The internet has leveled the playing field. No longer do you need to build a brand identity, find your audience, and create content to gain credibility and sell your product. You can now connect with consumers, conduct business, and earn money all from the comfort of your home.

The same can’t be said for traditional marketing. While the tactics may change, the purpose remains the same: to get people to believe in, like, and trust you so they’ll buy your product or service. But what happens when you want to market to humans?

When you’re focusing on marketing to humans, especially online, you’ll notice a significant difference in the way you interact with customers. To best support our customers and build a long-term trusting business relationship, we need to earn their trust. Just like with any business relationship, we need to earn the right to be in business with them. In order to do that, we need to understand their needs, wants, and expectations.

Marketing to humans online is a lot like marketing any other product or service. You’ll need to establish your credibility and that you’re a trusted advisor or expert, establish trust and consistency of messages, and develop a plan to achieve your objectives. But beyond that, you’ll need to consider how to interact with customers, build a rapport, and become a true partner in their quest for happiness.

Step 1: Decide What You’re Trying To Achieve

The first step in establishing any business relationship is to determine what you’re trying to achieve. What is your end game? What do you hope to see happen as a result of your marketing efforts?

If you’re just getting started, make sure you have a clear idea of what you’re trying to achieve before you invest time and effort in any kind of marketing campaign. Otherwise, you may be wasting your precious marketing dollars before you’ve even begun to make an impact. You might be trying to generate sales, attract new customers, or increase trust and credibility with current customers. Determine what you’re trying to achieve before you start making marketing decisions or develop a strategy. Once you do, you can begin to implement your plan. If you don’t have a clear idea of what you’re trying to achieve, it’ll be difficult to map out your strategy and measure your success. Which leads us to our next point.

Step 2: Define Your Audience

The next step is to define your audience. Who are you speaking to, and what are they like? What do they value in life, and how can you provide value in return?

When developing your marketing strategy, consider who you’re trying to reach and how you can attract them to your cause. The better you know your audience, the better you can tailor your strategy to achieve the results you’re looking for. As a marketer, you might have a general idea of who your audience is — people like you who are looking for a lifestyle blog. But to best support them, you need to know more. You need to understand what they value in life, what makes them tick, and why they’re on this website in the first place.

If you want to attract and retain customers, you need to provide value. What do your customers value in life? Is it fitness, style, or family? All of these things can be found on social media platforms, but you can’t rely on social media to tell you who your audience is. Consider the people around you and how you can provide value to them. Start by looking for your audience’s problems and providing solutions. If you want to create a successful marketing strategy, you need to consider your audience’s needs, wants, and expectations. As a marketing manager, I might approach my audience with a specific set of problems my product solves. While my goal is to sell the product, their goal is to find solutions to their problems.

Step 3: Determining How You’ll Measure Success

The next step is to determine how you’ll measure success. What will you use to determine whether or not your efforts were successful?

To begin, you might want to consider the basics: sales, branding, and traffic. But beyond that, you need to develop a more precise set of metrics. How will you know if your marketing strategy is working? You need to measure it. To best understand how effective your marketing efforts are, you need to look at the results.

You might find that getting a $5 donation from a customer works better than getting a $500,000 sale. Maybe a free t-shirt for every person who signs up for your newsletter results in more engaging content than a paid ad campaign. Consider what you’re measuring, and make sure you have a clear idea of what results to expect from each strategy and tactic you implement.

Step 4: Create A Marketing Plan

After you’ve determined your strategy and set of metrics, you need to create a plan to achieve those results. What are your plans for generating sales, attracting new customers, and increasing trust and credibility with current customers?

Your plan should include specific goals and a budget. But more importantly, you need to consider how you’ll measure your success and what will happen if you don’t meet the goals you’ve set. How will you know if your plan is working? You need to measure it.

The better you know what you’re striving for and how you’ll know when you’ve reached your goal, the better you can create a plan to get there. Without a clear idea of where you’re headed and how you’ll know when you reach your destination, it’ll be difficult to map out your strategy and determine whether or not it was a success. You might find yourself wasting time and effort with tactics that don’t produce the results you’re looking for.

Step 5: Identify Key Decision Makers (KDM)

If you want to create and carry out a successful marketing plan, you need to consider your key decision makers (KDMs). What are their roles and responsibilities? What decision-making factors must they consider?

You must identify at least the high-level functions and key responsibilities of those involved in making procurement, strategic, and financial decisions. This will help you position yourself as a trusted advisor or expert who can provide value in making these decisions. To carry out your plan, you’ll need to involve key stakeholders, including your customers, in the decision-making process. They should have a say in how their product or service is used and what features are prioritized. The better you understand their roles and responsibilities, the better you can develop an effective strategy and achieve your goals.

While developing your marketing plan, consider the following:

• Your plan
• Your strategy
• Your key decision-makers
• How will you measure your success?
• What happens if you don’t meet the goals you’ve set?
• What are your short- and long-term goals?
• How will you know if your plan is working?
• Specific tasks you’ll need to carry out to implement your plan

With these steps, you’ll find yourself in a much better position to market to humans. You’ll know what you’re aiming for and how you’ll measure your success. Best of all, you’ll have a clear idea of what to do next.