Humor in Marketing: Take my wife... please.

If you’re in marketing, you must work within certain constraints. The same way that the rules of etiquette don’t allow you to have a loud, profanity-laced argument in a restaurant, as a marketer you’re also not allowed to use certain language in your marketing, defame your competitors, say anything that is politically incorrect or insulting, etc.  All very good rules, of course. 

In particular, if you’re a B-to-B marketer, not only are you expected to abide by these rules, you are often expected to actually be quite stilted and dull in the process! Well, release your chains of creative oppression, my friend. I’m here to tell you that—unless perhaps you’re marketing funeral caskets to funeral homes—marketing can and should be fun!

As a B-to-B marketer myself, I thrive on being creative and coming up with things that make me laugh. I figure, if it makes me laugh, it will probably make others laugh. The thinking is that funny = memorable, and memorable is good in the advertising and marketing world! Just because your business is “button down” doesn’t mean your marketing has to be.

Consider for a moment who your customers are. While they might be an “important business client” in a mahogany-clad office surrounded by the best and the brightest in their field, they’re still people—the same people that buy soda pop, running shoes, and cell phones. For some reason, because it’s a “business” setting, we feel we must be bland and slightly boring in our marketing, for fear of appearing unprofessional otherwise, I suppose.

But do we really have to limit ourselves in this way? Why can’t B-to-B marketers have fun with their marketing the way our colleagues in the B-to-C world do? The answer is that we can.

Recently, we’ve been running some print and banner ads with an alien theme (shown below). While not as laugh-out-loud funny as some other things we’ve done, they still have a subtle humor which we think is effective. And even though they’ve been running for a couple of months, they still amuse us. I can’t say these moments of creative inspiration come regularly or easily, but it certainly is satisfying when you let your inner-goofiness come through.

Of course, making people laugh is no easy task. Why do today’s comedians-turned-sitcom-stars make so much money? Because they have a unique talent. Not everyone’s humor is broadly appreciated. In marketing, it can be a fine line to tread and with some risk involved if you cross the line. What’s edgy and irreverent to some can be seen as downright inappropriate and inflammatory to others. Some jokes just don’t translate in all settings and you don’t want to be responsible for any Borat moments in your marketing. People these days are thin-skinned and easily insulted, so you must take care that your humor can’t be construed as being inappropriate or at someone else’s expense.

That being said, as long as the humor is in good taste and doesn’t break any of the obvious rules regarding language, imagery, or content, you’ll still be left with a broad ability to be as irreverent, as silly, as downright laugh-out-loud funny as your talent and inspiration will allow. 

Everyone knows we love humor in advertising. That more visual medium perhaps lends itself better to creating humor than other types of marketing. According to one website I researched, the top four videos of the Top Ten shown on YouTube in 2006 were ads. With all the content on the web and on YouTube, this statistic, if it’s even remotely accurate, is impressive. People just like to be entertained and amused, even if the source is advertising. So, the more often and more effectively you can do that in your marketing, whether it’s in your banner ads or your email marketing, then you can laugh with your customers all the way to the bank.

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