Many brands mistake being too formal or stuffy for professionalism, which makes them cold, distant, and somewhat robotic. And if we bear in mind the adage that people buy from people, it’s clear when you humanize your Instagram brand it goes a long way toward building genuine emotional connections with your customers and engaging them.

Instagram, a powerhouse for visual storytelling, can help you humanize your brand and create a relatable online personality your target audience will enjoy interacting with.

In this article, we’ll share some tips and tricks on how to make your Instagram account feel less like a showroom and more like a friendly hangout.

Run Giveaways

Nothing says “we respect and appreciate our audience,” like contests and giveaways.

These tactics can really amp up the fun and engagement on your Instagram, which makes them your secret weapon in humanizing your brand and forging deeper connections with your customers.

While it’s true that people love freebies, contests and giveaways aren’t just about prizes and rewards. They’re a fantastic way to inject personality into your brand and get your followers buzzing.

Think about it: Who doesn’t love the chance to win something awesome, some merch, a trip, or an annual gym membership? By hosting a contest, you’re offering a prize, but you also create a memorable experience and tap into the power of the reciprocity principle.

According to this psychological principle, when you give something of value, your audience is more likely to feel compelled to return the favor, whether through increased engagement, loyalty, or even purchases.

To start a giveaway, ask followers to share photos with your product, tag a friend in the comments, caption a funny meme related to your brand, or even come up with a creative use for your service.

This does double duty by getting your audience to interact with your brand in a fun way and providing you with lots of user-generated content that you can share to showcase real people loving your brand. Plus, who knows, you might even discover your next brand ambassador.

Pro Tip

Keep the contest rules simple and the prize relevant to your target audience. The goal is to build hype and make your brand feel approachable and exciting.

Going joined forces with Eagle Creek and organized a national park-themed giveaway on Instagram. This is an example of teaming up with a brand from an adjacent industry with a shared, overlapping audience.

This way, the reach and engagement for both companies while delivering greater value to their customers. The rules are extremely simple and easy to follow, and the prize is attractive — a true win-win.

Show the Face Behind the Brand

The best way to make a real connection with your audience is ditching the corporate facade and letting your personality shine through. If we bear in mind that 88% of consumers say authenticity is a key factor when deciding which brands to support, it’s clear that showing off the human side of your business can make all the difference.

Here’s how you can do it:

• Introduce your team. Encourage your employees to share their personal photos and stories. Give them a platform to share their passions, quirks, photos of their kids and pets, and even their favorite coffee orders. This will put a face to the name, and your company won’t come across as detached or impersonal.
• Go behind the scenes. Take your followers on a virtual tour of your office, store, or studio. Let them have a peek at the day-to-day work, the creative process, and the occasional blooper reel.
• Host Q&As and live streams. This is a great way to directly interact with your audience, answer their questions, and build rapport.

By letting your audience see that there are real people behind your brand, you’ll create a sense of authenticity and trust.

Proposify’s Instagram is jam-packed with photos and videos of their entire team. The brand is super pet-friendly to the extent that they established the Proposipet Spotlight posts where employees introduce their fur babies.

Such an approach flips the script on the traditional B2B image, replacing stuffiness with warmth and authenticity.

Engage with Your Followers

Everyone loves a little attention, and your Instagram audience is no different.

In fact, studies show that consumers follow brands on social media in hopes of some interaction.

So, how do you make them feel seen and heard?

• Respond to their comments and DMs. Social media marketing is a two-way street. The beauty of Instagram is that it allows you to communicate with your audience directly by responding to their questions or acknowledging their comments. This way, you’ll show genuine interest in what your followers have to say.
• Encourage user-generated content. Share posts where your product or service is featured, give shout-outs or even run UGC campaigns. As a result, your followers will feel like they’re part of your brand story instead of being passive recipients and consumers of your marketing messaging.
• Ask questions and run polls. Motivate or even incentivize your audience to share their thoughts and opinions. Not only does this boost engagement, but it also gives you valuable insights into what they like and want.

By sparking and actively participating in conversations with your customers, you’ll transform your Instagram from a broadcasting platform into a thriving community hub.

That’s exactly what Digestive Warrior does. This brand engages with the audience and takes time to respond to their comments, initiate conversations, and share their expertise on digestion and gut-health-related topics.

Leverage Emotional Storytelling

Harvard research revealed that a staggering 95% of purchasing decisions are subconscious and emotion-driven. This aligns perfectly with the saying, “People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.” It’s the emotional connection that truly motivates consumers and helps you humanize your brand.

This concept is further reinforced by another study, which found that customers who form an emotional bond with a brand are 52% more valuable than those who are merely satisfied. So, it’s safe to conclude that emotional marketing can be significantly more effective than its rational counterpart.

The best way to tap into the power of all those emotions on Instagram is by telling stories.

To build rapport and establish a more profound connection with your followers, don’t just tell them what your product does or talk about its amazing features. Instead of that, show them how it makes people feel.

Share stories of customers overcoming challenges, achieving goals, or simply enjoying life thanks to your brand. Use photos and videos that evoke joy and excitement, but don’t shrink from including a dash of nostalgia or bittersweet sentiments either.

Brand Examples

Bay Alarm Medical understands that sometimes, making your audience well up isn’t a bad thing. The brand’s genuinely moving videos of how elderly people can have fulfilling and meaningful lives strike the right chord with their audience. It’s very subtly implied that their products can help preserve that independence and security, which makes their emotional marketing strategy both powerful and persuasive.

Similarly, Transparent Labs breaks the mold of the traditional supplement industry tropes by eschewing the typical hyper-masculine imagery and instead focusing on authentic stories of personal transformation, vulnerability, and bouncing back after hitting the rock bottom.

Showing their followers that even the Titan can stumble and fall, offers a glimpse into the brand’s human side.

Make the Most of User-Generated Content

Glossy ads and visuals will definitely catch your customers’ eye, but it still comes across as a bit artificial. That’s where user-generated content comes in to save the day. This digital equivalent of word-of-mouth marketing works like a charm, mainly because it’s authentic and unstaged.

Thanks to this genuine feel, UGC builds trust like nothing else. It’s social proof that your brand delivers on its promises. Plus, it shows you have a community of passionate customers excited to share their experiences with your brand.

Your followers won’t mind a grainy snap or a video sans perfect production if they can see real people using your product or service. Given that most people trust recommendations from friends, family, and even others they don’t know personally, you can bet that UGC is the right type of content for your Instagram.

When you post your followers’ content on your Instagram, you also acknowledge them and make them feel seen and heard. Besides humanizing your brand, UGC will help you foster a sense of community and make your customers part of your brand story.

To start leveraging this practice, encourage your existing customers to share their stories, photos, and videos. Run contests, offer incentives, and make it easy for them to tag your brand on social media.

The Pinch Med Spa Instagram is a great example of UGC done right. It’s packed with happy customers’ photos and videos of themselves getting beauty treatments and demonstrating the results. This approach adds credibility to the brand and encourages others to share their experiences, creating a cycle of engagement and trust.

Add Value with Helpful Content

Your audience is most likely tired of constant pitches and brands trying to sell something.

Be different, and they will appreciate that. Instead of bombarding your followers with product promotions, try switching gears and offering them something of real value. Educational content is a fantastic way to connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Think about what your customers’ pain points are, what questions they frequently ask, and what information would make their lives easier or more enjoyable. By creating content that addresses these needs, you’ll position your brand as a helpful resource, not just another company trying to make a sale.

This could be anything from informative carousels highlighting industry trends to insightful captions sharing pro tips. You can even repurpose longer blog posts into bite-sized Instagram posts that make for an easy read/watch. Short how-to videos or teasers from podcasts or webinars that are relevant to your followers will also do.

Remember, the goal is to educate and inspire, not to sell at all costs.

By consistently providing valuable content, you’ll build trust and credibility with your audience. They’ll see you as an authority in your field, someone they can turn to for reliable information. And when they’re ready to make a purchase, guess who’ll they think of first? That’s right, the brand that helped them along the way.

DialMyCalls takes this approach to their Instagram strategy. The brand mainly posts videos and animations with tips and tricks relevant to their audience’s interests and needs. This way, even an occasional promotional post won’t be perceived as pushy or salesy.

Aura does the same with their posts as they use their Instagram profile to talk about best Amazon repricing practices and explain how their product works — something their followers are interested in.

Spice Up Your Posts with Some Humor

Nobody says brands can’t have a sense of humor.

Quite the opposite!

A well-placed joke or witty caption can go a long way in humanizing your brand and connecting with your audience on a personal level. Don’t be afraid to show your personality and let loose a little.

Take a cue from Wendy’s, one of the biggest players in the fast-food industry. The brand’s entire social media strategy revolves around roasting competitors, particularly McDonald’s.

So, instead of sticking to nice but cookie-cutter posts, lighten things a bit with some sass. A playful jab at a competitor or a self-deprecating joke can make your brand seem more relatable and approachable.

Of course, it’s important to understand your audience and what they find funny. What works for one brand might not work for another. The key is to stay true to your brand voice and values while injecting a bit of lightheartedness into your content.

Humor can be especially effective at breaking down barriers, which is something that B2B brands can benefit from. A funny meme or a witty response to a comment can help you stand out in a sea of serious content.

Remember, the goal is to entertain and engage, not to offend. So keep it light, keep it relevant, and most importantly, have fun with it.

Mannequin Mall showcases their brand persona through the use of funny captions combined with visually appealing displays. This approach creates an engaging and memorable experience for their audience while highlighting their fashion-forward and playful brand identity.

Wrapping Up

Digital marketing needs a human touch to be effective, and that’s something that can truly set your brand apart from the crowd.

By embracing authenticity, sharing real stories, providing valuable content, and even sprinkling in a bit of humor, you can forge deeper connections with your audience.

Follow these tips, you can build a loyal and engaging Instagram community, which will translate to more website visits and conversions.