Despite the proliferation of digital marketing resources, email remains one of the most effective tools for engaging with customers and clients. Unfortunately, given the constant inundation of today’s inboxes, many brands struggle to make Better Emails an impression — or to convince recipients to open and read messages in the first place.
The good news? Email marketing need not feel impossible to conquer. The right tone can make all the difference. Many customers gravitate toward funny emails, which they find far more relatable than typical sale-sy marketing language. Humor cyprus phone number data can play a valuable role in telling your brand’s story while also enticing customers to hit up landing pages, blogs, or social media accounts. (For tips on being funny on social, check out our post, “Humor in Social Media Marketing.”)
Why Humor Writing Works in Email Marketing
We love comedy in TV commercials and on Facebook, but often neglect it in email marketing campaigns. That’s a shame — email offers an excellent platform for connecting with consumers through the power of humor.
Funny Emails Keep Readers Engaged
Email marketing can pay huge dividends, but only if recipients actually bother to read included content. If the messages they receive look and the ideal collaboration between all parties sound like the many other emails found within their crammed inboxes, consumers will skim, at best — or worse, send messages straight to the trash.
Humor can convince even skeptical recipients that marketing emails are worth reading in their entirety. If they find messages from a particular brand entertaining, they won’t just stop dreading new emails — they’ll actively look forward to these messages.
Comedy has a unique way of engaging readers that few other styles can match — so it should come as no surprise that many consumers strongly prefer to Better Emails receive marketing messages with at least a hint of humor.
Comedy Sets Your Brand Apart
While the use of humor may seem ubiquitous in denmark business directory advertising, it can actually be a differentiating factor in email marketing. Despite this, many campaigns continue to rely on outdated formats that show little personality.
Comedy provides a wonderful opportunity to highlight your brand’s unique voice. You might sell the exact same products or provide identical services as your top competitor, but customers will ultimately remember the funnier brand.
Funny Abandoned Cart Emails Are More Appealing
Abandoned cart emails can be effective for recapturing ambivalent consumers, but not all recipients appreciate them. Businesses that rely on these emails do themselves few favors with their often whiney tone. It’s easy for such messages to feel like begging, but humor can change all that.
A light-hearted approach provides a gentle reminder while keeping readers entertained. Even if this email fails to produce an immediate conversion, it should provide a positive brand impression to encourage further interaction down the road.
Email Comedy Can Be Integrated With Other Marketing Efforts
A cohesive marketing campaign should draw on the benefits of several platforms while still ringing true to your brand. If humor plays a significant role on your blog or in social media updates, why not add it to the mix for your email content?
A humorous approach could help you establish a consistent brand voice and maximize your marketing ROI across multiple channels. Feel free to use wit to direct email recipients to new blog posts, silly YouTube videos, or bold updates on Instagram.
Comedy Writing Techniques to Help You Write Better Emails
Comedy is the ultimate high-risk, high-reward marketing proposition. If used effectively, it can turbocharge your campaign and transform consumers’ perception of your brand. Screw up, however, and you’ll bore, annoy, or even offend consumers. One bad joke could tear down a reputation you’ve spent years building.
Unfortunately, it’s difficult to know what your customers find funny or how such content can best be woven into your emails. Marketing experts provide plenty of insight into the value of punchy headlines and action-oriented language. But not every brand is cut out for a humorous approach.
Sometimes, Better Emails the best advice comes straight from the source: comedians.
Keep these classic comedy writing techniques in mind as you add humor to your email campaign:
Tailor Humor to Your Audience
There is no such thing as a universally funny joke. While certain types of humor can delight a broad audience, many styles only hold niche appeal. Applied to the wrong marketing effort, sarcastic or biting humor, in particular, could prove problematic. Likewise, corny jokes could detract from branding for companies seeking to establish an edgy vibe.
The value of tailored humor can be seen in the work of today’s most beloved comedians. Iliza Shlesinger, for example, nailed this idea with the Netflix feature Elder Millennial, in which she referenced several memories and situations familiar to audience members born in the 80s. While Shlesinger’s humor might not appeal to everybody, it certainly made an impression with her target audience.
Jim Gaffigan targets a very different audience: nerdy family men. He might not be as edgy as his comedic counterparts, but his tailored approach has launched his career to new heights. By knowing his audience and catering to their unique sense of pride, he’s gained a massive fanbase and, in turn, sold-out performances around the country.
Follow Shlesinger and Gaffigan’s lead and think carefully about your intended audience before you rev up your funny bone.
What types of jokes will get email recipients chuckling? Which topics are off-limits?
If you suspect that a particular quip might cause offense, consider playing it safe and swapping your original joke for a less controversial option. That being said, risk-taking can pay dividends with the right audience. Stick with measured risks, as a joke made in poor taste could prove far more devastating for your brand than it might for a typical comedian.
Don’t Forget Phonetics
Word choice matters. The right language can level up your email, even if the content itself isn’t all that funny.
Research verifies that some words are simply funnier than others. Often, this appeal stems less from the word’s meaning, but rather, from phonetics. A study from the University of Alberta, for example, reveals that most people perceive specific sounds as humorous. Researchers highlight the letter k and the ‘oo’ sound as especially amusing. Combine these sounds with an already funny meaning, and you have a recipe for instant laughter.
While semantics matter, the message behind your content will have a limited impact if the words themselves sound stuffy. If you struggle to distinguish silly words from ordinary language, look to the aforementioned University of Alberta study or similar linguistics research for