Be bolder: Using humour in your B2B marketing

Why your B2B brand shouldn’t shy away from being funny, the ways you can add humour to your channels, and how to do it without falling flat.

B2B marketing is boring. 

Wrong. B2B marketing can be just as fun and creative as B2C. In fact, if you want to stand out from the crowd, adding a little humour to your marketing campaigns can make a big impact. 

Don’t believe us? Keep reading 👇.

Stop trying to make funny B2B marketing happen

The easiest place to start with comedy in B2B marketing is on social media. Humour thrives on the internet and we all know that the quickest way to spread something is through the web. Yes, there were jokes before the internet but how they grow has changed.

rec.humour came up with following joke-description when asked how jokes spread on their website:

1. Somebody makes up the joke.
2. The joke spreads to about 50 people.
3. Somebody posts it to rec.humor.
4. Ten thousand people read the joke on rec.humor.
5. Eight hundred of these people repeat the joke to somebody.
6. Twenty of those people are clueless enough to repost the joke to rec.humor, apparently lacking either the reading skills to have seen it the first time, the basic pattern-recognition capability to identify it in its last ten repetitions, or the short-term memory to realize that it’s the same joke again.
7. Loop back to step 4, about ten times.
8. Repeat from step 3 about every two months.

This may be a simplification but it shows how many people your brand could reach with one social media post. But how do you reach those people in the first place?

Not many people will choose to follow a brand on socials unless they’re offering something up, usually offers or jokes. As we move into a world where Gen Z is expected to account for 40% of consumers, it’s essential to cater to them on your social media platforms. But do they like comedy? Yes. According to 360 Market Reach, it’s the most important part of social media, with 60% saying Humour & Comedy is their preference in socials and ads. 

But a word of warning, 72% of people think humour should only be used by some brands. It’s brand dependent – it’s not always appropriate. For example, you might not want Childline cracking a joke… It’s also worth considering what kind of joke you’re making, no joke is worth getting cancelled. 

Aren’t TV ads so last year?

TV ads aren’t just about plugging the latest toy, Funzo (it’s cute and cuddly, with lots of fire power!). It’s about building brand awareness. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, you want to be the brand people think of when someone talks about your product or service, in other words, you want to be Amazon or Google. 

But if you’re in B2B, you might not think about TV ads – you might think that they won’t reach your target audience. But TV has changed. It isn’t just flicking through the channels anymore, it’s all about that personalised streaming experience. And we know all about that as we launched our own TV ads earlier this year. 

Using a platform like Sky streaming or Youtube means ads are specifically targeted to people that might be interested in what you’re selling. Much like in the way your Tiktok FYP (for you page) magically knows that you’re a novice chef or just interested in funny cat videos, these platforms use an algorithm to target ads to different audiences. 

Consumers prefer ads that make them laugh. There’s been research done on it. 53% of consumers said they’ll remember an ad if it’s humorous. You might think that’s just B2C – the B2Bers of the world are much more sensible – but that’s not true. Comedy can add an extra edge to your B2B marketing campaigns and make you stand out from the competition. 

Don’t believe us? Check out our TV ads (they made us laugh anyway).

Find the rest here.

Being funny in emails… what like it’s hard?

It isn’t just ads and socials that can be funny. Injecting a little comedy into your prospecting emails can make a real difference as well. People receive well over 100 emails per day on average and that means your email can just get lost (both physically and metaphorically). Sure, it’s not always appropriate but if you’re onto your second or third chaser, it’s worth giving humour a shot. 

But how do you write a funny follow-up email? Here are some ideas to add a little comedy into your emails:

1. Pick a theme – a joke is great but a running joke throughout is more likely to get a laugh.

2. Animals – everyone likes a funny cat video, facts.

3. Honesty – we’re different people at work but a little human-to-human honesty can go a long way.

And if all else fails, you can’t go wrong with a meme – you just need to know your audience and usually, it’s to do with age.

Still stuck on where to start? Read our blog on writing funny cold emails.

See, B2B marketing can be all fun and games. At Sopro, we understand the power of comedy and that it takes lots of different tactics to get a response from your prospects and ultimately, sell more. The most important thing is to know your audience – and we can help with that (and much more). Our market mapper can help you to find out who your audience is, and we can help you target that audience.

Book a demo today to find out more.