Forget B2B and B2C. Here’s Why Your Best Marketing Strategy is Human to Human.
How genuine connection, not just visibility and metrics, creates the relationships that lead to referrals, collaborations, and lasting small business growth.
When you think about marketing, what comes to mind probably has something to do with tools, tech, or a system. (Like email newsletters, a social media post, even a flyer posted around town… those kinds of things.)
You’re not wrong! My marketing work with clients basically always involves building systems (even/especially simple ones) and setting up useful tools. This creates a solid structure where everything's in place.
After that… awesome stuff happens. Clients get invited to speak on a podcast they never pitched. A past client reaches out with a new project because they happened to stay in touch. Someone they met for coffee six months ago refers an amazing customer their way. Opportunities start flowing from places that don't show up in Google Analytics.
You might read that and think, “Well, yeah, you set up all the marketing stuff to make that happen!” And that’s true, but…
Cool stuff like this actually happens because a human showed up and made a connection.
It wasn’t the tools, tech, the algorithm, a perfectly optimized landing page, or any other “marketing thing” that prompted the podcast invite or the referral, right?
It was a person! A human having conversations, building relationships, staying in touch with people.
And that’s why I’m all about H2H (human to human!) marketing instead of B2B or B2C, because human connection and engagement is literally the piece that makes everything else work. Let’s dive in.
There's a Human on Both Sides of Every Business Transaction (and that Changes Everything)
When I'm building marketing strategy for clients, I'm always thinking: there's a human running this business, and there are humans they're trying to reach.
That might sound obvious, but it actually shifts everything about how I approach the work in a really practical, actionable way.
You've probably heard of B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to consumer) marketing, and both of those approaches can miss something crucial.
A lot of B2B marketing assumes that purchases are completely rational and analytical - that they’re all about the ROI and the spreadsheets. But there are actual humans making those purchasing decisions! And those humans have emotions, preferences, and gut feelings.
In B2C marketing, there's often a focus on volume and mass reach. How can we get in front of more people? How can we scale this? How can we get more customers? But you're not marketing to a crowd in the abstract: that crowd is made up of individual humans who want to feel seen and understood, not marketed at.
That's why I favor a H2H (human to human) approach. This method prioritizes “unfancy” yet super effective marketing that creates lasting business growth: staying in touch with people over time, building referral networks through real relationships, communicating like a real person, and recognizing that you - the human running the business! - are essential to making your marketing work.
Here’s are two examples of how the human element makes all the difference:
We had to get a new roof recently (agh, so stressful, do not recommend!), and the roofing company we hired was so great during the sales process. They answered our questions, seemed really attentive, and made us feel confident in our decision to go with them. But after we paid, the attentiveness from their end dropped off immediately, the roof got installed incorrectly (we had to point this out), they had to come back multiple times to fix it, and there was zero communication about what was happening.
From a metrics perspective, their marketing was successful - their business acquired a customer. But from an H2H perspective… big yikes. They kind of forgot that we were humans on the other side of the transaction, and we won’t be recommending them anytime soon. That opportunity for repeat or referral business immediately fizzled.
On the flip side, my client Kelsey is a residential interior designer who works with families with young kids. She designs spaces that are livable, beautiful, and work in the real world, not just spaces that photograph well for Instagram. Her whole approach is about understanding the people she's designing for and what they actually need. That human-centered thinking shows up in everything about her business, including her marketing. People connect with that! They feel understood before they even hire her, and that's why so much of her business comes through word-of-mouth referrals.
Whether you're technically B2B or B2C, you're always human to human (for better or for worse, in the case of our roofing company!), so that’s why I tackle marketing from this perspective.
Now… let’s talk about your own role in it!
YOU Are the Human Who Brings the Marketing Machine To Life
As your all-in-one marketing department, yes, I absolutely make sure that we have all of the foundational pieces in place so that when people are looking for what you offer, they can actually find you and easily take the next step.
But that’s really the infrastructure (the pieces that have your back!) that supports you in moving your business forward by being the awesome human you are.
When you start conversations, connect with people, show up as your genuine self in your interactions, check in with past clients, keep in touch… you create an amazing web of leads, referrals, and unexpected opportunities.
→ When you reach out to a past client just to check in: They remember you exist, and when their friend mentions needing exactly what you offer, your name comes up naturally. Or they reach back out with a new project because you're top of mind. The clients who stay in touch with their people (even just a few times a year!) get way more referrals and repeat business than the ones who finish a project and move on.
→ When you connect with people in adjacent industries: You get invited to collaborate, speak to their audience, be featured on their podcast, or partner on a project. This all comes from genuine human connection, not SEO or ads!
→ When you show up authentically in conversations: People feel the difference between you and the corporate, AI-generated, generic competitors. So much marketing out there feels automated and impersonal, so it’s genuinely a differentiator when clients and customers can sense your actual personality and expertise!
→ When you use your systems to actually communicate: The email platform I set up for you becomes powerful when you use it to stay in touch, share updates, and check in with people. The system makes it easy, and you make it meaningful.
This kind of marketing doesn't show up in your Google Analytics as a clear line from action to result. But it absolutely shows up in your business growth, in the quality of opportunities coming your way, and in how much you actually enjoy running your business because you get to be yourself and build real relationships along the way!
So what does this H2H approach actually look like in practice? It might help to think of it as a shift in the questions you ask yourself about your marketing.
The Human to Human Marketing Shift for Small Businesses
The H2H marketing approach means asking different questions, which also makes marketing way more approachable for you.
Instead of asking yourself “How do I get more traffic to my website?”, you might ask “Who can I have a meaningful conversation with this week?”
Instead of focusing solely on “How do I rank higher on Google?”, you could think about “Who haven't I checked in with in a while that I should reach out to?”
Instead of stressing about “What content should I create to feed the algorithm?”, you might consider “What conversations am I having with clients right now that others might benefit from hearing about?”
Doesn’t that sound so much less overwhelming and more like… interesting, genuine people hanging out with and helping each other? At the end of the day, that’s really what business is all about.
And here’s how it works when we team up!
I Build the Marketing Engine, You Add the Fuel
When we work together, you can count on me to be your one-person marketing department who puts all the pieces together.
I handle all the structure, strategy, and implementation - the website optimization and SEO, the email systems and templates, the content strategy and creation, the visual consistency and brand presence, all the foundational pieces that make you searchable and professional and credible.
And that frees YOU up to do what only you can do: be the human behind your business. Make the connections. Start the conversations. Build the relationships. Show up authentically. Stay in touch with your people in a way that feels natural and genuine.
To get started working together on your marketing, we always begin with a Strategic Audit - and yes, it's an H2H approach to auditing your marketing. I'm not just looking at your metrics and traffic numbers! I'm checking how you're connecting with people, where the relationship-building opportunities are, and how to make it easier for you to show up. We look at the structure AND the activation, because both matter, and from there we can move on to done-for-you marketing services.
If you’re curious to get started, check out the Strategic Audit!
