Why you should take a human-first approach to marketing

Building authenticity with human-created strategies

Think of some of the biggest brands in the world, what makes them so popular with their customers? 

Is it because they’ve cultivated a brand story that people feel affiliated with? Have they formed a connection with their community where customers become advocates? Have they generated brand trust that builds long-lasting loyalty? 

Building a brand means driving awareness and creating trust with customers. It takes time to cultivate because you’re building emotional connections with people. 

So if you want to build long-lasting relationships with your customers, you need to create human-centred strategies. 

AI is there to help – not replace – copywriters

Imagine you’re waiting on some important news, and when it comes through, it’s an AI-generated response. How would that make you feel? Like you weren’t worth the time and effort of a genuine reply?

If you see AI-generated content online, it’s the same thing – you can tell it was written using prompts, so it lacks authenticity. If it doesn’t feel authentic, it doesn’t feel trustworthy. 

If you’re trying to build trust, why would you use AI-generated content to connect with people on an emotional level? 

AI is there to help your content team to streamline processes and make research easier, but it shouldn’t be used to replace the nuance and emotional intelligence of a copywriter who understands user behaviour, consumer intent and customer desire. 

Communities are built on people feeling connected, so focus on creating human-first strategies that prioritise audiences’ needs and not just on creating content to satisfy search engines.

Brand storytelling is still important 

Of course, people have access to a wide range of brands when they’re shopping online nowadays, but it’s how you position your brand in the market that matters. 

Your brand story helps you to effectively communicate your mission, values and brand personality – all important features when people are choosing a brand to work with or buy from. 

Focusing on your brand story helps to humanise your brand, which in turn…

1. Enables people to form an emotional connection with your brand:  if people align with your values, they build an affiliation with your brand 
2. Creates a point of difference in a crowded marketplace: Celebrating what makes you unique helps to set you apart from your competitors 
3. Builds authentic connections: If you don’t have a huge budget for advertising, building an authentic connection with your audience that turns customers into advocates will help drive positive awareness for your brand

SEO is still important 

When a search engine indexes a page on your website, it’s collating information about what your website is about and who it’s suitable for. The keywords that are tracked help determine how your website ranks organically on search engine results pages (SERPs). 

Of course, we’re seeing how GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) is interrupting SERPs by prioritising AI search and rich snippet features, such as ‘people also ask’, in immediate page results. And while this can help build trust when your website or content is cited as a trustworthy source in AI searches, you still need to focus on the wider factors of search engine, and optimisation, specifically E-E-A-T.

E-E-A-T is Google’s quality framework for evaluating content and it helps both search engines and AI systems determine whether your website is a credible source for information. 

E-E-A-T stands for… 

Experience – Have customers enjoyed a genuine experience with your brand? How have your products or services been rated in the real world? You can demonstrate this through case studies and via review sites, like Google Reviews.  

Expertise – How you demonstrate knowledge, experience and skills via your website and through the promotion of digital PR that links back to your website

Authoritativeness – Being cited as a credible source of information tells search engines and AI systems that you are a trustworthy source of information

Trustworthiness – If you have strong client testimonials and case studies and if your website is linked to or mentioned as a credible source online, you’re deemed a trustworthy business to partner with 

Real voices matter

If you want your business to be seen as credible, you need to tap into the expertise of your people and seek out commentary opportunities. 

This could take the form of online recommendations from your team, thought-leadership pieces through brand PR or via news requests through digital outreach. 

Customers want to know they’re dealing with experts, and your people are a valuable asset to helping you build brand trust and credibility. 

Quote people by name, create profiles for them on your CMS system so you can create content that’s attributed to them, and if they’re happy for you to link to their LinkedIn profile, do it – it will help authenticate the experts in your business. 

Focus on authentic campaigns 

Give your customers a reason to engage with your brand online by creating opportunities for them to connect with you. 

A great way to do this is with social media giveaways that encourage people to take specific action in the hope of getting something in return, this could be a product or service that they value. 

It’s also a fantastic way to widen brand reach as your audience will happily engage and share content online that will capture the attention of their followers. 

This endorsement is a powerful way to continue to build engaged communities online. 

Take this case study for example: a simple social media giveaway by A.D. Branded Solutions helped the brand reach 382K people and generate a 12% uplift in followers. 

Marketing Strategies led by emotional intelligence 

Everything we do at Think EQ is guided by our principles to use emotional intelligence in all aspects of digital marketing.

From looking at audience profiles and market analysis to observing the way visitors interact with your website. We focus on the person to create user-centric strategies that build deeper, human connections between brands and customers. 

Take a look at our case studies here.