A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
The great 19th Century Irish playwright and humorist Oscar Wilde uttered these last words: “Either this wallpaper goes, or I do.” Why some adventerous wallpaper company hasn’t used this is beyond me, nonetheless it does go to demonstrate the point that humor sells. Humor essentially disarms people, often by getting them to view your point in a way they hadn’t looked at before, and initiates rapport that you may have had a hard time creating some with your latest PowerPoint filed with facts. Art Linkletter told us that laughter is the best medicine, and he was spot on. It could be the cure for what ails your business too! Let’s have a look at 4 ways to use humor in your small business marketing.
4 easy ways to use humor in your small business marketing!
Use pop culture to your benefit – Jon Stewart and the rest of the late night crowd have made careers with this, so don’t hesitate to use current events to spice up you offerings. It’s not even completely necessary to be completely relevant to your products or services, (even so the ones that tie it in well are rock stars!) but merely to get your reader/watcher smiling and in a good frame of mind from the start. Showing events in a amusing way will get your posts shared faster than Lindsay Lohan skipping rehab.
Make humorous videos – It will only take a few moments on YouTube for enough evidence to convince anyone that a funny video gets lots of eyeballs! Even the lamest concept, shown in a quirky way will get views and get shared widely. It doesn’t require a degree in cinema to get it done either. Many just shoot them using their phone, o if you wish to go whole hog, use an app like GoAnimate or Xtranormal to produce quick and visually interesting animated videos.
Create a visual mashup – One way to make the most of both humor and the wicked hot photo-sharing world is to make a humorous meme. These are almost required on Facebook, and could be a great ice breaker and are capable of being shared far and wide though Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and other sites.
Use humor in your content – Don’t be timid in regards to getting a little edgy with your content. The payoff will likely be that people will see you as more like them, and not simply some stodgy firm bent on selling them a product. The more you connect on a shared (and funny!) level, the better people will like you and share your site.