What is H2H Marketing & How To Use It Successfully

Recent advances in technology have drastically changed the way we do marketing.

Businesses are increasingly adopting automation and AI technology in their marketing strategy, but is this actually helping?

Automation, bots and AI technology save time and decrease workload, but customers miss out on the human interaction and relationships that are still highly valued. That is why H2H marketing is here to stay.

What is H2H Marketing?

Human-to-Human, or H2H marketing, is the idea that behind every business or consumer, there is a human making the decision. H2H marketing taps into people’s emotions and connects with them on a personal level that they can relate to.

Why Does H2H Marketing Matter?

We as people are connected to our devices more than ever, but that doesn’t mean we stopped desiring human experiences and interactions.

If you can humanize your marketing and help your customers see the human side of your business, you will connect with them on a personal level, leading to an increase in engagement and conversions.

Where to Start with H2H Marketing

No matter what type of business you’re in, at the end of the day it comes down to humans, and that is why H2H marketing should be at the heart of everything you do.

So how does your business start implementing H2H marketing?

Here are six ways that your business can start applying H2H marketing in order to reach a deeper level of engagement with your audience:

1. Humanize your brand by being intentionally imperfect

It sounds counterintuitive, but making your content sound perfect takes the human side out of it.

When we write content, we try to make sure it’s perfect to avoid any mistakes. This often leads to the content sounding more robotic and losing its emotional appeal. It can also make it sound risky and untrustworthy to people.

Instead, write your content exactly how you would communicate it with your audience in person. Think about how you would present information if you were talking face-to-face with a customer, and write your content in this fashion.

H2H marketing is about making content relatable for your audience, which makes your business more trustworthy and engaging.

2. Share Your Story

One of the best ways to connect on a personal level with your audience is by telling your story. H2H marketing is about creating a narrative that resonates with people and gets them to care about it.

 

Talk about how and why the business got started and what are the values/motivations. Most importantly, highlight the people behind the business and connect it back to the audience in a way that relates to them on a human to human level.

3. Add a Human Touch to Your Bots

Bots are everywhere in business today and they are here to stay.

In a recent study by Outgrow, 56% of people would rather message a chatbot than call a customer service number.

Everyone knows that when they visit a website and see the pop-up chatbot in the lower right-hand corner that it’s a robot, but H2H marketing still needs to be applied here as well.

Instead of your bot sounding impersonal and robotic, add a human touch to it. Add playful humor to automated responses, give the bot a human name, and add a picture that will relate to your audience.

Even though people know they are talking to a bot, they will be reminded that there are real humans behind the scenes of your business making an effort to connect with them.

4. Utilize User-Generated Content (UGC)

People often have doubts about marketing claims that come directly from the company. However, when it comes to claims and opinions from their peers, people are much more likely to listen.

According to USM, 91% of people are influenced by word-of-mouth when making a buying decision. This means that user-generated content is a must for every H2H marketing strategy.

Encourage people to share their experience with your company, be engaged on social media, and make sure to follow up with your customers after they convert.

Advertising content directly from your customer is a great way to implement H2H marketing and shows the human side of your company.

5. Be Excited to Solve Problems

A major goal for any business should be to solve the problems of your customers.

In order to break through all the noise and marketing messages people experience every day, your company needs to set itself apart. Simply showing how much you care about your customers and how excited you are to solve their problems is a great way to do this.

Offer free content like e-books or how-to-guides, be quick and responsive when someone has a question or problem, and provide excellent customer service.

Showing your company cares about its customers with H2H marketing will help you connect with them on a deeper level.

6. Become Part of a Community

It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, there is always a community of like-minded individuals built around it.

Being a part of this community is not only a great way to reach more of your potential audience, but is also an opportunity to show how engaged and active you are with your audience base.

This is an important aspect of H2H marketing because it helps your company be proactive in addressing the issues and topics the community is talking about.

Getting Started with H2H Marketing

Although technology continues to advance, the human side of your company is still vitally important.

People may be more connected to their devices, but that does not mean the human side of marketing should be abandoned. In fact, implementing an H2H marketing strategy is more important than ever.

Technology is still a necessity for a business today, but don’t get so caught up in it that your company loses the human touch that your customers are looking for.

Avoid making your content and bots sound robotic and make it sound like a human wrote it.

Share your brand story, what motivates you, and the people behind your company.

Be eager to solve problems within the community of your industry and offer free resources to help.

Remember, we’re all human, and that is why H2H marketing is here to stay. It’s more than just marketing, it’s caring.