Yes, humorous direct mail works. Many marketers shy away from it because they are worried about offending someone. Analyze who is on the list and then you can plan out humor that would suit them. The reason that you should try using humor is it works. It’s a great way to engage people and get them to share, when it’s done correctly. Ready to help your customers get the laughs and the sales?
5 Suggested Funnies:
- Create your own comic strip: Create your own fun comic strip with characters that represent fun things about your company or industry. You can highlight real problems people have in a funny way and resolve them. Get creative! This can be really fun for your team as well as the recipients.
- Cartoons: Add cartoons in humorous situations that people could get into in your industry. Make them really over the top to get the laughter. Make the message fun, maybe even a play on words that ties into the cartoon theme.
- Images: Find a funny image that makes you and your team laugh. Create a way to integrate that funny image into a problem/solution you can fix. There are plenty of images that can invoke laughter without being offensive.
- Real life examples: In many cases, there are real life examples of funny things that have occurred either in the office or with customers that can be highlighted and incorporated into a funny example of what not to do. These are very popular as they are relatable, it could happen to them too.
- Jokes: Now, no dirty ones allowed! Clean fun jokes that show how your brand can relate to people on their level and be fun.
First, when you are creating your direct mail and want to include humor, make sure to test your ideas on several people from different backgrounds who are outside the organization. This will allow you to see first if people get it, second if they think it’s funny and third if anyone is upset by it.
After your idea passes the people test, your next step will be to find ways for people to share your fun. Try creating a landing page where people can go to share the funny with others on social media, text message or email. Keep in mind that the landing page needs to be created with responsive design so that if accessed by a mobile device or a desktop it will look correctly as well as be functional for all.
I really like to use humor in direct mail. People love to laugh and to share what they think it funny, just look at Facebook, people post funny things all of the time. The last thing you need to make sure your funny direct mail is a success is to have your call to action stand out.
Don’t get so caught up in the humor that you ignore what’s important. Test your call to action with the same people you showed your funny design to. You will learn a lot from them. Consider testing more than one CTA to see what offer pulls the best when paired with the humorous theme. Now it time to go out there and create some really funny direct mail. Do you have an example that you have created or seen? If so, I would love to hear about it!
