When in-person meetings and trade shows were the norm, restaurants, conference rooms and event halls were filled with natural conversations where salespeople learned about and responded to prospect and customer needs. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case, as Covid-19 largely eliminated in-person meetings. However, buyers still expect that same level of human-to-human (H2H) connection in the digital world, forcing companies to rethink their traditional strategies through the lens of online interactions.
But giving online interactions a personal touch is complicated. Marketers lack visibility into non-verbal communication, missing almost all feedback and losing track of prior engagements across channels and platforms.
However, a Catch-22 is created as companies turn their attention toward digital conversations: People are becoming overwhelmed with the number of messages they’re receiving. Consequently, response rates are waning and organizations are faced with bloating budgets as costs rise to maintain their previous levels of engagement.
When coupled with the increase in digital communication for personal and business activities, organizations are facing significant competition for buyers’ attention. Rather than sending more messages that dial up the volume of the digital noise, organizations must instead humanize their marketing. Throughout this report, we’ll analyze the creation of H2H marketing campaigns by discussing:
- Why organizations can’t solely rely on third-party data;
- Best practices of creating human connections;
- Strategies of merging multiple data sources to create a full view of the buyer and/or buying committee;
- How to operationalize intent data in all forms; and
- The technology needed to assist in the humanization process.
