A few months ago, an email went around a company* with the following subject line: Talk more, email less. What followed was a short, honest plea for the agency’s staff to do just that—as a shop of less than 20, it was just as easy to stand in the middle of the room and talk to everyone as it was to send an email to a colleague 10 feet away, but they might have been relying on hitting the send button a little too often. It was kind, well-intentioned, and….well, an email. The hilarious irony of the situation just served to call out what we’re all occasionally guilty of—surrounded by technology that makes our lives easier, we sometimes forget the importance of the actual human interaction.
At MadisonMott, we talk a lot with our clients about the importance of selecting the right channels for the right messages—all with an eye toward the most effective delivery. Every message, every experience, is a touch point that influences how end-consumers will feel about your brand. It should be no surprise that this rings true when choosing the digital vs the physical to deliver a message or have a conversation.
We live in a time where technology is almost seamlessly integrated into our daily experience, and the digital serves a really important role in working smarter and iterating faster. But it’s just a tool. Whether it’s ensuring that your customers have a quick way to get a real human on the phone when they have trouble, or high-five-ing your staff over drinks after a successful late-night rally, adding a little extra humanity into your interactions can go a long way towards keeping the right people happy. And that’s way more on brand than you might think.
*We’re sworn to secrecy, sorry.