B-to-B Marketing: Is There Room for Humor?
Everyone knows that B-to-B marketing is serious stuff. Maybe sometimes too serious! We need to write white papers and do microsites that talk about all the features and benefits. All good and necessary stuff, but is it memorable to a prospect looking at your brand? Now I agree that not all things may be appropriate for a humorous take, but most are and there are plenty of companies reaching out and taking the leap.
The president of our agency earlier this summer attended the annual BMA Conference in Chicago where one of the presenters was Tim Washer with Cisco. His topic was humor and why it’s important to use it.
Here’s an example from Tim Washer on how Cisco used humor introducing a new router .
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Another example is Kinaxis who used the idea of a dating scenario to bring home the points on supply chain management.
Here’s an example of how Kinaxis puts humor into the use.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WLr3hxpYYY
The challenge to all you conservative folks out there is to keep an open mind. I’m not suggesting you drop all the traditional stuff, absolutely not. But it’s not bad to show folks you’re human.
- These don’t have to be Hollywood productions.
- The key is delivering a key message using humorous situations.
- Keep it focused and under two minutes.
- Take a risk and dare to be different.
Let’s face it, we’re all humans here, and with all the things going on in the world, everyone enjoys a laugh. Make your brand stand out from the rest.