{"id":978,"date":"2013-10-21T17:07:10","date_gmt":"2013-10-21T17:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.markerly.com\/?p=978"},"modified":"2013-10-21T17:07:10","modified_gmt":"2013-10-21T17:07:10","slug":"proof-why-you-should-be-funny-on-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.markerly.com\/pulse\/proof-why-you-should-be-funny-on-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Proof: Why You Should Be Funny on Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Oxford English Dictionary defines \u201chumor\u201d as \u201csomething you shouldn\u2019t begin discussing by giving its dictionary definition.\u201d \u2026 No, it doesn\u2019t. But now you get my first point.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to put your finger on funny. Funny tends to have a certain\u00a0je ne sais quois<\/em>\u00a0(which I believe is Gaelic for \u201csnake that slithers westward\u201d). I can\u2019t comprehensively define \u201cfunny\u201d but, as Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart defined pornography, I know it when I see it. For now, forget how and consider why your brand should use humor.<\/p>\n

Whether your brand\u2019s voice is wacky, serious, lighthearted, academic, inspirational, or anything in between, it needs at least a few moments of funny. Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n

Numbers Don\u2019t Lie<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the social media universe, humor done right can get you lots of attention.\u00a0Several<\/a>\u00a0highly popular brands rely heavily, if not exclusively, on humor. Just check out\u00a0Old Spice<\/a>\u00a0and its 2.5 million Facebook fans, or\u00a0Taco Bell<\/a>\u00a0and its 10 million Facebook fans. Then watch the two interact on Twitter:<\/p>\n

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The results are wonderful, both in quality of content and quantity of interactions.<\/p>\n

Humor Makes You Stand Out<\/strong><\/p>\n

What makes humor so effective? In his 2004 book\u00a0Maximum Influence<\/em>, Kurt Mortensen says that leveraging humor \u201cin our fast-paced culture where most things are fleeting\u201d makes those on the receiving end \u201cremember you and continue to hold you in a positive light long after the initial exchange.\u201d Any social network is a fast-paced fleeting content platform. Therefore, Mortensen\u2019s advice can help your brand equity.<\/p>\n

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Being Funny Makes You More Likeable<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having your brand seem more like an interesting person than a pushy salesman can make real connections with social-media users, who are fine-tuned for detecting fakery. People can cozy up to a brand that feels human, effectively saying, \u201cI like you. You\u2019re a funny guy.\u201d (Warning: Do not say this if the brand is\u00a0Joe Pesci<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

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The Contrast Makes Your Serious Moments Stronger<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a fine line between funny and offensive, between ha-ha and boo-hoo, between \u201cThat\u2019s hilarious!\u201d and \u201cBurn in hell, you twisted monster.\u201d Topics like race, religion, and sexual orientation should remain serious, no matter how many \u201cA Bangladeshi Mormon walks into a leather bar\u201d jokes you have. And, as\u00a0Kelly Byrd<\/a>\u00a0pointed out in yesterday\u2019s entry, always\u00a0be respectful<\/a>\u00a0of other people, especially when handling highly sensitive events.<\/p>\n

Now Make Them Laugh<\/strong><\/p>\n

How much humor you use is up to you and how it fits your brand. A fun electronics company has a lot of potential to use jokes, funny videos, etc. A\u00a0non-profit dealing with a serious world issue<\/a>\u00a0will need to use humor more sparingly, but could still get creative.<\/p>\n

In short, social media fans should feel like they\u2019re listening to their neighbor talk, not hearing a lecture. That\u2019s where humor comes into play. Whatever your brand, being funny can help transform a disconnected, corporate image into a familiar-feeling, humanized one.<\/p>\n

Do you have personal examples of using humor to drive engagement for your brand? How did you leverage funny content?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Mike Mitchell is the content strategist at Likeable Media<\/a>.\nThis post has been republished with permission.<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span> Oxford English Dictionary defines \u201chumor\u201d as \u201csomething you shouldn\u2019t begin discussing by giving its dictionary definition.\u201d \u2026 No, it doesn\u2019t. But now you get my first point. It\u2019s hard to put your finger on funny. Funny tends to have a certain\u00a0je ne sais quois\u00a0(which I believe is Gaelic for \u201csnake that slithers westward\u201d). I can\u2019t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[6,10,19,34,61,96,124,141],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.markerly.com\/pulse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.markerly.com\/pulse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.markerly.com\/pulse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.markerly.com\/pulse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.markerly.com\/pulse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.markerly.com\/pulse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.markerly.com\/pulse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.markerly.com\/pulse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.markerly.com\/pulse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.markerly.com\/pulse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}