Everyone is shouting.
Automated posts, templated outreach, AI slop at scale. Most marketing is noise pretending to be a conversation.
LondonEst. 2020Certified B Corp
Resilient growth for mission-driven brands.
A digital marketing agency by humans, for humans.
Schedule a strategy session01 — The Human Manifesto
Talk atwith your customers, not at them.
In an age of bots and AI, our human-centered approach to marketing will help your business stand out.
02 — The human signal
Noise
Signal
Human
We dig for the signal.
Journalist-standard editorial, hard data, and strategy that goes past vanity metrics like clicks and impressions.
And it adds up to a person.
Personal, intriguing, and downright delightful. That's what you can expect as table stakes.
03 — Human to human
01 — The reach
The machines are not going away.
Two silhouettes, twenty-four thousand points, one apiece. Only one of them is a person.
02 — The tools
So ours holds the tools.
Never the conversation.
The right-hand half arrives late and in plates, snapped to a lattice — everything a machine is genuinely good at.
03 — The clasp
Human to human.
Every time.
It gives up the lattice to take the hand, and both sides warm. That is the whole argument, in one move.
04 — The cast
A rabbit, because they drew it first.
Literal Humans' own cast is animals in human clothes — a cat on a rotary phone, a panda with a martini, a rabbit reading. The joke is the brand, so the machine here is one of theirs.
Their own drawing of the same idea: two characters reaching out of two laptop screens to touch.
Your full-stack sidekick for growth.
Writers, strategists, analysts, designers, developers, SEOs and PPC wizards — a 360° growth solution for maximum ROI.
Content should drive human connection.
The latest in digital marketing nerdery combined with the very best of human creativity. Personal, intriguing, downright delightful.
Smart strategy that's built to last.
True strategy goes beyond vanity metrics. We dig into the data to build future-proof plans for sustainable, long-term growth.
03 — Eight ways we grow you
Content
Marketing
Our human-to-human approach to storytelling combines journalist-standard editorial with hard data to turn prospects into customers at scale.
Branding
If you aren't memorable, you won't be profitable either! We build strategic brands that resonate with target audiences and help you stand out in a crowded market.
Organic
Social Media
From TikTok to LinkedIn, our team of social experts knows how to create the short-form content that algorithms and ICPs love.
Performance
Marketing
Best in class content + laser-focused targeting = massive ROI.
Website
Design
We craft bespoke websites that level up every step of your marketing funnel, with SEO, UX, and CRO built into every page.
Email
Marketing
A well organized CRM combined with high-class editorial is one of the most powerful tools in a marketer's playbook!
Strategy
The difference between a dream and a goal is a plan! We are specialists in plotting a course from why to how, with strategy at the heart of everything we do.
PR
We'll get you featured in the publications your customers read via smart PR campaigns that build both brand awareness and domain authority.
04 — Recent growth wins
A Race Against Time: How We Helped Pepper Redesign Their Site in 6 Weeks
Copy, brand and build — shipped against a hard six-week deadline.
How We Helped Grapeseed Media Gain 1.1k Backlinks and Rank for 1,000+ Organic Keywords
Editorial-led link building that put a challenger on page one for a thousand terms.
Grapeseed MediaDavid and Goliath: How We Helped Playbook 10x its Monthly Organic Traffic
A ten-times lift in monthly organic traffic, and an audience that came with it.
From Soonicorn to Unicorn: How We Helped Oyster More Than Quadruple Their Organic Search Traffic
Search and content built to compound while the company scaled to unicorn.
How We Helped Wise (Formerly TransferWise) Grow From 0 to 1 million+ Organic Visits
From a standing start to seven figures of organic visits a month.
How We Helped Chipper Cash Gain 1.6 Million Website Visitors
Content and web together, for one of Africa's fastest-growing fintechs.
From Concept to Canvas: The Hospital Rooms Rebranding Journey
A ground-up brand and site for an arts and mental health charity.
Hospital Rooms05 — What two years with us looks like
Start of journey
Phase 1
Foundations
This initial phase lays the groundwork for your content marketing journey. We define your strategy and key performance indicators (KPIs) to make sure we're prepared for growth.
Goal of phaseGet ready for growth
- Digital audit
- Market research
- Content marketing strategy
- KPI dashboard
Milestone #1
LH becomes an extension of your team
Phase 2
Multi-Channel Expansion
In this phase, we focus on scaling your presence across various channels, including your website, social media, and email newsletters. Our aim is to improve Google rankings and increase market share.
Goal of phaseExpand market share
- SEO-optimized content
- Organic social media
- Comprehensive earned media strategy
- Marketing channel diversification
Process Highlight
Successful user acquisition using competitions and giveaways: 1,000+ entries and 30,000+ votes in our inaugural competition.
Phase 3
Maximizing Marketing Efficiency
Now that we're on the growth trajectory, it's time to make certain that every aspect of your marketing is performing optimally. We identify winning strategies.
Goal of phaseSettle on a winning formula
- Content optimization
- Updates to your content strategy
- PR support
- Performance marketing optimization
Year 2
Milestone #2
Increased website traffic by 26% week-over-week, tripled organic search traffic, and achieved a 5% increase in new user acquisition.
Phase 4
Explosive Growth
Next stop, investing heavily in what's working best — we double down on the winning formula for exponential growth.
Goal of phaseAchieve exponential growth
- Scaling up successful strategies
- Enhancing conversion rates
- Updating customer retention strategies
Process Highlight
Build traffic, domain authority, and community, with increased focus on conversions and business growth.
Milestone
20,000 to 100,000 active monthly users
Phase 5
Sustainable Growth Mode
With everything working seamlessly, we shift into sustainable growth mode, ensuring your ongoing dominance in your market.
Goal of phaseDominate your market
- Ongoing strategy optimization
- Content refinement
- Market research
End of journey
06 — We are Literal Humans
Twelve of us.
One panda.
A super-diverse blend of seasoned creative and GTM professionals — plus specialist consultants, for bespoke strategies on every project.
Paul launched Literal Humans in 2020 after a successful stint at a previous US-based agency that he helped grow to $1.5M ARR. He wanted to focus on delivering high-quality growth strategies to tech for good startups, nonprofits, and B2B SaaS companies.
Paul David — Founder & CEO
Joe is a Senior Digital Designer with over 7 years of experience across the end-to-end design process — research and strategy through UX, UI and motion. Outside work he writes science fiction and reads everything from philosophy to physics.
Joe — Fractional Senior Designer
Nikita is a Web Developer with a passion for crafting pixel-perfect, user-friendly websites. Over the past 5 years she has designed sleek interfaces, solved complex coding puzzles, and managed successful web projects.
Nikita — Fractional Web Developer
Logos of fancy places we've worked before
06 — Some of our clients
We work with folks in the US, UK & EU — and our roster reaches Africa, Asia and North America. The team hails from the UK and US to Taiwan and Zimbabwe.
07 — Our culture
Four days.
Full pay.
We thrive on diversity and flexibility, and champion a four-day workweek in a hybrid workplace — while delivering top-notch work.
- Four-day workweek at 100% salary
- Flexible hours
- Hybrid work environment
- Transparent salaries
- Laptop budget is on us
- Access to upskilling resources
- Extra paid Christmas leave
Accredited 4-Day Week Employer · Certified B Corp08 — Our values
Always Learning
Curious. Driven. Ambitious. Sharp-Minded. Improvement-Oriented. Hungry for feedback. Compassionate with others as they're learning. Respectful. Inquisitive. Resilient in the face of adversity. Turns “losses” into lessons. Continually seeks mastery. Strives towards the highest version of themselves.
Consistently Accountable
Dependable. Delivers. Bias towards action. Consistent. Efficient. Organised. Clear. Proactive. Results-Oriented. Highly competent. Doesn't blame others. Takes ownership of the work. Insists on high-quality output.
Professionally Playful
Joyful in the work. Calm. You are solution-focused. Takes positive actions. Engaging. Easy to work with. Thoughtfully creative. Appreciates and facilitates good humor within a work context. Knows when to flex and when to be firm.
Brave Hearted
Good Character. Trusting enough to bring issues to leadership. Unafraid to build authentic connections with others. Genuine. Open. Forthright. Honest. Speaks their mind. Audacious. Gutsy. Daring. Keen to belong. Stands out as a unique individual while collaborating, trusting, and supporting the team.
09 — Podcast
Tech Can't
Save Us.
Join us on our podcast as we explore all things tech — the good and the bad.
Listen here
10 — Literal Insights
Literal Humans is now a B Corp — here's why it matters
5 min9 H2H Christmas branding ideas for your holiday marketing campaign
5 min7 H2H Black Friday marketing ideas
3 minScaling edtech, fintech, and healthtech solutions responsibly
4 min6 spookily effective H2H Halloween marketing campaign ideas
3 minHow would the Google antitrust lawsuit impact the digital marketing industry?
3 min
11 — Say hello
Ready to talk growth strategy?
Schedule a strategy sessionFree. 30 mins. All about your brand.