“5 Trends To ‘Humanize’ Your Marketing in 2020″

As technology and the online world advances, automation and software are now doing much of the marketing that was done by humans before.   Yes, we’ve always had some sort of multi-touch marketing in various forms, but people are now longing for more personalized connection with a brand today.  If you can “humanize” your marketing and build a true relationship with your customers, you’ll win the lion’s share of the business in your industry. 

Below are 5 trends that can help your business do just that.

Conversational Marketing

I recently posted a short blurb on my social media profiles about the trend of “conversational marketing.” This is marketing that’s more of a conversation with your prospects and customers.  It’s more intimate than simply relegating your marketing to software and automation.  In the digital age, responding to customer requests quickly is mandatory and doing this in real time can give you an edge over your competition.

Personalization

The term “personalized marketing” was a buzzword—and trend—in 2019. This will continue to be even more important in 2020.  People prefer to do business with people as opposed to a faceless business or corporate entity. They want to know the people who serve them in your business who they can interact with.  

According to a study in instapage.com, they found:

• 63% of consumers are highly annoyed with generic advertising blasts.
• 80% say they are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences.
• 90% claim they find personalization appealing.

  This personalization includes your content, emails and even products.  Your customers want to feel like they matter in an impersonal world.  So personalizing your marketing collateral by attempting to communicate with your prospects can do wonders for your relationship with them.  

Customer Experience

The customer experience is a business trend that continues to gain traction as the marketplace in virtually every industry and niche has become extremely competitive.  After the Great Recession many products and services became commoditized.  That is, price essentially became the only differentiating factor in a given industry.  Providing a stellar, “wow” experience for your customers from start to finish, and at every touch point you have with them, can truly differentiate an organization and set it apart from the competition.  This has continually proven to be true because customer service is so poor in the majority of businesses.  Simply providing a consistently positive experience for your customers every time can not only differentiate you but also build loyalty, but also turn customers into “raving fans” as management guru Ken Blanchard calls them. 

Communication Preference

Communicating with your prospects and customers in a way they prefer can give you an edge. Many businesses may use social media and email as their primary form of communication. If you can use a phone number, Facebook chatbot, text and voice messaging, in addition to email, this can increase your customer loyalty as well.  Consumers today have preferences. Preferences  include how they consume content (video, audio or text) as well as how they prefer a business to communicate with them.  If you can communicate with customer in the way they prefer, this also gives you an edge.  This takes testing and monitoring but if done properly can help nurture and strengthen your relationship with them. 

Branding

Branding will become even more important in 2020.  Brand-building should be a priority for any size business.  Whether you’re a personal or business brand, making yourself or business accessible to your followers and customers—and letting them know you’re open to their communication— is a way to build trust with them.  It’s one thing to be identified quickly because of your logo, content and other marketing collateral.  The real test is how responsive to client inquiries, requests and complaints.  Service to your customers should be the  priority over the brand itself.

As things continue to change in the online world, there are certain truisms of doing business that will never change.  One of these things is taking care of your customer in the most efficient and expedient manner possible.  As I’ve always said, he who takes care of the customer the best will win.