Give your content the edge: Over-index on humanity!

When it comes to creating content for your brand, one of my favourite tips I give over and over again is …

OVER-INDEX ON HUMANITY.

This can manifest itself in numerous ways. For example:

1. Stories

Tell genuine stories. It could be your story on how you’ve got to where you are today and the lessons you’ve learned along the way.

Or it could be other people’s stories. For example, tell the stories of your customers, or people in your broader community. REI Co-Op does this brilliantly. Ditto Envato.

Shine the spotlight on your team members, or partners.

Thinking more laterally, you might tell stories about a cause your brand supports.

Stories are a great way to humanise your brand and build a deeper emotional connection with your audience.

2. Faces

Show faces. Again, this could be your face, or other people’s.

Let’s see the faces of your employees.

And your board of directors.  Not boring staged shots polished within an inch of their life. Less Photoshop, more personality!

(For an example, check out Undandy.com)

Remember, people do business with people, not logos!

3. Videos

Publish videos that show the whites of people’s eyes: the managers and leaders in your business or organisation, the frontline troops who make things happen, the internal subject matter experts who provide insights and advice, the partners you work with, the people outside of your organisation with whom you collaborate.

(Check out videos below – Mr & Mrs Smith Travel Club for Hotel Lovers and Mirabeau Wine).

4. Social media

Let me rephrase that: Be social on social media.

One of the most powerful aspects of social media is that it allows people who traditionally have hidden behind the walls of a business, to come out into the wild and get amongst the peeps!

There is perhaps no better example of this than John Legere (left).

(Twitter bio: “Magenta-wearing, customer-loving @TMobile USA CEO focused on ending wireless pain points & scaring our competitors! Also, #IamBatman“)  Is that the best CEO Twitter bio you’ve ever read?.

Is this thing real?!? What an INCREDIBLE birthday cake with all of my favorite things! #Batman, #SlowCookerSunday, #LegereEmoji & more! EPIC! Thanks to Empire Cakes for making it! pic.twitter.com/zIflc2zNsn

— John Legere (@JohnLegere) June 4, 2018

Still at the big end of town, check out what ANZ Bank CEO, Shayne Elliott, is doing on Facebook.

On a smaller scale than T-Mobile and ANZ Bank, Lee Odden – head honcho at Top Rank Marketing – is a perfect example of a company CEO who gets out amongst it on social media.

Humanity!

It’s the secret sauce of today’s content-driven PR and communications.

If you want to differentiate the content you produce and stand out in a sea of sameness, think about over-indexing on humanity.

Focus on people. Their stories, ideas, insights, perspectives and opinions.

Inject humour and personality, or gravitas when needed.

Less editing, gloss and perfection, a little more rawness and genuine cred.