If a day without laughter is a day wasted, then why do so many brands settle for dull content that fails to evoke positive emotions and put a smile on their clients’ faces?
Well-chosen, well-written humorous content, adapted to the topic that you’re expanding on and the particularities of your public, can open many doors and facilitate a deeper, longer-lasting connection with your audience.
Humorous Content can Help You Bring Your Brand into the Spotlight
If you write an informative content piece, maybe they’ll quote you. If you write copy that is downright funny, original and pertinent, they’ll definitely remember you. At the end of the day, they might end up following you on Facebook and telling their friends about you. This is the kind of exposure you need to stay relevant in any field of activity, and the best part is humorous content can be the secret ace up your sleeve allowing you to perfect your marketing strategy, humanize your brand, and get closer to your people. What more could you ask for?
5 Ways to be Funny in Your Content Without Making the Wrong Impression
Content that doesn’t generate positive feelings and emotions is like unseasoned food. If you were really hungry, you would most likely eat it just to keep your stomach happy; nonetheless, if you were to be able to choose your main course from a great variety of mouth-watering options, you would certainly go for food with the right amount of sweetness or spiciness.
Let’s put it this way: humor can be the salt and pepper of your content strategy. However, not everyone is a natural-born entertainer, and mastering the rules of comedy can be quite challenging. Here are five key guidelines that you should follow to be humorous in your content without becoming absurd or ridiculous.
1. Start Small: Smaller projects usually involve fewer risks and concerns and provide the fertile ground for the development and promotion of humorous content.
2. Get Help from the Right People: Most forms of business communications lack humor. This is the ugly truth that you will have to deal with sooner or later. Fortunately, you can improve this situation by welcoming the right people on board. Get help internally from some of your most creative staff members; when in need, don’t hesitate to establish a mutually beneficial collaboration with an agency or a local comedy club. Look for the talented, funny people in your company who understand the nature and rigors of your business. This will be an invaluable asset for your company.
3. Timing is Everything: According to ClickZ, timing is an extremely important aspect you should factor in to determine when you should actually make humorous content become a part of your marketing strategy. In this context, it would be best to create amusing copy at the beginning of the buying cycle for a very pertinent reason: as soon as they feel the need to make a final call, prospects require content that is more serious and 100% geared towards valid responses to their problems, concerns, and demands.
4. Go for the Surprise Element: Unexpected, well-balanced contrasts and the element of surprise work best when using humor to create a more powerful connection with your audience and accentuate the cool factor of your product, service or brand. Start by creating a compelling story around the goods you’re promoting. Very few items available for sale can actually be considered funny by definition; but the people who buy and use them, and the ways in which these products are being used can be quite humorous.
You could increase the desirability of a truly mundane object by stimulating your readers to imagine a chuckle-inspiring situation revolving around it, its usage, features, and the environments in which it could be utilized by its buyers. The best part is you can count on a great variety of surprise elements to perfect your copy for the love of laughter and good marketing. In an article entitled 10 Brands Whose Visual Facebook Content Tickles Us to the Bone, Hubspot inventories a few of the most effective visuals that keep readers engaged and entertained. From the funny and original images correlated with caption contests introduced by Foodler to the laughable fan and celebrity quotes associated with comical situations envisioned by Pringles, such strategies are successful because they reinvent the mundane by encouraging people to see everyday things from a different perspective; a funnier one.
5. Always Keep it Tasteful: Whichever path you choose to follow when it comes to crafting emotion-rich content meant to make your readers laugh until they cry, stay in the safe zone by avoiding distasteful jokes and controversial topics that could offend or infuriate your audience.
Here’s the Problem: Don’t Cross the Fine Line Between Offensive and Humorous
In some extreme cases, humorous content can work against you by harming your online reputation. In such situations, the comic side is usually misused.
Quite a few giant companies have learned this lesson the hard (and shameful) way. For instance, Kenneth Cole tried to bond with its audience by exploring its humor in a completely inappropriate manner. As Social Media Examiner points out, their insensitive #Cairo tweet reading Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online generated a wide range of negative reactions and indignation among its followers.
This completely untactful move proves that comical aspects are not always compatible real life situations.
There is a very thin line between offensive and entertaining content and those who cross it always suffer the consequences. Therefore, when it comes to writing with tongue in cheek, it is highly recommended to keep your copy clean, honest and relatable. Most importantly, don’t try too hard. Nobody likes comedians who laugh at their own jokes.
Don’t Leave Your Content Lacking: Find Someone Who’s Humorous, if You’re Not
A rule of thumb for humor and content? Don’t leave your content without it. A fun, tasteful dash of wit is a very good thing. But if you don’t have the knack, you run the risk of crossing a dangerous line. How do you avoid this issue? It is simple: invest in professional writing services and work closely with real talents who can add new depths to the unique humorous side of your brand.
Image Credits
Featured Image: Evgenia Pashkova via Shutterstock
In-post Photo: Ljupco Smokovski via Shutterstock
