How can you use humor in B2B marketing storytelling without undermining your brand's credibility?

Why don't B2B marketers ever play hide and seek? Because they always want to be found in search results! ?? Humor works best when it aligns with your brand's personality and values. Don't force it or try to be something you're not. Stay true to your brand's tone and voice while incorporating humor that reflects your values and resonates with your audience. However, before injecting humor into your storytelling, take the time to understand and research your audience's preferences, values, and sense of humor across various platforms like Linkedin and X. What might be funny to one group may not resonate with another. Tailor your approach to ensure it aligns with your target market.

Using humor in B2B marketing without hurting credibility, Here's how - Know Your Audience: Tailor humor to their interests and pain points for authenticity. - Stay Relevant: Align humor with your message. A relevant joke enhances, a random one distracts. - Be Subtle: Aim for a smile, not a roar; keep it light. - Avoid Sensitive Topics: Steer clear of potentially offensive subjects. - Test and Iterate: Trial your humor on a small group first. Blend humor with insight for relatability without sacrificing trust.

Humor as a brand only works if it seems authentic to the brand. And if it's consistent. Having a straight-laced image, and then suddenly posting a joke will come across as strange and inauthentic. On the other hand, if you have a light-hearted image, it can be tough to turn serious. So make sure your attitude to humor is decided up front and included in your branding/voice guidelines

You should actually first ask yourself if you have a brand at all. Not using humor in fear of ruining a brand requires that you first have a clear idea of how your prospects would describe your brand. If you don’t have that, your fear is without any basis. Also, you are selling to people (even if they buy as teams and not as individuals, they are still people). Do you remember the last time you didn’t buy a software product because the company used humor in their communication?

Humor should not overshadow the purpose of the key messages you want to convey! Here are 2 ways humor can help you align and support your business goals: 1) Humanizes your brand - By injecting humor into your storytelling humanizes your brand, making it relatable and approachable. It helps build trust, strengthen relationships, and encourages your audience to connect with your brand on a deeper level. 2) Communicate complex ideas: B2B marketing often involves explaining intricate concepts or industry jargon. Humor can simplify complex ideas by presenting them in a more digestible and entertaining way. It helps your audience grasp your message effortlessly while enjoying the experience.

Humor in B2B is better and more natural when it comes from a person as opposed to just a brand. Therefore, blogs from people. Newsletter with an editor's note. Videos with human characters. These are the good spots for incorporating humor.

Incorporating humor in B2B marketing demands a nuanced approach. Employ industry-relevant, light humor that resonates with the audience. Avoid sarcasm or controversial topics. Focus on universal workplace scenarios or relatable challenges. Ensure the humor aligns with your brand's tone and doesn't overshadow the message. Test content internally to gauge reactions. A balance between wit and professionalism preserves credibility while adding a human touch to your brand's storytelling.

?? You can't go wrong with humor in B2B marketing if you aim for true positivity and friendliness. And never forget that humor it not humor! Make jokes that unite rather than divide. Here are some examples of humor, you should stay away from ?? ?? self-defeating humor (=putting yourself down) ?? agressive humor (=putting others down) This is an advanced level of humor, that you should use super carefully: ?? sarcastic humor (= putting others down in an ironic way)

Humor, especially in B2B, is a spice, not the main course. It’s there to enhance, not overshadow. Moreover, sensitive topics, controversial humor, or jokes that might alienate a section of your audience are a strict no-no. Tread lightly, always keeping inclusivity in mind. A joke's ROI shouldn't come at the cost of a client's comfort or trust.

Using humor in B2B marketing is a balancing act. If you do it right, you'll unite your audience; if you don't, you may lose their respect or even damage your reputation... So, is it worth the risk? Absolutely YES!!! ?? Don't be afraid to use humor! It might be an uncomfortable balancing act, but if you don't put yourself (=your brand) in uncomfortable situations, you'll never learn and grow! ??

Memes are the easiest and most effective way to use humour. You can also find copyright safe memes in most stock libraries, so there is no excuse. B2B doesn’t have to be boring.

Just because you’re educating your audience, doesn’t mean you can’t entertain them at the same time. The type of content you produce will depend on your audience and the channels they prefer. We all love stories, and there is nothing more central to the human experience than storytelling. Facts, statistics and theories have a part to play, but add in emotion, empathy and humour to really get across that human touch. Keep your stories short and relatable and make sure they connect to the purpose of your content. Finally, don’t forget to put your stamp on your content. You need to let your audience understand more about you. They need and want that human connection, so get your thoughts, experience and insights across in your own way.

As a LinkedIn Ads lover, I've used memes as ad creatives. Some of them managed to achieve a +1% CTR in a cold layer, which is quite good! As B2B marketers, we sometimes forget that we are also talking to people, not just companies. People prefer to buy from individuals and companies they trust and can relate to. Therefore, I'd encourage you to use humour in your B2B marketing campaigns! As long as you know your audience well and have an idea of what type of humour might resonate with them, of course!

By all means, create eBooks, vlogs, webinars, blogs, slide shares, podcasts and more. But remember: just because you’re using a professional channel like LinkedIn, it doesn’t mean you can’t entertain and use humour. We all love stories, and there is nothing more central to the human experience than storytelling. Facts, statistics and theories have a part to play, but add in emotion, empathy and humour to really get across that human touch. Keep your stories short and relatable and make sure they connect to the purpose of your content. You need to let your audience understand more about you. They need and want that human connection, so get your thoughts, experience and insights across in your own way.