From robotic to relatable: The complete guide to humanising your tech brand with authority

In an industry as urgent and innovation-driven as climate tech, the challenge isn't just proving your technology works, it's making people care through creative solutions. Human-centred messaging isn’t a soft strategy; it enhances your brand authority. It’s a core business differentiator.

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Buyers, whether corporate sustainability officers or institutional investors, want to connect with businesses and the people behind the product, not just the product itself. They are influenced not only by technical performance but also by mission, values, and clarity of purpose, appealing to potential clients.

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Climate tech exists at the intersection of science, politics, economics and humanity. Humanising your brand helps your audience:

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•  Understand your motivation

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•  Trust your credibility

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•  Remember your message

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In a market crowded with AI-powered, blockchain-enabled “solutions,” a brand that tells a compelling brand story and communicates like a mission-driven human organisation will stand out.

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Emotional Storytelling in High-Stakes Innovation

Climate tech often deals with issues that are deeply emotional such as disaster prevention, energy equity, carbon emissions, and planetary health. The irony is that many climate brands default to overly technical, emotionless messaging, hindering a better understanding of their missions.

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This is where emotional storytelling becomes crucial. It:

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•  Helps translate complex innovation into relatable impact

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•  Bridges the communication gap between engineers and policymakers

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•  Builds long-term brand loyalty by connecting on shared values

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For example, rather than leading with “ML-powered flood prediction,” a climate risk startup might start with a real-world story:

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“How our technology helped a coastal town avoid $10M in flood damage during Hurricane Ian.”

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That kind of narrative makes the problem and your solution tangible, urgent, and real.

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Connecting with buyers beyond the product

In B2B climate tech, the buyer journey isn’t just about product specs; it’s essential about trust, belief, and risk alignment. Humanising your brand allows you to connect with buyers as creative people, enhancing the overall customer experience and how customers feel, not just decision-makers.

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What does this look like?

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•  Founder videos explaining the “why” behind the company

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•  Employee stories showcasing team culture and values

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•  Client narratives that go beyond ROI to include personal wins

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This builds a multi-dimensional brand experience, one where buyers feel emotionally invested in your success, not just financially motivated.

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When you connect beyond the product, you open the door to deeper relationships, more engaged partnerships, and longer retention cycles.

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Strategies to build relatability without losing credibility

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Use founder stories, not just founder bios

Too many tech brands present their founders as technical wizards, not relatable humans, missing the opportunity to tell a compelling brand story. A founder story isn’t just a bio, it’s a narrative arc that answers why they are investing in this mission:

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•  What inspired them to solve this problem?

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•  What challenge did they face early on?

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•  What personal values guide the company today?

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This approach humanises the brand at its core and gives journalists, investors, and buyers something meaningful to connect with.

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A great example is Patagonia’s founder story, it’s not about technical apparel, it’s about a climber who hated waste. Climate tech brands should aim to connect personal mission with systemic innovation.

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Highlight the “Why” behind the innovation

In climate and clean tech, your technology may be complex, but your reason for building it should establish brand authority that is simple and inspiring.

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Rather than just talking about features, frame your story around:

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•  The problem you are obsessed with solving

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•  The people who benefit

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•  The impact you are working toward

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Example:

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Instead of saying “We use AI to optimise renewable energy dispatch,”

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Say: “We help utilities deliver cleaner power to 10M homes, reliably and affordably.”

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This approach helps buyers see the big picture and feel the significance of your innovation, without requiring a PhD to understand it.

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Feature real-world impact, not just metrics

Metrics are important for establishing brand authority, but they don’t inspire. To humanise your tech brand without losing authority, pair your data with impact stories.

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For example, the services you offer can be presented with a narrative that highlights their impact.

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•  A 35% emissions reduction is good.

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•  Showing how that reduction helped a logistics company avoid fines and secure a new client is better.

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Use testimonials, video interviews, and short case narratives to put names and faces behind the numbers. This allows your audience to visualise the benefit, not just read about it.

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Story + data = emotional trust + logical validation. That’s the sweet spot for climate tech branding.

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Avoiding the trap of “over-humanising”

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Don’t replace depth with softness

Humanising your brand doesn’t mean making it soft, it means enhancing your marketing efforts with both technical substance and emotional connection. One of the most common missteps in B2B climate tech is over-indexing on emotional messaging while under-delivering on technical substance and excellence.

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Yes, you should tell stories. Yes, you should use plain language.

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But never at the expense of:

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•  Scientific precision

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•  Policy relevance

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•  Product credibility

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Over-humanisation risks making your brand seem superficial or unserious compared to competitors, especially in a high-stakes industry where buyers are accountable for performance, regulation, and environmental compliance.

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Balance is key: Speak to hearts and minds. Lead with empathy, follow with expertise.

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Maintain expertise and technical depth

Authority is built through consistency, depth, and substance. Even the most human-friendly climate tech brands maintain:

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•  Robust technical documentation

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•  Credible research backing

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•  Direct access to white papers, demos, and technical experts

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A good rule of thumb:

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Let your top-of-funnel content do the humanising.

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Let your mid- and bottom-funnel content do the validating.

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Your brand voice should adjust by funnel stage, friendly and warm in initial contact, but authoritative and data-rich as buyers move toward decision-making.

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This keeps your messaging relatable in the tech world without becoming reductive.

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Stay aligned with high-level stakeholder expectations

In B2B climate tech, your audience often includes:

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•  C-suite executives

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•  Government regulators

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•  ESG investors

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•  Procurement and compliance teams

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These groups expect:

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•  Professional tone

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•  Policy fluency

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•  Evidence-based messaging

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Too much conversational fluff or casual humour can feel off-brand or undermine trust.

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The solution?

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Use empathy strategically. Be human in how you communicate complexity, not in how you dress it down.

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Avoid the trap of “sounding like a startup” if you are selling to a Fortune 500. Speak with confidence, clarity, and credibility.

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Elements of a well-balanced humanised brand

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Voice and tone examples that strike the balance

A balanced brand voice in climate tech is:

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•  Clear but not simplistic

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•  Approachable but not informal

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•  Mission-driven but not preachy

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•  Expert but not arrogant

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Compare these examples:

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-  “We’re saving the planet one sensor at a time!”

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+  “We help cities reduce carbon emissions through smarter air quality monitoring.”

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-  “We get climate stuff. It’s kinda our thing.”

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+  “With 12 years of climate data analysis, we help clients act on measurable risk, faster.”

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Your tone should evolve based on audience and context, but your voice should remain consistent across every channel.

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Using brand values to anchor human connection

Your brand values should be more than buzzwords on your About page, they should shape your language, your visuals, and your behaviour.

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For example:

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•  If “transparency” is a value, reflect that in how you explain pricing, product limitations, and progress.

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•  If “inclusion” is a value, showcase diverse teams, global voices, and community partnerships in your storytelling.

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Human connection starts with shared values. When those values are expressed consistently, buyers begin to feel alignment, not just interest.

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This is how humanised branding builds belonging, not just awareness.

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Brand guidelines that blend empathy and expertise

To ensure consistency, document your brand voice in a style guide that includes:

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•  Voice principles (e.g., “plainspoken,” “warmly assertive”)

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•  Tone guidelines by funnel stage or channel

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•  Do/Don’t lists for specific phrases or humour

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•  Examples of brand-consistent and brand-breaking messages

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This helps content teams, sales reps, and even customer success teams maintain the same tone, whether writing a blog post or responding to an RFP.

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A humanised brand is not accidental; it’s the result of strategic efforts. It’s intentional, trainable, and repeatable.

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Telling brand stories that feel real, not staged

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The role of vulnerability in B2B climate messaging

B2B brands often resist vulnerability. They fear it will weaken their authority. But in climate tech, where uncertainty and urgency are part of the landscape, vulnerability signals honesty and leadership.

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Examples of strategic vulnerability efforts include:

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•  Sharing lessons from a product pivot

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•  Owning up to early-stage implementation challenges

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•  Admitting the limits of current climate impact metrics

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This type of storytelling builds authentic trust because it reflects the real challenges buyers also face.

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Courageous vulnerability, when paired with progress, makes your brand more human and heroic.

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Incorporating client success with empathy

Traditional case studies focus too much on features. To humanise your brand, go deeper:

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•  How did your product change someone’s day-to-day job?

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•  What impact did it have on their stress, risk, or team morale?

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•  How do your clients describe your people, not just your platform?

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Example:

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Instead of saying, “We reduced emissions by 18%,”

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Say, “Laura from the sustainability team told us this win helped her finally secure executive buy-in for a broader ESG roadmap.”

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That’s how you turn clients into protagonists and brand success into shared triumph.

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Why relatable doesn’t mean casual

Relatability means being understood, not informal, which is where effective digital PR comes into play. Many brands confuse “sounding human” with sounding like a tweet. But in B2B climate tech, credibility still reigns.

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What works:

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•  Using real-world analogies to explain abstract models

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•  Breaking complex ideas into digestible, visual formats

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•  Asking thoughtful, empathetic questions in your messaging

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What doesn’t work:

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•  Jargon-laced memes

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•  Overused startup slang

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•  Over-promising in an effort to be “bold”

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Your audience doesn’t need you to be cool. They need you to be clear, capable, and connected to their needs.

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Real-world examples of humanised tech branding

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Slack’s tone and transparency in enterprise messaging

Slack has long been a masterclass in striking the human-tech balance. While their platform is rooted in enterprise-grade productivity, their brand voice feels like a trusted teammate rather than a corporate overlord.

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They use:

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•  Clear, jargon-free copy

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•  Friendly, encouraging in-product messaging

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•  Transparent updates (even about outages)

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For B2B climate tech companies, Slack proves that professionalism and personality can co-exist, especially in industries where collaboration is key.

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Stripe’s developer-centric empathy

Stripe targets developers, often the most technical and sceptical audience. Yet, their brand is known for being:

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•  Empathetic to user pain points

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•  Deeply invested in documentation clarity

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•  Minimalist but warm in design and language

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Stripe’s brand success shows that you can be deeply technical while still designing for human experience, which contributes to their domain authority. This is exactly the tone many climate tech platforms should adopt as they scale.

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HubSpot’s educational storytelling approach

HubSpot built a marketing empire on helpfulness and clarity. Their approach to brand humanisation centres on how to communicate services effectively:

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•  Deep resource libraries

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•  Value-forward tutorials

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•  A tone that says “we’re here to help,” not “we’re here to pitch”

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Their example teaches climate tech startups the value of educating before selling, and helping before asking. Humanisation, in this sense, becomes a customer success strategy.

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Microsoft’s transformation under Satya Nadella

Microsoft’s tone shifted dramatically under Satya Nadella, from rigid enterprise giant to empathetic, mission-led leader.

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Brand storytelling focused on:

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•  Empowering users with accessibility

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•  Supporting developers and open source communities

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•  Connecting global impact to tech innovation

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For climate tech, Microsoft shows what’s possible when legacy tech aligns its voice with social responsibility and wins back hearts and minds in the process.

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How humanisation impacts key metrics and brand authority

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Strengthening emotional connection without sacrificing expertise

When tech brands humanise effectively, they create a stronger emotional connection with their audience.

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•  Higher brand recall

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•  Deeper engagement with long-form content

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•  More trust in founder-led messaging

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The emotional bond helps your brand become a trusted advisor, not just a vendor, ultimately fostering long-term relationships. Especially in climate tech, where risk, innovation, and urgency intersect, buyers crave more than just data: they want empathy and clarity.

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Increasing brand authority score through relatability

Authority isn’t just about backlinks or domain ranking, it’s about how consistently and credibly your brand shows up.

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Humanised brands:

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•  Earn more media coverage (due to clearer stories)

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•  Gain more backlinks from thought leadership content

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•  Improve time-on-page and engagement on site

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These elements contribute to better brand authority both in search engines and in buyers’ minds.

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Driving organic traffic via authentic thought leadership

When your blog, newsletter, or YouTube content:

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•  Speaks directly to human concerns

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•  Offers real insights

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•  Uses clear, plainspoken language

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…you drive organic traffic that sticks.

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Buyers don't want to read another article that sounds like it was written by AI. They want human insight from a brand that understands their world and speaks their language.

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That’s the kind of brand with strong domain authority that Google, LinkedIn, and decision-makers reward.

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Building a future-ready brand voice

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The role of digital PR and human-centered SEO

As algorithms prioritise experience and authenticity, your tech brand must move from sterile optimisation to people-first communication.

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That includes:

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•  Quoting your team in articles and press releases

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•  Featuring team voices in thought leadership content

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• Blending SEO keywords with natural, conversational syntax

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Google’s helpful content update favours content that demonstrates real-world experience. So give it to them with a tone that feels like a human expert wrote it.

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Using behavioural data to refine brand empathy

Humanisation isn’t one-size-fits-all. Use behavioural data to understand:

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•  Which CTAs convert the best

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•  Which tone in subject lines gets the most opens

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•  What phrasing keeps users on the page longer

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These insights help you fine-tune a voice that feels human to your unique audience.

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In climate tech, this could mean:

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•  A softer tone for NGOs

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•  A more technical tone for government buyers

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•  A visionary tone for venture capital prospects

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Incorporating feedback loops into voice development

Brand voice isn’t static, especially in a field like climate tech, where expectations change rapidly.

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Create voice feedback loops by:

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•  Asking sales teams what resonates with prospects

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•  Analysing how customer support interactions reflect your values

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•  Collecting qualitative data from users and advocates

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Then, evolve your brand voice not just to follow trends, but to better serve real people.

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Conclusion: Humanisation as strategic differentiation

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Authenticity is a long-term growth lever

In an age where technology can feel distant or abstract, brands that feel human create stronger emotional engagement and longer-term client loyalty.

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Whether you’re an early-stage climate analytics startup or a scaled-up clean energy platform, humanising your tech brand can be the key to category leadership through creative engagement.

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Authority comes from depth, not distance

Being authoritative doesn't mean sounding robotic. It means showing up:

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•  With real insights

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•  With real people

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•  With real impact

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The most trusted brands in climate tech will be those that can combine rigour with empathy, innovation with inclusion, and clarity with care, appealing to potential clients.

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Being human is the new standard for B2B branding

The climate crisis is a human crisis. And the technologies solving it must be understood, adopted, and championed by people.

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So show your people and let them determine the narrative that resonates with your audience. Tell your story. Speak like someone who cares, and your audience will care back.

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Expanding humanisation through owned brand assets

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Humanising your website experience

Your website is often your first impression. In B2B climate tech, that first impression is usually too sterile, abstract, or overly technical.

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To humanise your brand:

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•  Use real team photos, not just product renders

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•  Include first-person storytelling on your About and Mission pages

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•  Feature a video message from the founder or climate lead

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•  Create a “why we exist” section that’s separate from “what we do”

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Also, avoid generic mission statements. For example:

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-  “We leverage AI and IoT to decarbonise industrial systems.”

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+  “We help sustainability leaders cut emissions, without cutting corners, using climate-intelligent hardware and data.”

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Let users feel like they’re talking to people, not parsing a pitch deck.

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Email marketing with empathy and personality

In a sea of bland B2B outreach, your emails are a massively underused humanising tool.

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Tactics that work:

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•  Use first names in from lines, e.g., “Riya from CarbonEdge”

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•  Start emails with a brief personal insight or a human story

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•  Include short video messages or voice notes from your team

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•  End with an invitation like, “Is this something worth a chat?”

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Also, use feedback loops: test your tone and subject lines with real users. When open rates increase, engagement often follows, and brand trust builds incrementally.

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Make your sales deck speak human

Sales decks in climate tech are often where good branding dies. Avoid:

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•  15 slides of jargon

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•  A hero slide with only acronyms

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•  Complex diagrams without narrative

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Instead:

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•  Start with a real-world problem, not your tech stack

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•  Add customer quotes or photos to show who’s being helped

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•  Use side-by-side slides: “Old way” vs “Our way”

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•  Keep your tone confident, clear, and conversational

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This isn’t dumbing down, it’s removing friction so your audience can grasp your innovation faster and more fully.

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Humanisation across stakeholder segments

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Investors want confidence, not hype

Investors in climate tech look for ways to identify opportunities in emerging markets.

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•  Market clarity

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•  Scalable mission

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•  Team authenticity

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What they don’t want is vague passion or buzzword overload. Humanising your brand for investors means:

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•  Sharing what personally motivated your founding team

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•  Explaining why your tech is uniquely built to win in this market

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•  Using confident, concise language:

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“We aren’t chasing hype. We’re closing the risk gap in flood-prone cities with IP no one else owns.”

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This builds emotional credibility without theatricality.

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Buyers want to trust, then justify

For commercial buyers (utilities, cities, ESG teams) in the industry, emotions play a larger role than they admit. They want to:

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•  See themselves in your story

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•  Trust your team

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•  Believe your data

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Humanising here means:

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•  Co-branding success stories with existing clients

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•  Offering guided decision pathways instead of just pricing tiers

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•  Showcasing your customer success people, not just engineers

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A brand that speaks like a peer to clients, not a faceless platform, builds loyalty early.

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Regulators want clarity and professionalism

While emotion may matter less to regulatory bodies or policy buyers, clarity still wins. Here, humanisation is less about tone and more about:

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•  Showing the real-world impact of your compliance innovation

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•  Using stories to highlight successful deployment in sensitive markets

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•  Demonstrating values through action, not adjectives

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For example, rather than saying:

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“We lead in sustainable software for decarbonization modeling…”

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Say:

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“Our tools are already helping 12 cities in the EU meet 2030 reporting requirements on time and under budget.”

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That’s how you keep your brand human without losing authority.

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This checklist can guide your content reviews, brand guidelines, and team training as you refine your tech brand’s voice and impact.

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FAQs

Q1: What does it mean to humanise a tech brand?

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A: Humanising a tech brand means making it more relatable, emotionally engaging, and aligned with human values, without sacrificing expertise or credibility.

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Q2: Can you humanise a brand and still sound authoritative?

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A: Yes. A well-balanced marketing tone blends empathy with technical accuracy, making your brand both trustworthy and approachable to decision-makers.

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Q3: How does brand humanisation affect SEO?

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A: Humanized brands often rank higher due to better engagement metrics, lower bounce rates, and content that matches the “helpful, people-first” criteria of modern search engines.

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Q4: What’s an example of over-humanising a tech brand?

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A: Using overly casual tone, memes, or unsubstantiated emotion in contexts that demand professional credibility, like enterprise sales or regulatory settings.

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Q5: Why is humanisation especially important in climate tech?

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A: Because climate tech deals with deeply human problems like safety, equity, and survival, emotionally intelligent branding builds trust for the future and drives action in other ways.

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