Source: unsplash.com
Your brand needs to be relatable to your target audience in order to have the most impact. If your website visitors can’t identify with you or your core values, they are not likely to convert.
One of the most impactful ways to lend your brand the kind of appeal it deserves is to humanize it by using clever website design elements to convey your messaging.
Let’s examine five ways to achieve this.
Show Your Product in Use
If you’re running an ecommerce business, you’re already well aware of the importance of presenting your products. The product images you use can make the difference between a bounce and a sale, so you definitely want to make sure they are high-quality.
Stock photos you may have acquired from your manufacturer won’t cut it. For a more impactful effect, you’ll want to shoot your own images and show each product actually being used.
The way you shoot these images can speak volumes about your brand. As you will likely feature real people using your products, your visitors will be able to imagine themselves in the same situation more easily.
Take a look at how Minaal is doing it. All of their product pages feature some stock imagery showing the product but then go on to show the product being used in a variety of ways.
Source: minaal.com
These bespoke images are what showcases the brand’s aesthetic and makes it much more relatable.
Show Your Team
The ultimate way to humanize your brand is, of course, to feature some humans on your pages.
You can feature photos of your customers, whether incorporated into user reviews and testimonials or simply as the visual part of the page. Or, you can feature images of your employees and team members.
If you are in the service industry, simply showing your staff in action and showcasing how you do what you do can inspire a conversion. After all, services are intangible, and it can be quite difficult to know what to show.
Mrs. Property Solutions has done a great job of featuring herself on her homepage. There are plenty of images of Cristina and her clients, so you’ll have no doubts as to who you will be working with.
Source: mrspropertysolutions.com
In her line of work, clicking with a person is incredibly important, and her images do a great job of communicating her personality.
Use Video
Video is another great way to humanize your brand, improve your engagement rates, and add more interest to your pages.
It gives you the opportunity to tell a deeper story and show your visitors what you are all about. No still image or text can ever communicate as many messages in as little time as a short video can.
If you do choose to add a video to your landing page(s), use it precisely for this purpose. Don’t make it just another promotional video, the likes of which your audience has seen one too many times. Turn it into a story.
Wistia created a video jam-packed with action and interest. It’s just 1.40 minutes long, but it tells you everything you need to know about the brand: they are energetic, their solutions work, and they don’t take themselves too seriously.
Source: wistia.com
Showcase Your Social Media Presence
One of the best ways to engage with your audience is to have an active social media presence. Since we’re talking about website design, the way to capitalize on this potential is to clearly showcase your social media profiles on your website.
Remember that you don’t need to be active on a huge range of social media platforms. One will suffice, as long as you’re reachable there and as long as that’s where your target audience hangs out.
You can also set up profiles on multiple networks and use them as more of a business card than a conversion-driving outlet.
Spores, for instance, gives you 8 different ways to contact and engage with them. And while the brand is not heavily engaged across all of them, it can still be found and followed by a wider range of interested people.
Source: spores.app
Find Your Voice
Finally, you also want to ensure that your website is an adequate representation of who you are as a brand. Don’t just look to create a website – aim to create an extension of your brand identity.
Every element of your design can speak volumes about who you are. That includes the color story you choose, your images, how you describe your products and services, and more.
Make sure that your copywriting voice matches the voice of the design as well. If your copy is very serious but your design is playful, your audience will be confused by the mixed messaging.
Firebox has done a good job of matching all of its voices.
Source: firebox.com
The brand prides itself on being different and unique, and this comes across very well on the website. Their product descriptions are funny but informative, and their imagery is often tongue in cheek.
Final Thoughts
Website design allows you to tell countless stories. It is the ultimate vessel for humanizing your brand and showing your visitors who you really are. Make sure to always consider both your brand identity and your audience’s preferences when making a design decision. With that approach, you’re bound to see improvements in engagement rates as well as conversions.
