Human touch is vital in digital and direct marketing
Could your email and direct mail campaigns benefit from adding a human element?
Marketing and sales people have always strived to identify a repeatable marketing strategy or channel to grow sales. But, one size does not fit all because every company and its owners have different goals and personalities.
Creating a connection with your target audience through direct marketing campaigns greatly increases the level of responses. 93% of B2B companies use email to distribute content and for every £1 spent on email marketing, £42 is generated.
With this kind of return, it makes sense to use email as much as possible in your marketing campaigns. Direct mail offers a response rate nearly four times higher than email, even though it only has a 30% opening rate.
However, they both have something missing and that is a human to communicate with potential clients about products or services whilst identifying a customers need at the same time.
The human element creates customer satisfaction
Marketers know it’s not as simple as sending out any old content to your customers.
“The digital world has power because it has dynamic information, but it’s important that we stay human instead of being another machine sitting in front of a machine.”
– Pranav Mistry
Nearly 100% of B2B businesses use email to distribute content, so you need to stand out. A boring, linear marketing campaign isn’t enough to get your company and its products seen and heard.
Any potential customer is constantly presented with marketing that reflects highly sophisticated analytics and is created with care. But when the focus is on data, numbers, and trends, businesses forget to connect with existing customers.
Human touch is essential to your small business because without it, you will lose potential customers and waste money. The following tips will help you avoid the easy mistake of being faceless in your outreach.
Approach 1 – show who you really are
You should present your company professionally, but not so professionally that it is impossible to see the person behind it. Make sure your company stands out with personality and purpose. There’s always room for engaging copy, which emphasises the people behind your organization.
Even in a digital age, people buy people first.
Approach 2 – include some behind-the-scenes information
A prospect gains a deeper understanding of your business when they meet the faces behind your products and services.
It’s always a good idea to have a ‘meet the marketing team’ or ‘day in the life of’ section that will allow customers to see who’s behind the company.
Approach 3 – target, target, target
Rather than sending out a direct mailing to everyone, choose a different approach.
Select an audience with a higher spending power to reduce the cost of your mailing.
Keep your message targeted.
If you offer a range of services, choose one or two that are relevant to your target market. Often overlooked in the excitement of designing and executing marketing campaigns is one very key point.
A customer may respond via social media platforms, email, or phone and say they don’t need it now, but will later. Be sure to nurture and maintain the customer in your pipeline.
Many companies spend so much time and money looking for immediate sales that they forget about the longer B2B sales cycle. Most customers are surprised when a business listens and keeps in touch.
This shows them that you value them.
Approach 4 – contact, contact, contact
Using telemarketing services in your marketing campaigns is a great way to show the human element of your company.
A human voice helps your email and direct mail campaigns. Even the best copywriters can’t match a direct one-to-one connection.
The human voice was considered by some the most important technology of 2017. This article highlights how technological advancements can never beat the human voice.
If businesses want to stay relevant, they have to consider the human voice in their interactions with customers.
More Than Words Note: Read our recent case studies to find out how telemarketing benefitted a training consultancy and vending machine company.
Approach 5 – make your relationship with clients two-way with a human element
Avoid only delivering content to clients and potential clients that is totally about your business. So, you should include something that people would not only want to read or watch, but would also want to share.
Ask questions, highlight specific news about their sector or provide a solution so you engage with your audience and they can relate to your company easily. Information without conversation will only rob campaigns of their humanity.
What do we have in common?
Identifying a target group and creating an engaging message can be done in a repeatable way. Variable factors can affect how people respond to this message, as outlined above.
Businesses that are successful in securing new clients use a mix of email marketing, digital marketing, social media, telemarketing, and direct mail. Working with a knowledgeable B2B marketing database provider will help you identify your target group and ensure that you are purchasing GDPR compliant lists.
Working with More Than Words to add the human element
There is so much you can do to make your email or direct mail campaigns more human, and we’d like the chance to work with you on it.
In addition to the above tips, we recommend that you think creatively about how you can show the very heart of who you are as a business. Any business projecting personality in their marketing stands out in an increasingly faceless digital world.
Click here to meet the sales team at More Than Words or browse our client case studies.
To work with More Than Words on your email marketing campaigns and telemarketing campaigns call us on 0330 010 8300.
Or click here to email our direct marketing team.
