Ever heard the phrase content is king? It is one of the most used phrases in the marketing world. Everyone wants to rule with content because “content” rules the world, but if the content is king, then funny and comedic, it is a goldmine because Humor sells!
The best part about using humour in your content program is that it is a natural element of conversation. If we’re to believe content marketing is about having an engaging interaction with the audience, what better way to break the ice than with a joke.
Humour is as much a social lubricant in our daily lives as it is a tactic for building relationships with consumers. Exploring ways to incorporate well-placed humour into a content marketing strategy can benefit all of us, especially those working in video and social platforms.
What is the aim of content?
Every form of content is created with three main purposes; to entertain, inform and educate. With humour, you can engage all three purposes and you still get the entertainment part of your content locked in.
Interestingly, more and more brands are incorporating humour into their marketing and according to studies, a brand’s entertaining content is one of the top five reasons people follow.
You see, Twitter influencers who tweet funny content or their counterparts on Instagram who have
crafted their arts to creating funny posts or entertaining skits gather more followers, it is not far-
fetched.
People are on social media to get away from their real lives and entertainment helps them do
that. Brands are pivoting as well, creating and investing in humour.
Humour as an engagement driver
There are a lot of reasons why humour works to drive engagement and build brands that everyone
loves. I will be naming a few;
It solves the basic need for using social media
People use social media as an avenue to get out all of the stress and inadequacies of their lives. When social media brings entertainment into the mix, users will stick to that brand or fellow user because they have found someone who helps them solve a problem.
Once you’re able to help them enjoy social media and still pass across your brand message, you’ve killed two birds with one stone. When your brands create this atmosphere for them they engage and stick with you.
It forces people to lower their defences
Many people are skeptical when it comes to advertisements because we’re so used to a constant barrage of ads, we tend to close ourselves off from hearing their messages. Humour works well because it catches people off guard, it’s like hitting them with a right hook.
All of a sudden, they find themselves laughing, amused with the hilarity of a situation. In turn, this often reduces their skepticism, and there’s a bit more openness to hearing your marketing message. In many cases, making your audience laugh is the key to winning them over, boosting your brand equity, and creating the perception of authenticity.
It shows the human side of your brand Incorporating humour into your strategy can help give your brand a more human side which is always refreshing to customers in this growing technological world. This can really benefit your brand as it helps you build a connection with the online community. When brands display humour as part of their content, it shows that they are human after all.
Humour connects you to your audience
Humour acts as an inherent social bonding mechanism. In an experiment, Dr Robin Dunbar found
that …laughter not only plays an important role in social and non-verbal communication, but it
also provides evolutionary qualities that encourage group bonding and protects us from physical
and psychological pain.
In other words, humour brings us closer together and can make your brand more relatable to your
audience.
Funny content creates virality
As a brand, one of your wishes is to continuously go viral and appear in the faces of many people over and over again and again. With humour, you can achieve virality and get a wider reach through shared content on social media (If a person comes across something that elicits a legitimate laugh, there’s a high probability they’ll share it with others)
Brands want to remain memorable and relevant for a long time in the minds of their consumers and audiences, this can be achieved with the use of humour content which may as well turn into gifs, memes or short clips for comic relief. In a study, it was discovered that humour was the universal appeal for making content go viral (Moz). If you play your cards right, a humour-infused content marketing campaign can go viral.
Humour leads to learning
Simply put, the more memorable your content is, the more effective your campaign will be. According to the American Psychological Association, humour produces psychological and physiological benefits that help students learn. In another study by the textbook rental service Chegg, nearly 80% of college-age kids remembered ads that made them laugh. When people learn from weird places that are not the classroom, they want others to see it which leads to virality
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