Humour is a very subjective thing. What one person finds hilarious, another might find offensive or pass\u00e9. While some people will L-O-L at a video of a guy falling through a chair, others will merely roll their eyes. And more sophisticated humour, such as satire or referential jokes, might go over many people\u2019s heads.<\/p>\n
So it\u2019s fair to say \u2013 making your email campaigns \u2018funny\u2019 isn\u2019t all that safe a road to success<\/strong>. You risk alienating or annoying sections of your subscriber list, because not everyone finds the same things funny.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s not the only reason. Being funny and original \u2013 i.e., not just ripping off jokes from a famous comedian or comedy character \u2013 is quite difficult! Sure, we can all make a good joke now and again. But we aren\u2019t all blessed with the gift of being able to make people laugh whenever we want.<\/p>\n\n So why even try to be funny in your email marketing? If it\u2019s difficult, and it can go wrong, why even bother?<\/p>\n Well, we\u2019re not saying you definitely should. But if you\u2019re confident that…<\/p>\n … Then using humour in your email marketing campaigns can deliver great results, for several reasons.<\/p>\n Firstly, everyone loves to laugh<\/strong>. When you make a person laugh, they like you more. If you can make your whole email subscriber list laugh (or a good percentage of them), that\u2019s one valuable campaign.<\/p>\n Secondly, humour can give your subscribers an extra reason to open your email<\/strong>. Think about it. Not everyone on your subscriber list is going to be interested in your next campaign offering. But if your subscribers also expect to get a laugh out of reading your email, more of them will open it. That means better open rates. And you\u2019ll stay front-of-mind with more of them.<\/p>\n And thirdly, humour and the Internet go really well together. That\u2019s undeniable. I don\u2019t know about you, but my Facebook and Twitter feeds are full of funny videos, pictures and jokes that people have shared with me and their other friends. Most things that go viral are things that make people laugh<\/strong>. That\u2019s another great reason to create a funny email marketing campaign.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve made it this far, I guess you\u2019re up for the challenge of creating a funny email marketing campaign. But where do you start?<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a look at some other funny campaigns for a bit of inspiration.<\/p>\n Our first example is something of a cautionary tale. Take a look at this cheeky campaign first blogged about by Marketo. It illustrates perfectly how an email that one person laughs at can be offensive to others.<\/p>\n The subject line read \u201cSo I\u2019ll pick you up at 7?\u201d Here\u2019s the opening of the message that followed:<\/p>\n The copy creates humour through deliberate, exaggerated over-familiarity. It makes a point about how other B2B<\/a> referral companies ask \u201ctoo much, too soon\u201d from their customers.<\/p>\n The Marketo blogger describes the campaign as \u201cpretty awesome\u201d and \u201cbrilliant\u201d. Yet the very first comment on the post, from a copywriter called Rhonda, says \u201cI found the copy arrogant and I don’t think I would appreciate this kind of message.\u201d<\/p>\n Make sure your funny email copy fits your subscribers\u2019 sensibilities.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to embed video in your email messages nowadays \u2013 and a video message can feel a lot more personal than text.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a naturally funny person, your humour might also come across better on video than in words. Take a look at this example of a video follow-up email from FunnyBizz, a company that helps businesses \u201ctap into humour\u2019s power.\u201d<\/p>\nWhy be funny?<\/h2>\n
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Let\u2019s find some inspiration<\/h2>\n
Write humorous copy \u2013 but be careful<\/h3>\n
Make a funny video<\/h3>\n