INBOX INSIGHTS, February 26, 2025: Reviews, Marketing Job Demand - Trust Insights Marketing Analytics Consulting

INBOX INSIGHTS: Reviews, Marketing Job Demand (2025-02-26) :: View in browser

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Reviews: The Human Connection AI Can’t Replace

Last week, I was grabbing coffee with our Account Manager, Kelsey, when she brought up something that has been bothering her. “I feel weird about putting too many client testimonials on our website,” she confessed. “Like, at what point does it just become bragging?”

I nearly choked on my latte. Not really, but I was taken aback.

“Kelsey,” I said, “that’s like a restaurant worrying it has too many five-star reviews on Yelp! Silly goose!”

This conversation stuck with me because it highlights something so fundamental about business today: in an increasingly AI-driven world, authentic human connections still drive our most important decisions. And what are reviews if not the digital form of the oldest marketing strategy in history – people telling other people about their experiences?

The Human Element AI Can’t Replicate

Think about your own buying habits for a second. When you’re considering a purchase, do you trust the perfectly polished marketing copy or the somewhat messy, imperfect reviews from real customers?

I know my answer. Last month, I was looking at two similar project management tools. One had sleek AI-generated descriptions that promised to solve all my problems. The other had dozens of detailed customer stories – some mentioning frustrations alongside their overall positive experiences. Guess which one I chose?

The human reviews won, hands down. Why? Because they contained something AI simply cannot replicate: authentic human experience.

The 5P Approach to Human-Centered Reviews

When I think about customer testimonials, I consider them through our 5P framework:

Purpose: Reviews create trust through shared human experience
People: They forge emotional connections between past and future customers
Process: They show how real humans experienced your service delivery
Platform: Where reviews live affects how authentic they feel
Performance: They measure human satisfaction, not just technical metrics

Why AI Can’t Replace This Connection

There’s been a lot of talk about AI writing everything from marketing copy to product descriptions. But here’s why AI can’t replace genuine human testimonials:

Emotional Resonance

AI can’t truly convey the relief a client felt when you solved their seemingly impossible problem. Only human words carry that emotional weight.

Shared Struggles

When a testimonial mentions specific challenges that were overcome, potential clients see themselves in those stories. AI can simulate this, but it lacks the lived experience.

Trust Signals

Humans are remarkably good at detecting authenticity. We’ve evolved to sense when something feels “off” about communication. Real testimonials have natural imperfections that signal truth.

Relationship Qualities

The best testimonials don’t just praise your deliverables; they highlight how it felt to work with you. Was the process enjoyable? Were you responsive? Did you actually listen? These relationship qualities matter enormously.

Making Human Connections Through Testimonials

So how do we showcase testimonials in a way that emphasizes their human element?

Preserve authentic language Edit for clarity if needed, but keep the client’s unique voice and phrasing intact.
Include context and backstory What was the client trying to achieve? What had they tried before? This context creates connection.
Use visual evidence when possible Photos, videos, or even Zoom screenshots add faces to names and enhance credibility.
Highlight the relationship, not just results Include feedback about how it felt to work with you, not just what you delivered.
Connect testimonials to specific team members When appropriate, show which team members the client worked with to humanize your organization.

The AI-Proof Testimonial Strategy

As AI becomes more prevalent, authentic human testimonials become even more valuable. Here’s how to future-proof your approach:

Capture video testimonials when possible – they’re much harder for AI to fake convincingly
Include specific details that only someone who truly used your service would know
Update regularly to show ongoing human relationships, not past successes
Create conversation around testimonials by responding publicly to thank clients
Connect testimonials to real profiles on LinkedIn or other platforms

The Personal Touch in Testimonial Collection

One thing that helped Kelsey feel better was understanding how personalized our testimonial collection process is. We don’t use automated systems – we have actual conversations:

Make a personal request to discuss their experience
Ask specific, open-ended questions
Listen for emotional language and personal impact
Follow up with personalized thanks (not automated responses)
Maintain the relationship even after collecting feedback

Your Human-Centered Testimonial Plan

Ready to emphasize the human connection in your testimonials? Start here:

Review your current testimonials – Do they sound like real people or marketing copy?
Add context to existing feedback – What was happening in the client’s world when they worked with you?
Create conversation – Respond publicly to testimonials to show human interaction
Highlight relationships – Showcase the people who delivered the work alongside client feedback
Connect testimonials to your community – Integrate client voices throughout your content

Remember, in a world increasingly populated by AI-generated content, authentic human experiences stand out more than ever. Your testimonials aren’t just feedback—they’re evidence of real human connections that AI simply cannot replicate.

What’s your approach to capturing the human element in your client testimonials? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Reply to this email to tell me, or come join the conversation in our free Slack Group, Analytics for Marketers.

– Katie Robbert, CEO

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In this week’s Data Diaries, let’s take a look at the hiring demand for marketers and other industries, part of our regular check-in to see how things are going.

First, let’s look at the big picture for marketing. As a reminder, these charts are based off data from Indeed.com transmitted to the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank. They’re an index of hiring demand relative to February 2020, just before the COVID pandemic.

What we see is that hiriing demand in Europe – the UK, Germany, and France – continues to decline, while demand has stayed roughly steady over the last year in Australia. What’s noteworthy is that while demand has moderately increased in the US, the economy that’s seeing the greatest hiring demand for marketers is Canada. While still below pre-pandemic levels, it’s the economy that has seen the largest increase in demand for marketers in the last 12 months.

In the USA, the snapshot of careers in demand remains largely unchanged:

What we see is clear: all forms of healthcare are in very high demand, with therapists remaining the highest in demand, 86% above baseline.

What do we do with this information?

For job seekers, most major markets remain a difficult place right now. The best advice remains the advice given many times before: jobs through your personal network are likely the best approach. If your current network isn’t producing results, investing some time each day in that along with more traditional job search methods might be fruitful.

There’s an interesting arms race going on in the job seeking world, especially in tech. The prevalence of ghost jobs has made some seekers develop agentic AI solutions (using tools like OpenAI Operator, Browser-Use, Claude Computer Use, etc.) that simply apply for every qualified job. Thus, the signal to noise ration in public job applications continues to grow. More ghost jobs means more people automating the application process, in something of a vicious cycle.

For everyone thinking about their marketing and careers, it’s abundantly clear where demand is. In the long term, all industries will be impacted by AI, but industries like healthcare will still be predominantly people-focused. If you’re thinking about what your career might look like in a decade, that’s a strong hint about the industry you might be working in.

Here’s a roundup of who’s hiring, based on positions shared in the Analytics for Marketers Slack group and other communities.

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