source of information. And at the start of a buyer journey, information is everything. This alone proves why bringing the atmosphere and feeling of human interaction to marketing can prove invaluable.

Let’s be honest... we know how marketing works, and we can smell a machine-made strategy from a mile away, so can our prospects. Let’s give them the marketing they deserve, and just be ourselves!

Over 80% of marketers

who focus their strategy on appearing

“live” have seen improved

results.

It’s predicted by 2020, over 50% of buyers will expect brands to interact with them on a personalized level, remembering their movements and making recommendations.

74% of buyers say their view of a brand is more positive if they discovered the brand in person as opposed to online.

“The numbers add up in favour of adding that ‘human’ element”


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A little bit about Lead Forensics…

Lead Forensics are the global front-runners in business to business lead generation, benefiting 500,000 B2B marketing and sales professionals on a global scale by revealing the business identity of anonymous website traffic.

Lead Forensics can tell you:

Business, address and phone number of website visitors Names and email addresses for key decision makers How they found your website Which pages they viewed Duration of their visit Extra business information, such as employee number and financial history.

Added to this, our software can gather website analytics, score and prioritize visits based on engagement, set up auto-responses and manage leads by assigning them to your sales team.

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“Lead Forensics has radically transformed the processes we have internally when both measuring ROI and determining the value of our website. It’s been integral in driving new sales, and vital in strengthening the sales funnel.”

Take the free demo & no obligation trial today!

GET STARTED

CALLUM GILL (DRP GROUP)


Content marketing – the secret to “appearing human”

Content marketing is (still) king. It lets you give something valuable back to your prospects, and many enjoy its softer approach, gaining valuable assets that are relevant to their needs. This channel is the perfect place to start when we look to “humanization”, but where are we currently going wrong? And what should we be doing to see the full potential of a human content marketing approach?


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The current problem with content marketing

In the B2B digital world, we love content marketing, and it’s easy to see why!

It’s an inventive and exciting channel, sharing valuable content with the wider world in exchange for their interest. Content marketing also does a great job in applying that human touch, as there’s no way a machine could create diverse, insightful content continually!

Creating content that people find valuable is a consistent pain-point most of us see when discussing content marketing.

It’s the constantly shifting variables that hinder content marketers: What does our audience want? What are they interested in? What format do they like? How can we make sure it’s always relevant?

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We’re all enthusiastic to ace our own content marketing, and see the amazing uplift it can have on our B2B marketing strategy. Let’s look to the solution – how to lace content with the human touch…


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Inject humanity into your content strategy

There are two fundamental factors to consider first when looking to apply a face-to-face appearance into your content creations…

Understand human desire Though understanding what your prospects want from you on a business level is vital to creating good content, we as people talk to others and build a conversation based on more than just that. Look at your content and ask yourself – if this was a face-to-face conversation, what would they want? Do they want images to boost points, or not? Do they want lots of short fun facts, or long explanations? Create content that speaks to your prospects on more than just a business level, it needs to answer their needs as people too!

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Lead Forensics is the perfect tool to help break down online buyer behaviour and plan future marketing strategy. Book your free demo and find out how identifying your website visitors can revolutionize your content marketing!

GET STARTED

Understand human behaviour

Content needs to be created in many layers, tailoring to human behaviour. If we stop and look at how we react and behave to the

adverts we see around us every day, it’s easy to derive a formula of what basic behaviours are predictable in response to marketing.

Investigate your reactions, then weave this predicated behaviour into your content. If you know that your entire team will instantly

skip to bullet points and not read an introduction, then use that knowledge when creating content! Let your content approach be

built on behaviour, instead of the information you’re sharing.

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Don’t sell a product – promote an idea

Most large B2C organizations have used televised/video advertising to pull on the emotional strings that make us human.

I’m sure we can all think of an advert that really hit home, and struck a personal chord that we emotionally connected to, whether with laughter or tears. Done right, marketing can have a very human feel and provoke human emotion. This is achieved by promoting an idea, instead of just simply “selling a product”.

A key example of this, is P&G’s “Thank You Mom” campaign launched in 2016. Instead of promoting their many healthcare products, P&G released a worldwide notion of thanks to all the mothers, who have cared for their children from infancy to adulthood (probably with a little help from P&G products along the way!) This tugged at the heart strings of many and was a global hit. It just reminded us to thank those closest to us, but we all remember it’s P&G who gave us that idea.

We’re not saying you need to go and think of an incredible, global campaign the whole world will understand, but ask yourself – what is the core of my organization? Project this into an idea benefiting the B2B sphere, and go from there. It’s an outlook not focused on making a quick sale, but focused on building better relationships and a friendlier environment for us all to work in.

The power of social media

Social media continues to change the way B2B marketers approach their audiences, but the potential of these platforms is ever growing, and unknown to many of us. We all understand the basics of social media, but there’s so much more to it than meets the eye.

Many of us already see social media as a fairly “human” channel, and when we talk about creating that face-to-face feeling, social media platforms are often our first thought, but why? Let’s understand social media, what it can do for humanized marketing, and how we should be using it to generate results by challenging B2B marketing norms.


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Why we see social media as “human”

It’s difficult to put a pin in precisely why we already view social media as more “human” than other channels within B2B marketing.

It might be because so many of us actively use the platform outside of work, we see it in a different light to other mediums with a more person- to-person approach. Alternatively, the process of creating a profile and interacting with others on a level both business and personal makes for a fairly “human” formula in terms of motive – it ultimately seems less “sales-y and more friendly.

We know social media is working well for marketers across the board, but with constant technology updates and its reliance on “liveness”, working a social media strategy to its maximum ability can prove difficult. It’s a continued problem seen by B2B marketers – how can we ensure a reliable social media performance?

Over 2.56 billion people in the world use social media daily on their mobile (that’s around 34% of the population!).

71% of buyers who have had a good brand experience on social media are likely recommend the brand to others.

95% of adult’s aged 18–34 prefer to follow a brand’s movement via social media above any other medium.


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The danger of social media in B2B

Whilst social media offers us an enormous number of opportunities in B2B marketing, we do need to be careful. There are many features that appear

helpful, but actually hinder us, especially in our approach to adding the human touch to our social media presence…

Scheduling posts Discovering you can schedule posts is a great moment – thinking of all the time you can save by writing and preparing posts, then scheduling them to publish once a day, for the next month! But this is where a huge number of brands miss a trick – your audiences can tell when a post is automated. And as soon as something looks automated – all “human” approach is gone. It may seem like a great time-saving solution, but really it’s a sinking ship when it comes to creating and maintain that credible, genuine image. We’re not saying never schedule anything, we’re saying don’t rely on it alone. Embrace organic posting!

Paid advertising

It’s another tool (with added costs) that appeals to those trying to make a strong impact on social media for example – just a small fee you can help

an extra 4,000 people see your post! Seems like a great idea in many ways… unfortunately, only 25% of social media users trust the adverts they see. It’s

another alarm bell when looking to be truly human on social media – when something doesn’t look real, it isn’t trusted.

If you’re keen to reach a wider audience, try widening your network by interacting with different established groups, you’re bound to find some of

people in your industry keen to discuss solutions.

Keep reading for our dos and don’ts on building a human social media strategy…


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A human social media strategy – dos and don’ts

Pay attention to the “now” – we know how important “liveness” is when attempting to appear “real” on social media. Do this by referencing current news or using people’s names when interacting with them, proving posts and comments aren’t automated or scheduled – you’re living your social media, right now!

Keep the tone “strictly business” – whilst it’s important to appear the expert, using tons of business waffle and superior terminology makes you come across in quite a different light. Keep tone of voice conversational, with easy-to-understand language. You’re a human after all – speak like one!

Find some brand advocates – whether you look to your colleagues, or your client/partner base, find people willing to share your posts and content. It helps them generate a busy business network, and helps you reach a wider audience – win-win!


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Just be yourself – though broadening brand reach and raising awareness is your main focus, don’t forget to spend time sharing posts and comments that are just human too. Whether celebrating an employee birthday or supporting a charitable fundraiser, these are all little things that show people you’re just like them, human-to-human.

Ignore mistakes – they happen! Guess what – it’s human. We’ve all posted something on social media we’ve later deleted due to a spelling error or change of opinion. The key is, especially when it’s a big mistake, apologize and carry on! You’ll not only appear totally normal and genuine, you’ll also be surprised how quickly people move on.

Forget to synchronize – your social media persona is as much a part of your brand as any other aspect, so make sure it’s carried through other channels, both online and offline. Small things will change (email tone and social media tone are of course, best left different!), but ensure the core values remain consistent across the board.

Let’s get innovative with humanization…

We know the importance of ensuring B2B marketing strategies incorporate “the human touch”, so let’s look to the huge quantity of options out there, that not only enable awesome marketing, but also bring that valuable sense of personal interaction.

It’s time to embrace the fact that we as people, just want to share our brands with other people – simple as that! And whilst it may seem difficult to get that across, these tactics may be exactly what you need…


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Video marketing – can it work for B2B?

Of course. And we’ve got the numbers to prove it: Video marketing works well for our B2C cousins.

Whether it’s through video adverts, vlogs or live-stream, video marketing remains a brilliant way for brands to become easily recognisable, on a broad scale. But can this work for B2B marketers?

And if you’re not already keen to discover the secrets of video marketing, just think of all the options for B2B organizations! You can create all manner of content, from video interviews and vlogs to tutorial and testimonial material. Whether for B2B marketing, sales or retention, video is a powerful tool. It’s not the same as face-to-face, but it comes close!

94% of B2B organizations currently using video marketing see it as an effective tool and 83% of them see it produce a positive ROI.

Google discovered over 50% of those aged 18–34 will stop what they’re doing to watch a short video, and 40% of them trust videos more than written word.

In the B2B world, a whopping 91% of buyers prefer watching explanatory tutorial videos above seeing a live demonstration or reading instructions.


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What about webchat functions?

We can’t discuss the humanization of B2B marketing strategy without addressing the ever-popular “webchat” function; that little window popping up on a webpage, enabling visitors to ask for help or find out more about what that business can offer. There’s sometimes hesitance in knowing whether you’re chatting to a human or an automated machine, but nonetheless, done well, a strong webchat strategy can bring that winning combo of great results and a human touch.

Live webchat gives you a response time averaging less than 2 minutes, and improves revenue generation with 4.5× more website visitors converting to sales. Webchat’s ability to offer speedy responses makes you 4000% more likely to qualify leads, and thanks to responses thoroughly answering prospect’s specific questions, leads generated from this source achieve a 10% increase on final order value. But it’s not all about getting the software in place and writing polite answers to any queries that come your way; you need a strategic approach to match this innovative technology. Firstly – ensure you’re convincingly human and not mistaken for a machine, and secondly – ensure you have the appropriate call to action ready to go with your answers. Strike that balance between enticing leads to get on the phone with sales, whilst also remaining yourself, and you’re onto a winner!


If you’re keen to ensure every website visitor counts, then

discover how Lead Forensics can revolutionize your search

for new business leads by identifying your anonymous

website visitors; providing contact details for key decision

makers and online journey analysis, you’ll gain customers you never had sight of before.


GET STARTED

makes you 4000% more likely to qualify leads



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How can responsive marketing help?

A guaranteed way to help your marketing feel human is to be responsive, whereby you react to certain behaviours in specific ways. This prevents a continuous churn of the same old message and tactic, and

provides an exciting, unpredictable form of marketing, that can appear incredibly human.

Knowing when someone has visited your website is a great way to start this responsive conversation, and it’s made even better by knowing precisely the pages that the prospect interacted with, and what piqued

their interest. All you need now is contact details…

This is where Lead Forensics comes in. Our incredible software makes the human approach easy, by allowing you to continuously react to interest shown in your brand. Using reverse IP tracking, we can identify your anonymous business website visitors, and provide detail including:

• Business name, location and phone number

• Specific contact information for key decision makers

• Detailed visit analysis including pages viewed and duration of visit With this information on hand, you’re able to create a fully tailored follow up approach, marketing to the specific needs of the visitor, speaking to them in detail about their needs, and on human level. Our clients saw over $1billion in revenue last year, thanks to the Lead Forensics software. Book your free demo today and find out more!

FIND OUT MORE


Using humanization to prepare for the future…

There’s no doubt about it – humanization can benefit B2B marketing strategies, maximize results and boost brand credibility and reception, but it can also give us marketers a secret weapon – it can help us prepare for the future. Let’s be honest, every day, machines become more and more like people, and simultaneously they constantly become a bigger part of our everyday life, and our reliance on them grows.

Spending time now building a strategy based upon human desires, behaviours and simply appealing to human nature, means that we’re ready for man and machine to fully unite. Though we never know exactly what’s around the corner, let’s look to the future, and plan ahead with humanization…

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Technology of tomorrow

Before we delve into how humanization can help prepare us for the future, let’s discuss the technology we can expect to rise and take charge of the marketing world…

We use our mobile phones a lot – possibly more than our computers? With 50% of B2B internet searches starting on a mobile device, even in the B2B world, mobile culture seems directly linked to humankind! With this in mind, adopting a mobile first approach is a must, so it’s time to look at all the factors. How long do your emails/pages/assets take to load? Can your website be easily navigated on a phone/tablet? Is everything rotation friendly? Think about how you use your phone every day, and apply this to your marketing.

Artificial intelligence

We know – we’re focusing on being human, and artificial intelligence by name alone is vastly removed from the ideal of “being human”– but that doesn’t mean we should rule it out altogether. Artificial intelligence contributes to a vast amount of technologies currently circulating the B2B sphere, enabling features such as personalization, automation and lead scoring. We’re just starting to discover the power of artificial intelligence, so keep it on your radar…

Augmented reality

Not to be confused with virtual reality, augmented reality sets up a similar premise of showing you a new world, but it blends real surroundings with augmented ones, ensuring you can easily distinguish what is real, and what is not. (Pokémon Go is augmented reality!) This is still a very new technology, but it’s on the up, and marketers are starting to discover what potentials it could have – especially from a B2B perspective! If you’re keen to get on board with the latest in terms of tech – this is one to look into.



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So what can we do to help? Firstly look at your longtail keywords, ensuring you’ve got a few four words or more so when these longer searches are employed, you’re still there ranking highly. Also pay attention to your meta-description; mobile devices now read these back to their users – so make sure yours sounds ok when read aloud by that funny “robot voice”.

Humanize your SEO

Search engine optimization remains a marketing essential for any B2B organization. With 94% of B2B buyer journeys starting with an online search, your SEO needs to move with the times to have continued success. SEO is changing, and we need to know the facts:

These facts all tie together – the huge influx of mobile use has led to an increase in mobile searching, which allows for voice activation. This in turn means we’re asking our phones fully formed questions when making a search. Instead of typing “B2B human resources”, people are now asking “Where can I find human resource advice for B2B organizations?” You know what all this means? Things need to change…

50% of B2B searches happen on a mobile device

The modern search averages at 7 words long

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20% of these searches are voice activated


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Don’t just humanize your marketing, humanize your brand

This is the key message. If you want a truly human touch to your entire marketing strategy, let your brand live and breathe as a “person” too.

This doesn’t have to be in a physical embodiment, like a mascot that’s present on every single piece of marketing – just take a moment to personify your brand. What do they wear? How do they talk? What do their friends think of them?

This is all hypothetical of course, but once you and your team have an idea of this “person”, let them speak through everything you do. If your brand is, in essence, a person, then you’ll be far closer to achieving that “human” touch, making every prospect feel safe and special. If we want to be fully ready for the future, we need to give our brands longevity, and the best way to do that, is change how people see you. Let them see you as human, instead of as machine.

“…personify your brand”


“ Because we’re in business-to-business instead

of human-to-human, we forget how to have human conversations.

It’s time to start sounding like humans again”

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It’s important that we don’t lose ourselves in the marketing machine, and embrace what makes us, as people and as a brand, individual, different and exciting. This is ultimately, what

makes us stand out; what makes us real and makes us human!

There are plenty of exciting ways to humanize your B2B marketing strategy, and in the long-run we’ll all be thankful for the time and effort spent in nailing that human touch. It not only

separates us from the crowd, but ensures our results stand the test of time, so we’ll see the success we want today, tomorrow and beyond.

More from Lead Forensics If you enjoyed this eBook, then why not look into some of our other free guides?

BLOG: The human touch: achieve humanization in a B2B marketing world

TOP TIPS: How your landing pages can increase conversion rates

INFOGRAPHIC: Prepare your B2B marketing department for success

INFOGRAPHIC: Making maximum use of your B2B digital marketing

BLOG: The beginners guide to B2B sales

SLIDESHARE: Effective multichannel models for marketing and sales

MELANIE SPRING (FOUNDER & CEO OF BRANDED CONFIDENCE)

https://blog.leadforensics.com/the-human-touch-achieve-humanization-in-a-b2b-marketing-world

https://convert.leadforensics.com/how-your-landing-pages-can-increase-conversion-rates

https://convert.leadforensics.com/prepare-your-b2b-marketing-department-for-success

https://convert.leadforensics.com/making-maximum-use-b2b-digital-marketing

https://blog.leadforensics.com/the-beginners-guide-to-b2b-sales

https://www.slideshare.net/Leadforensics/effective-multichannel-models-for-marketing-and-sales-102493836


All about Lead Forensics

Lead Forensics are proud to be the market leaders in new business lead generation software, identifying anonymous website visitors and providing

accurate, insightful information enabling effective, tailored follow up approaches.

We have a 96% customer satisfaction rating, with some customers seeing return on investment in excess of 10,000%! Without spending a penny, see how Lead Forensics can revolutionize how you search for new business and generate revenue.


GET STARTED

Our ground-breaking software comes in the form of a code, attached to the back-end of a website to monitor visitor behaviour and conduct reverse IP tracking. This information is then fed through the largest IP database in the world, and a list of website visits turns into a list of actionable hot leads, complete with business name & location, contact information for key decision makers and a full visit analysis covering pages views and website visit duration.



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