With a new year and a clean slate for your brand to grow , it's important to think about the marketing efforts you're going to be making in 2017. Online presence is larger and more influencial than ever before. For some, a great deal of time and hope has been spent building this creative platform and now it's time for both the marketer and consumer to capitalize and expand. In the blog below, we'll discuss how to humanize your social media marketing strategy and why it's important for your business.

Humanizing your brand on social media allows your business to connect with your target audience and industry influences on both a personal and professional level. Here's how:

1. Provide Solutions

First and foremost is the power to provide solutions to your audience. In our Inbound Marketing world, it's important  to be able to provide help and share knowledge with those seeking guidance in that field.  Wondering what solutions your customers may be searching for? Try thinking of a product you sell, and identify the problem or inconvenience that it solves for your customers. Once you've identified this entry point, try using some long tailed keywords to create content that catches the eye and solves a solution for your social media user. Providing help and feedback is a great way to develop customer loyalty.

2. Engage In Conversations

Humanizing your social media marketing is very important to the evolution of your digital presence. Small gestures go a long ways across the digital landscape. Reach out to both your customers as well as strangers for a special thank you or just the sole purpose of interacting. Using "every day language" is a surprisingly fast method for building rapport.

3. Video Marketing

Video marketing is the #1 trending social media marketing strategy as we begin to conquer the new year. It allows you to deliver a powerful message in a short but to-the-point piece of shareable  content.  Use video to humanize your social media marketing strategy by:

Showing Multiple Angles- Video marketing allows you to show numerous sides of a story or different view points without providing the confusion that may result from attempting the same in an "all text article."

Put A Face To A Name- In many industries, the consumers never get to actually see or interact with the people they are purchasing from. Using video marketing content to humanize your social media marketing efforts allows you to put bring your employees voices to life and let your customers put a face to a name. Whether it's a complaint, compliment or question, most customers will react best when they are able to know who they're speaking with. 

Let People In- Whether you're operating out of a storefront, warehouse, office building or bakery, video marketing let's you give your audience an "inside look" at your operation.  A video walk through, personal introduction or behind the scenes tour of your facility is a great way to make your customers feel more comfortable about who they are working with and purchasing from.

More Talking Less Selling

Social media marketing is all about connecting with your target audience. Save the business conversations for phone calls and meetings. Humanize your social media marketing by interacting with your customers and audience using a friendly approach,  providing them solutions and encouraging them to grow. Your social media goal should be to build, grow and engage with a community and not just directly sell a product. 

Social Media Marketing doesn't have to be confusing and 2017 can be the year for your business to shine!