Traditional advertising spending fell by 2% to $403.86 billion globally in 2023, while digital and partnership-driven marketing crossed a historic milestone—claiming 50.6% of overall marketing budgets. This shift isn’t just about ad channels; it marks a deeper transformation toward human connection in marketing, where trust and authenticity outweigh traditional reach and repetition.
“When you really look at what’s being disrupted here, it’s traditional advertising,” explains impact.com CEO David Yovanno. “Despite the trillion dollars spent globally, it’s losing its effectiveness because people no longer trust what brands themselves are saying.”
New research from impact.com and EMARKETER reveals a stark reality: while 69.3% of consumers discover new products weekly, they rarely make immediate purchases. Instead, they research products at least three separate times before deciding to buy.
In the first episode of The Partnership Economy podcast Season 6, impact.com’s CEO Dave Yovanno and Co-founder & VP of Strategic Initiatives Todd Crawford unpack this seismic shift in consumer behavior and what it means for brands in 2025. Their insights, combined with new research from impact.com and EMARKETER, reveal the challenges and opportunities facing marketers today.
The trust crisis: Understanding today’s consumer journey
“When was the last time you made a purchase without seeking a third party opinion?” asks Yovanno. This question cuts to the heart of modern consumer behavior, where trust has shifted dramatically from brands to people (friends, creators, publishers, and reviewers) who share authentic experiences and insights.
“Consumers aren’t stupid,” Crawford explains. “They want to make a smart buying decision and they want to learn from somebody who’s already done it.”
Today’s consumer journey reveals a complex web of touchpoints spanning digital and physical channels. While 83.8% of retail dollars are still spent in-store, the discovery and research phases happen predominantly online. This creates “the attribution challenge”—understanding how digital discovery translates to physical purchases.
According to Vogue Business and youth culture agency Archrival, 51% of Gen Z believes social media influencers create new trends, compared to just 36% of millenials. While Amazon leads as the primary product search destination for 56% of consumers, research happens across multiple platforms, including search engines (42%), retailer websites, and social platforms.
Research patterns by consumer segment
The research with impact.com and EMARKETER reveals distinct patterns across different consumer segments:
By product type (% spending 2+ weeks researching):
- High-price/high-consideration: 20.7%
- High-price/low-consideration: 11.7%
- Low-price/high-consideration: 6.7%
- Low-price/low-consideration: 5.9%
Income impact:
- 60.2% of consumers earning $250,000+ research products 5+ times before purchasing
- 22.8% of all customers research products 5+ times before buying
The depth of research varies significantly by product category and price point, with higher-income consumers showing particularly thorough research habits. This complexity in consumer behavior signals a clear need for a new approach to marketing—one that acknowledges and embraces the multi-touch nature of modern purchasing decisions.
Mastering the multi-touch customer journey
Building Brand Trust Through Authentic, Human-to-Human Partnerships
With traditional advertising losing effectiveness and consumer research becoming more complex, brands need a new approach.
“Brands need to be drawing alliances with these people who are already talking about their products and form partnerships with them,” emphasizes Yovanno. “There’s no other option. Brands need strong advocates to share their brand messaging in these online spaces that consumers are already spending time in.”
But where exactly are these spaces? And how should brands show up in each one? The answer lies in understanding the unique role each platform plays in the consumer journey.
A Multi-Platform Marketing Strategy Rooted in Human Connection
Each major platform plays a unique role in expressing human connection in marketing. Here’s how brands can tailor their approach to meet audiences where they connect most authentically.
| Platform | Strategic Role | Core Strengths | Best For | Human Connection Angle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | Turning Search and Education into Human Connection Moments | Strong search visibility Long-form, evergreen videos Detailed product education High discovery intent | In-depth tutorials, product reviews, thought leadership | Builds trust through educational depth and expertise, fostering authentic learning-based engagement. |
| Visual Storytelling That Builds Emotional Intelligence and Brand Trust | Premium visuals Lifestyle storytelling Millennial engagement High discovery potential | Brand storytelling, lifestyle campaigns, product showcases | Strengthens emotional connection through aspirational visuals and consistent brand identity. | |
| TikTok | Authenticity at Scale and the Power of Human Connection | Authentic short videos Gen Z focus Viral trend potential Low production barrier | Trend-driven campaigns, creator collaborations, product unboxings | Creates authentic human moments that feel real, personal, and community-driven—fueling social trust and brand relatability. |
Optimizing content for different platforms
The key to success is understanding how to optimize content for each platform. As Crawford shares, “The best creators mock up their shoot. They know they’re going to shoot content for three or four different platforms. Then they’ve got to go and edit it.”
Successful creators plan their content strategy with multiple platforms in mind, understanding that each platform requires different approaches:
- Content length and format varies by platform
- Visual style needs to match platform expectations
- Messaging should be tailored to platform audience
- Calls-to-action differ based on platform behavior
Building long-term partnership success
“Brands don’t want to be working with a lot of different creators. They’d rather work with fewer creators over a longer period of time. And guess what? Creators want the same thing,” explains Yovanno. “It takes time to invest in each other, to understand each other, to speak authentically, to get the deep knowledge and insight on products, to speak intelligently about it.”
When it comes to working with creators, Crawford emphasizes the importance of authenticity:
“When a brand thinks about guidelines for creators, the best way to think of them is that they’re there to help them understand your product so that they can be authentic. It’s not telling them what to do. It’s just helping them to understand what you want said or how you see your products and services and then let them be authentic in their voice.”
The shift to partnership-based marketing requires a fundamental change in how brands approach collaborations. Both brands and creators benefit from longer-term relationships:
- Deep product knowledge develops over time
- Authentic voice and messaging evolve naturally
- Consistent brand representation builds trust
- Multiple touchpoints create stronger impact
- ROI improves with relationship longevity
Actionable steps for brands
With consumer trust shifting so dramatically, brands need a clear roadmap for success. Based on our research and insights from industry leaders, here are three key areas where brands should focus their efforts:
- Build authentic partnerships
- Identify where your customers naturally seek information
- Partner with creators who genuinely align with your brand values
- Allow creative freedom while providing clear guidelines
- Focus on long-term relationships over one-off campaigns
- Invest in relationship building and creator education
- Optimize for multiple platforms
- YouTube: Leverage search functionality and evergreen content
- Instagram: Focus on visual storytelling for millennial audiences
- TikTok: Emphasize authenticity for Gen Z engagement
- Adapt content format and style for each platform
- Maintain consistent brand message across channels
- Measure and adapt
- Track platform-specific performance metrics
- Monitor conversion patterns across channels
- Analyze research-to-purchase journey
- Adjust strategy based on data insights
- Test and optimize content approaches
The future of brand-consumer relationships
“Communities are the new demographics,” as TikTok puts it, and this insight reaches far beyond social media. The brands that thrive in this new era will be those that embrace this fundamental shift in consumer behavior.
As traditional advertising continues to decline in effectiveness, success will depend not on how much you spend, but on how authentically you can integrate into the communities where your customers already gather, learn, and make decisions.
“Social commerce information is everywhere today and consumers are leveraging it before they make that purchase,” Yovanno observes. “They’re turning to reviews, TikTok unboxing, YouTube demonstrations and word-of-mouth recommendations.”
Further resources:
- The modern customer journey: Understanding multichannel discovery, research, and purchase | Report
- Transform your influencer campaigns with Creator v2.0: new tools for brand safety, discovery, and partnership management | Blog
- The customer journey: Data-driven insights on the modern path to purchase | Video
- Multi-channel demand generation strategy: Your complete guide for 2025 | Blog
- Influencer-affiliate marketing strategy: how top brands boost ROI through channel integration | Blog
FAQs about Human Connection in Marketing
Human connection in marketing refers to building authentic relationships between brands and audiences based on trust, empathy, and emotional intelligence. It goes beyond transactions to create meaningful brand interactions that improve the overall customer experience and drive long-term business growth.
A human connection in advertising is characterized by authentic storytelling, emotional resonance, and personalized experiences. Instead of relying solely on digital advertising, brands use human-to-human communication to meet customer needs and encourage lasting engagement.
Human connection in marketing is the foundation of modern customer engagement. It helps B2B marketers and consumer brands alike build loyal customer bases through empathy-driven messaging, customer insights, and transparency—resulting in improved customer retention and marketing success.
To create authentic human connections, brands should:
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Prioritize personal touch in communications.
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Use AI-powered platforms for personalized experiences.
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Partner with micro, macro, or superstar influencers who align with brand values.
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Foster customer advocacy through community-building and social listening software.
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Integrate emotional storytelling into short-form video content for authentic engagement.
Focusing on genuine human connections helps brands understand customer needs, enhance user experience, and boost sales and marketing alignment. It builds trust, supports strategic partnerships, and strengthens relationships that lead to higher customer lifetime value and measurable business growth.
Human connection drives emotional connection—a critical factor influencing purchasing behavior. Consumers are more likely to buy from and recommend brands that prioritize authentic connections, empathy, and personalized online shopping experiences, resulting in stronger customer retention and advocacy.
Brands can measure the effectiveness of human connection using metrics like customer satisfaction, engagement rates, repeat purchases, and brand sentiment analysis. Monitoring behavioral signals and data-driven cohorts helps marketing teams identify which brand interactions most improve customer experience and loyalty.
