Humor Me.

Today's Marketing Cookie is talking about humor, which is one place where a brand's personality can really come to life. People love to laugh. In most cases, people enjoy laughing even more than they like to complain, which seems like a lot sometimes. I checked it out, and there are 6,091,179 likes for the "laughing" community page on Facebook and only a mere 40,302 likes for "complaining," which ironically will give them something completely new to complain about.

While misery likes company, there's something wildly attractive about humor. That's why some of the best commercials during the Super Bowl are also the funniest ones. Am I right? Think about some of your favorite commercials—aren't they usually the funny ones?

Does your brand take itself too seriously? Perhaps a little laughter will help to humanize your brand and make a deeper connection with your target audience. If you're going to give it a try, you should remember that there is a difference between being funny and just being silly. Being "silly" is dumb, obvious humor which is neither surprising nor clever. Being "silly" is a bonk on the head or someone making a funny face. It may get a chuckle, sure, but there's a whole higher level of funny that you could shoot for.

Are you ready to try something a little more sophisticated? Some of the best humor in marketing is the use of jokes that only your target audience would understand. Having an inside joke with your target audience is a demonstration of your relevant knowledge of their world. If you can make people laugh, you have an excellent chance of breaking down walls and building a deeper relationship with them. In this case, laughter really is the shortest distance between two people.