In a world where marketers rely on technology to communicate with customers, taking a step back and implementing a business-to-human (B2H) approach is a strategic way for companies to increase trust and confidence in their brands. We examine the importance of this topic in-depth and share more ways that can lead marketers to success. Let’s get started.
What is Business-to-Human Marketing?
Business-to-human marketing shifts the focus from targeting a broad customer base to looking at each customer as an individual with unique wants and needs. It comes down to this – every customer wants to feel seen and heard, and that’s the key point B2H marketing aims to address.
Taking this more emotional approach to marketing can help marketers empathise with what gets their customers excited and discover how their product or service offerings can benefit them. Furthermore, it can also help build a more purposeful work environment and give marketers the support they need to better understand their customers.
How Does Business-to-Human Marketing Differ from Other Types of Marketing?
Not to be confused with brand humanisation, B2H marketing refers to the way a company addresses and markets to potential customers. On the other hand, brand humanisation refers to how customers perceive a brand. What makes B2H marketing unique is the idea of looking at the human behind the customer and treating them as such.
Business-to-business marketing or B2B marketing is another strategy to differentiate from B2H. It entails promoting and distributing a product or service to another company. In other words, it is marketing used to target and sell to other businesses instead of customers. With this strategy, the primary aim is to convert leads into sales for improved profit.
Read Here: 2022 B2B Marketing Trends: What We’ve Seen So Far
What Are the Advantages of Business-to-Human Marketing?
Implementing a business-to-human marketing strategy can bring about many benefits for marketers. Let’s have a look at the three below:
- Builds long-lasting customer relationships
Using B2H to create a personalised experience can help you connect with customers on a deeper level. By understanding your customers’ goals and providing solutions that are tailored to their needs and interests, you’ll be able to not only get them to speak positively about your brand, but you’ll also gain their loyalty and trust. This is an effective way of retaining customers and building a good brand reputation.
- Allows you to have fun with your brand
Keep in mind that businesses employ humans and since humans desire connections and stories, this could be a fantastic opportunity to explore and discover what type of communication works best for your brand and customers while creating a more cohesive brand identity.
- Increases customer and employee satisfaction
Since people thrive off communication, having a balance of empathy, understanding, and forgiveness when speaking to each other can be an exceptional benefit to both customers and employees.
How Can Marketers Implement this Strategy?
Times have changed and brands are not only focusing on encouraging customers to make a purchase. Instead, a personal connection needs to be built first and brands need to show customers that they stand for a noble cause. Here are three areas to focus on when personalising your marketing:
- Prioritise being empathetic
As previously mentioned, put customers at the centre of your marketing efforts and dive deep into what their interests and experiences are. This added form of support can help your brand gain loyal customers.
- Focus on human-to-human interaction
Acknowledge the people that you are connecting with by referring to them by name. This will make them feel seen, resulting in a long-term authentic relationship.
- Use technology in your marketing
With technology facilitating a more direct line of communication, your brand can use data analytics to create enthralling customer experiences across all communication platforms.
Read Here: Experiential Marketing: How Brands Can Create Captivating Customer Experiences
Creating a Business-to-Human Marketing Experience
It is vital to make people feel that your organisation is investing in the business-to-human relationship as this will make them feel like your brand is more relatable and relevant when it comes to their buying experience. Here are some ways that can help you push forward:
- Use the power of perception
The key to succeeding in this regard is by ensuring that customers see your story as their story. This will allow you to connect with them on an emotional level which will lead to more meaningful interactions.
- Avoid mistaking personalisation for humanness
Take into consideration how customers are feeling about the set problem they are confronting. Figure out how you as a brand can help them solve that specific query. Providing a relevant message in your content can get you further than creating content based on what you think your customer needs.
- Invite participation with your experiences
Think of creative ways to get your customers involved in your content, from creating online quizzes to producing awe-inspiring content that will encourage them to act. Keeping the conversation flowing will build customer confidence.
More Reading: Visual Storytelling: Exploring Content Marketing from A Different Lens
Over to You
Now is the time for you to use business-to-human marketing to create a positive, reputable relationship with your customers. Take your brand to substantial heights with this innovative strategy.