Business Magazine

How To Use Humour When Marketing Your Blog

Posted on the 27 February 2014 by Kharim Tomlinson @KharimTomlinson

Are you looking for a way to expand your blog’s audience and reach out to new readers?

You’re probably familiar with the usual marketing possibilities, such as beefing up your social media presence or commenting on other bloggers’ websites. It can be hard to walk the fine line between helpful marketing and spamming, however, because let’s face it: no one likes to feel as if they’re being marketed to. One way to bridge the gap and suit the interests of both you and your future readers is to draw them in with humor.

Everyone likes to laugh, and comedy is used in advertising all the time to positive effect. You can apply this same principle to marketing your blog, by keeping the following tips in mind.

Strike a Balance

Whether or not humor can be injected into your daily blog material depends greatly on the content and purpose of it. Yet even the most serious blogs can often get away with a touch of humor or a few throwaway jokes, poking fun at your industry. Even if you’re not a natural comedian, you can link to other industry-related videos or websites that you find funny. Striking the balance between serious and humorous content can be difficult to master at first, but it’s a proven combination if you want to attract attention.

Use Pop Culture References

Stay clued into pop culture if you want to market your blog to a young and savvy audience. Comment on current events, television shows, and trends using your social media accounts, or reference pop culture in your posts. If you relate Miley Cyrus’s latest bizarre performance to one of your products or post a funny GIF, you might attract the attention of potential readers searching for her name.

Keep your Tweets Light-hearted

Twitter’s one of the best marketing tools for blogs. As you build up your followers, you can easily post links to your latest blog posts and interact with the community at large. This is also one of the easiest arenas in which to flex your funny muscles. Post daily observations, pop culture references, or re-tweets that you found amusing. You’ll gain more followers on Twitter that way; and more corresponding readers for your blog.

Use Multimedia

Videos, cartoons, and animated sequences are all ways to use humor in marketing without relying solely on the written word. Sometimes, a visual gag can speak a thousand words. One example of a video with very few words used to promote a website to comedic effect is this advert for Quicksales, starring Pat Cash. You can also see just how effective animation can be as a marketing tool by checking out the video for GoAnimate’s app, promoting its own animation services.

Outsource Your Humour

If you’re having trouble getting started and implementing these ideas on your own, leave it in the hands of a professional. Hiring an outsider allows you to bring in an outside perspective, which may be much-needed. It’s hard to poke fun at something that’s as close to your heart as your blog or small business. You don’t need to spend a fortune; try hiring an actor, writer, or student involved in an improvisational comedy troupe, for instance. Another option is to ask your regular readership for promotional ideas.

Humour is one of the most effective marketing tools because it helps humanize your brand, providing something of value to readers beyond your usual content. It makes your blog stand out in a crowded playing field, and can be low in cost to implement. So go ahead, take a risk, and have fun with it!

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