Unless you're living under a rock (or watching the last season of Prison Break) you probably know content marketing is the process of storytelling in web-friendly formats (blog, video, ebooks etc;) so buyers find you when they search for your products/services online. Unfortunately, everyone markets this way now. So how do you stand out? Comedy.
Here's why comedy is the cure for your content marketing woes:
1. Easy to Digest: If you want target customers to perceive you as the Apollo Creed of your industry you need to make sure people share your content. That's the thing with content marketing, your dependent on other people not only eating your content themselves, but sharing the leftovers with others. Boring content doesn't get eaten or shared. It's like stale liver left on a freshman's dorm-room floor. What is the likelihood of that 8000 word blog post being eaten/read by anyone other than Master Splinter?
Now, think if that content had some humor in it. How much easier would it be for someone to read? Laughter is contagious. You see something funny, you share it with your friends. Think about the last time you saw something funny. Did you say, "Yes! I'm so glad I saw that and now I can keep it to myself forever"? Or, did you immediately Whatsapp the link to your buddies? Funny content is like that awesome salty swimming pool of popcorn at the movie theater. You take a handful, share a handful and there's no such thing as too much.
2. Fun to Produce: It's a lot of fun to make people laugh. There is a good chance you're smiling when you do it. I have no knowledge of how TV or film production works. But I think the crew at Seinfeld probably had a lot of laughs producing their show. The crew at Cops? Probably not as much.
Turning your online presence into a 24/7 lead-generating machine is a long-and-winding road (something the Beatles knew a lot about). It takes a regular habit and a huge commitment, kind of like math class. You need to put in the time, it'll come in handy when you're older and you need to do it anyway. You may as well have fun while doing it. Try to make those few hrs a week spent on content marketing time you look forward to. That way updating your YouTube channel every week is something you'll look forward to even if it is just Aunt May and Uncle Ben checking it out.
3. Makes You Unique: The web is a noisy place. There's inspiring stuff like a guy giving money to the poor, and then there's cats flushing toilets. Everyone is trying to create videos, graphics, blogs, webinars, ebooks and other stuff trying to stand out. Standing out is pretty tough if you sound, look and act the same as everyone else. Take a look at the last few articles you read online. They all probably sounded pretty vanilla. Can you even remember any of the articles or web copy you read yesterday? Or, if they made you feel a certain way at all? What about the videos you watched?
Most people think marketing has to be serious and done with a 'corporate tone.' The problem with the corporate tone in content marketing is that it's boring and we know boring content doesn't get shared. Stale liver on the dorm-room floor remember? Comedy adds personality to your identity and shows you're not just yet another stiff out there creating content to make a buck at the viewer/reader's expense. Adding humor to your pieces adds humanity. That little dose of personality in your content shows you care enough about your audience to give them good stuff and at least try to make their days reading nonsense emails a little better.
Now, some of you are probably thinking, "well Sajeel, if that's your real name, when it comes to humor I'm as useful as a screen door on a submarine." And to that I'll say everything is relative. A little bit of humor goes a long way. I'm sure you've made people laugh before. No one is asking you to sell out Madison Square Garden as the opening act for Louis C.K. All you need to do is be a bit more unique than the other people creating content in your industry. Since their content is probably boring you shouldn't have to try too hard. Look for patterns in the funny stuff you read/watch/listen to and you'll start to develop a sense of humor that you allegedly don't have.
You can also surround yourself with people you think are funny. The more jokes you hear, the more jokes you'll tell.
Check out this list of content marketing tools to generate new business with your new-found sense of humor.