Why isn’t there more comedy in digital marketing? I mean, comedy equals fun, equals engagement and can lead to rapid word-of-mouth brand awareness. That word-of-mouth is what ALL digital marketing activities should be aimed at, yes…really.
The Poll
I set up a poll on Linkedin asking about the frictions for using comedy in marketing and the results, even though the sample was quite small, suggested two things:
Why don’t you use comedy in your marketing?
- Worry about damaging the brand: 38%
- Comedy marketing doesn’t work: 13%
- Budget: 13%
- Don’t know how: 38%
One: Damaging the Brand
Well, you can, if you get it wrong. Fear is good, perhaps you should take that fear and use it to accelerate your digital marketing efforts.
Two: Don’t know how
I understand that one. Comedy is tricky and it can be divisive.
Do you like Christmas Cracker Jokes?
Nope. We all groan. Sitting there filling ourselves with steaming hot mouth pleasures. We do the “SNAP!” The joke is read and we all groan.
Now, an academic, Professor Richard Wiseman (he’s professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology, University of Hertfordshire) has a theory. That is a good joke will divide the room, whereas a poor joke will unite the Christmas table with a shared groan.
I agree to a degree…
Yes. It unites the table, as that table is a mix of generations and tastes. But I would rather divide, get a reaction, a good one, that is a laugh and / or a bad one. Why would I welcome a bad reaction? Because it is memorable.
I’m not talking about raising an intense emotion but rather ‘I’m not keen on that joke’ because it is one of the touches that combine to make a potential customer / client take action.
So, you see, you can’t damage the brand, unless you do something REALLY stupid or offensive.
Now, I’m not one for confrontation or gaining emotion for the sake of it. I’m just like the comedy Titan, Greg Davis who has said more than once ‘I’m a comedian, I want people to like me.’
Comedy Tropes
Comedy has great power. In the main it gains a positive emotion. That is better than the dross, the banality, the average digital marketing efforts we see every day. Think about what catches your imagination in our fractured doom scrolling world?
Big emotions.
Big emotions like ‘mad’ and ‘sad’ can be left to one side. We want the third of the big emotions, ‘glad.’ We want it now; we want it to help us build our audience and create sales for our business.
Comedy and Engagement
Remember, we are looking to create word-of-mouth. The more we entertain the better. The more positive emotion we build for our brand the stronger our audience and when it is strong that audience will ‘talk’ about it. Literally mention it in the pub, on the phone, by messaging and by sharing your comedy content on social platforms.
Be Brave
I’m thrilled to be working with some other Titans, OK, we think of ourselves as a ‘shady collective UK*’ who are into creating great marketing with comedy.
‘Why so Serious?’
So, a new idea for comedy in marketing is on the horizon and getting closer. The ‘shady collective UK’ will be amongst you soon…
Stay tuned good people,
About Conversion Detectives
Conversion Detectives is a full service digital marketing agency in Hertfordshire.
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