Comedy In Your Social Media Marketing?

Having a sense of humor can help your brand standout exponentially. Nothing delivers connection and meaning faster than making someone laugh..

As comedian Louis CK notes, "The goal of comedy is to just laugh, which is a really high-hearted thing, (about) visceral connection and reaction."

In addition to comedy, C.K. knows a thing or two about branding and marketing. Advertising Age ranked him at the top of their "Digital A-List" in 2012 for rethinking how artists interact with their fans. A recent Nielsen study found that 47 percent of global respondents said that humorous ads resonated the most.

Why Humor Helps

For scrappy businesses, "Humor can help you stand out in a crowded world," says Tim Washer, creative director at Cisco. In this role, Washer produces hilarious videos for the B2B software brand including a popular ad introducing a new server as the ideal Valentine's Day gift. ("Nothing says I love you like six times the mobile backhaul capacity.")

In rolling out their new mail-order service, Dollar Shave Club needed to cut through the clutter of the billion-dollar razor industry. They did so with a hilarious 90-second video that offers a mix of on-target product benefits conveyed in a distinct brand voice.

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Forty-eight hours after the video's debut on YouTube, Dollar Shave Club was laughing all the way to the bank with 12,000 people signed up for their service.

There's no limit to who can use humor. You aren't bound by size, industry, budget or any other constraint. So how do you get started?

Start with the Right People

BarkBox has a lot of fun with their marketing. For an example, check out their posts on #HumpDay - which takes on new meaning when your business is dog products. So how do they do it?

"I don't find myself to be the funniest person in the room. But because of that, I've only hired people on my team who are genuinely funny" says Stacie Grissom, Bark & Co's editor-in-chief. "Humor is something that needs to come naturally. And if it doesn't come naturally to you - find someone to help you out."

Create a role like Cisco did or simply hire for humor. Bottom line - surround yourself with the right people.

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How to Tell Funny (Brand) Stories

Most comedy tells stories. As such, many of those same story elements are critical in telling a funny story for your brand.

I Plot - Kurt Vonnegut famously called them"story shapes" but ultimately there are only a few different common plots out there. What kind of story are you trying to tell?

I Character - Your main character shouldn't be your brand - it should be about your audience.

l Conflict - Most comedy comes from pain. In many cases your customers are in pain and you can help them. Humor allows you to explore this by casting pain in a comedic light.

We weren't laughing at the "Where's the beef?" lady in the Wendy's ads. We were laughing with her at the sad state of the fast-food hamburger.

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l Voice - Humor has to fit your brand voice. For years, Charmin embraced a family friendly voice in talking about bathroom business. That's why they regularly use scatological puns and the hashtag #tweetfromtheseat to weigh in on current events and pop culture but still in a G-rated context.

"I don't think there's any brand that shouldn't be funny," says Eric Munn of Onion Labs, the content services division of the venerable comedy brand, The Onion, which works with brands such as Audi, Bacardi, and Overstock to create engaging and humorous content on their platforms.

Surround yourself with funny people and use the tools of storytelling - archetypes, characters, conflict and voice - to find a way of embracing humor that fits for your brand. Go forth and be funny!

Guest Authored By Nick Westergaard. Nick is Founder and Chief Brand Strategist of Brand Driven Digital. He's a Speaker, Educator, Host of OnBrandPodcast and SocialBrand17 and Author of Get Scrappy. Follow Nick on Twitter.

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"Surround yourself with funny people and use the tools of storytelling - archetypes, characters, conflict and voice - to find a way of embracing humor that fits for your brand.

Go forth and be funny!"

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  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at GetMoreHere.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

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