{"id":15252,"date":"2018-07-11T13:19:22","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T17:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/?p=15252"},"modified":"2018-07-11T13:35:21","modified_gmt":"2018-07-11T17:35:21","slug":"myth-of-the-week-b2b-brands-cant-be-funny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/myth-of-the-week-b2b-brands-cant-be-funny\/","title":{"rendered":"B2B Myth of the Week: Using Humor in B2B Marketing Is A Bad Idea"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"humor<\/a><\/b><\/h4>\n

Myth: B2B Brands Can\u2019t Be Funny<\/b><\/h4>\n

Truth: Humor Can Be Effective, It Just Needs to Be Done Right<\/b><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Who says B2B brands can’t be funny? Not us. True, using humor in B2B marketing requires a deft hand (think: wry smile versus a big-knee slapper). But since most B2B brands shy away from being funny, adding a dash of mirth to your marketing can make you stand out from the rest.<\/p>\n

What Can Humor Do For Your Brand?<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Develop Brand Affinity<\/h4>\n

It’s important to remember your audience is made of up real people with personalities. At the end of the day, your advertising and social media content is\u00a0targeted at these real\u00a0people, and they’re\u00a0<\/span>making buying decisions daily. Serving up a smile amidst copious amounts of other content can spark an affinity for your brand, giving your company a toe-hold that might not have been there before. To do so, you don’t need to whack your audience over the head.\u00a0 Go for subtlety rather than over-the-top comedy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Get A New Spin on a Service<\/h4>\n

Many B2B brands try to include everything they do or get super technical to make a hard sell. But overwhelming your buyer isn\u2019t going to be very helpful to them \u2013 or to you. So why not take a different approach? Cisco promoted their router<\/span><\/a> by offering it up as a Valentine\u2019s Day gift. While that seems illogical (and according to them, it is), the ad did its job by making a mark. Cisco suddenly had something it was known for, this extremely creative and humorous ad. That got people thinking about their brand \u2013\u00a0 and looking at their more informative content. <\/span><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Garner Likes \u2013 And Shares<\/h4>\n

You develop content because you want people to see it. The more eyes on your content, the higher the\u00a0chance of getting the right\u00a0people interested and clicking. By algorithm alone, a mere like from your audience can expand the reach of your content significantly, even more so if the content is shared. A little well-timed humor can increase your chances of both.<\/p>\n

4. Enhance Your Story<\/h4>\n

Oftentimes, what your brand is promoting isn\u2019t easy to explain. Especially\u00a0now, when marketing is all about story-telling. Being funny adds the perfect opportunity to make your content engaging and boost your brand’s story. <\/span>Tim Washer<\/span><\/a>, comedian and corporate humorist, has stated, \u201cComedy can cut through all the noise, it makes the point in a very clever way, and it connects with people so they listen.\u201d When done right, humor is relatable and understandable. And that adds tremendous strength to the content your brand puts out. Want to see a great example? Check out Slack Communication’s outdoor campaign<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where can you use humor?<\/h4>\n

This depends on your brand voice, but humor can live across your content \u2013 from ads to blog posts to video content.\u00a0 But remember, your attempts need to back a solid message \u2013 and be distributed in the right places. Facebook is an easy place to insert a little levity, like Park New Haven does here<\/a>. And although LinkedIn is a more professional channel, you can still benefit from a bit of strategically placed wit. Remember, the key is a light touch. You’re not looking to define your brand as the class clown. You’re simply looking to elicit an appreciative response.\u00a0Need help getting started? Drop us a line<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Myth: B2B Brands Can\u2019t Be Funny Truth: Humor Can Be Effective, It Just Needs to Be Done Right   Who says B2B brands can’t be funny? Not us. True, using humor in B2B marketing requires a deft hand (think: wry smile versus a big-knee slapper). But since most B2B brands shy away from being funny, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,769,103],"tags":[209,826,824,105],"class_list":["post-15252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-b2b","category-b2b-myth-of-the-week","category-marketing-strategy-2","tag-b2b","tag-humor","tag-myth-of-the-week","tag-social-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15252"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15257,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15252\/revisions\/15257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}