There was a time when posting a funny photo or jumping on a trending sound was enough to keep a brand relevant on social media, but it’s come a long way since then. Today, social media is crowded and fast-moving. People still want brands to feel human, but they also expect a bit more. They want content that’s helpful, thoughtful, and worth their time.
Humanising your brand still matters, there’s no doubt about that, but on its own, it’s no longer enough.
In this guide, we’ll look at how humanising your brand has moved past posting funny videos, why usefulness and credibility now matter just as much as personality, and how to approach social media in a way that feels human and valuable to your audience.
In simple terms, humanising your brand is creating a connection. People don’t build relationships with logos or perfectly polished messaging they see on social media. They connect with people, stories and ideas that feel familiar and genuine.
That hasn’t really changed; the “human touch” element of audience and engagement is still super important. But what has changed is what audiences expect once that connection is made.
Emotion still drives decision-making
People don’t make decisions based purely on logic. Emotion plays a major role, whether we realise it or not. Content that feels human is more likely to spark emotional responses like trust, reassurance, or curiosity. At the end of the day, humans relate to humans.
Those emotions influence how people remember your brand and whether they come back when they’re ready to act.
Connection builds familiarity
When a brand feels human, it naturally feels easier to approach. Familiarity takes the edge off and helps people feel more comfortable engaging, asking questions or starting a conversation. But familiarity on its own doesn’t hold attention for long.
These days, it needs to be backed up with something meaningful, whether that’s useful insight, thoughtful content, or a clear sense of what you stand for.
Credibility now matters just as much
In the earlier days of social media, being relatable was often enough to build credibility. Now that every brand is posting, simply showing up isn’t enough.
Audiences still want brands to feel human and approachable, but they also want reassurance that the people behind the content know what they’re talking about, can genuinely help solve problems, and are worth paying attention to over time.
Humanising your brand isn’t about being viral anymore
One of the biggest misconceptions businesses still hold is that success on social media comes from going viral. In reality, viral moments are more like one-hit wonders. They can generate a spike in attention, but they rarely build trust, loyalty, or long-term value. More often than not, the moment passes, and the content is quickly forgotten.
Today, the brands that perform best are those that post more than just a trending audio of a dance sequence or a concept that every other company has done in the past week. They’re building recognition over time by consistently showing up with human, helpful content that is relevant to their audience.
Humanising your brand now looks less like:
- one-off jokes
- trend hopping
- overly performative content
And more like:
- clear thinking
- helpful explanations
- familiar faces and voices
- consistency across platforms
What humanising your brand looks like today, and how to do it well
Modern humanised content does three things at once:
It provides value 💡
It feels approachable 🤝
It reflects how your brand actually works 🔍
Share your thinking, not just your origin story
Your story still matters, but it doesn’t stop at how your business began. People are just as curious about how you do your work, what you’ve learned along the way, how your thinking has changed, and what you’re seeing play out in your industry.
When you share those insights, your brand starts to feel more open, experienced and easy to trust, and that’s often where human content naturally grows into thought leadership.
Share your people (with purpose)
Your people are still one of your biggest assets. Showing them helps your audience see that your brand is made up of real humans, not just a service offering.
Content idea
Create a recurring “Meet the Team” or “Day in the Life” series that gives your audience a genuine look at who your people are and how they work. Each post can introduce one team member, show what their day actually looks like, and explain how their role supports clients or the wider team.
Keeping the format familiar makes it easy to repeat, while individual perspectives keep the content fresh and relatable.
Use these as an example:
Show faces, not just names
People connect with faces far more than with brand names or job titles. Showing real photos and videos of your team creates a sense of openness and trust that polished stock imagery simply can’t match.
This applies across everything you do online. Whether it’s social media, your website or email content, real people help your brand feel grounded and credible.
When someone can picture who they’ll be dealing with before they ever reach out, trust builds faster.
Use this as an example:
Post with a purpose, but don’t limit yourself
Trends can still perform well, but only when they serve a purpose. Rather than using them for the sake of it, look for ways to make them feel relevant to your brand, your message, and your audience. With a little bit of thought behind it, it feels intentional rather than forced, and that’s what makes it worth paying attention to.
Use this as an example:
Thought leadership doesn’t have to be loud
Thought leadership isn’t about having the strongest opinion or the biggest platform. It’s really just about sharing what you know, based on the work you’re already doing. That might be explaining why you recommend certain approaches, talking about patterns you’re seeing across clients, breaking down tricky topics in a simple way, or answering the questions that come up again and again.
The best part is, you don’t need to start from scratch. That blog you posted recently can easily become a social post, a quick how-to email you sent to a client can turn into a short video, and a conversation you’ve had in a meeting can become content that helps a much wider audience. It’s about making the most of what you already know, and sharing it in a way that feels natural and useful.
Use this as an example:
Personality still matters (just not at the expense of professionalism)
A strong example of humanised, useful content
This post from Fayt is a great example of human content that goes beyond being entertaining. It’s the CEO of an Australian clothing brand speaking directly to camera, sharing her own experience and thoughts around retail stores, boutiques and shopping centres. It’s conversational and based on her own experience.
This content builds genuine connection and trust because she’s open about her own situation, rather than saying what simply sounds good or presenting a perfectly rehearsed version. It feels human because it’s her voice, her perspective and her lived experience coming through, shared honestly instead of being filtered into brand messaging or overtly focused on promoting her clothing line.
And while owning a retail store isn’t something most people can directly relate to, it’s still an interesting experience that many CEOs don’t openly share. That openness on its own is often enough to spark curiosity and pull people in, sometimes far more effectively than jumping on the latest trending audio.
And to be clear, Fayt absolutely shares humorous, light-hearted content as well. That side of the brand is definitely still there. But this post shows that humanising your brand doesn’t always mean being funny or following a trend. Sometimes it’s about being open, thoughtful and willing to share what you’ve learnt.
Use this as an example:
Find a balance that works for your brand
Humanising your brand isn’t about putting on a persona or chasing moments of attention. It’s about showing up consistently, sharing your thoughts, and letting people see how you actually work and who’s behind it.
Today’s strongest brands build trust over time by being human, useful and recognisable across channels. If you can combine personality with perspective and visibility with value, social media becomes less about chasing attention and more about earning it over time.
Ready to show up on social with more intention? Let’s chat 👋
