Humor in sales copy? Do or Don't?

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October 27, 2016, 1:18 pm

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Humor in sales copy? Do or Don't?

Many famous and successful internet marketers like Kern and Halbert are using humor in their sales copies. Obviously nothing offending, so racist, sexist or religious jokes are not suitable at all. You shouldn't use it if your product is dead serious either as it doesn't fit very well.

That being said, how about using humor in your copy, without the non-offending things.. Do you think it could work? - Have you or are you using humor yourself?

Why or why not?

I can totally see how this would be beneficial, but I can't say that I've ever used humor in any of my copies myself. How about you? - Do you think it's a great way to increase your sales, and if you believe it is, how come?

Is it due to the actual jokes or the actual humor you'll gain more sales, or is it due to the "weird" approach to potential clients? What do you think?

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Lynne

Yes I agree with Mike here, there is a careful balance with sales.

Me personally, I love a good joke and I love it when people can incorporate humor into things but not everyone feels the same. If you can fit it in cleverly and keep it professional but fun then that would be great.

0 8 years ago

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Barida

Keeping it professional is necessary in order not to put people on the wrong mood and scare them off from buying from you. We all know that sales is all about emotions.

0 6 years ago

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ballyhara

Agree. Maybe a little joke once in a while can be what your sales need. Honestly, sales have always been kind of boring, and of course business is not a joke, so everybody just focus on the money and how to increase it. But, a good balance of humor and sales can turn out good, or at least it seems to me. In the end, everything depends on client's preference and sense of humor, but I think it would be a good option.

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Cristian

Nowadays you need to stand out no matter what kind of content your niches you are writing about? Do you specialize in a very technical and boring niche? Well try humor, it works wonders, unfortunately, not everyone is gifted with a cool sense of humor that everybody will get, you will need to practice a lot and ask your friends and family to review your "potential" jokes before submitting or publishing that content.

I use humor in a lot of content that I write, especially in that kind of content I'm wanting to be perfect and I consider it very important, you need to have a level of charisma in your writing, otherwise you're going to sound plain and boring.

0 8 years ago

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Barida

Asking friends to review your jokes before you submit them can be good for they will be able to make corrections where needed. Although, at the end, you have the final decision to make.

0 6 years ago

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EliteWriter

As long as it is inserted in a way that makes it still look and feel professional, I agree with it. Humour does not have to end up being ridiculous or humiliating or offending though, and unfortunately some people are not able to make a difference. If it is resulting in diminishing the value or credibility, it should not be used at all.

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Barida

Moderate humors can be a great way to relax your readers and buyers before they part with their money for your goods and services. However, like you pointed out, there is need to keep everything in a good manner.

0 6 years ago

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fishmonk

As long as it is used in a proper manner, I think humor can definitely be used in sales copy. I like subtle jokes. It is essential not to humiliate or offend any people or groups. A bad joke can backfire and reflect badly on you or your organization.

0 7 years ago

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Judas2018

Humor can be risky. Not a big time risk, but if you insert a joke into a freelancing sales pitch it might fall flat. Jokes depend on many things. The culture you come from, the region you come from, your age group, your gender group, etc. A joke that is popular in the Boston area for example - might not be good for a sales pitch if a buyer is from California. They wouldn't get the joke, and that could be the moment you lose them as a customer. Of course, offensive jokes are not recommended and anyone uses them as a selling point will likely create problems for themselves. But I think if you're going to sprinkle humor within a sales pitch - it must be a universal joke 90% or more of your customers would catch and laugh at. Anything too obscure or too within your own personal social circle might not work or could me misconstrued.

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DenisP

I'm really on the fence when it comes to this, to be quite honest.

On one hand, using humor effectively can almost guarantee you a sale. If you can make someone laugh, or even just chuckle, you're disarming them and getting them to relax. It sounds manipulative, but in this relaxed state you can really work wonders when it comes to convincing someone to buy something. This is the foundation of things like hypnosis as well. Get the client to be at ease with you, and there is a lot of potential there.

On the other hand, if you don't hit the tone of the humor just right, you're risking potentially putting the client even more on edge, perhaps making them feel "This guy is trying too hard, what's he hiding?"

Unless you're absolutely sure that your humor is going to be universal, I'd lay off it for the most part.

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mildredtabitha

I think humor in sales copy will be nice because everyone needs a laugh. Personally, I have a sense of humor but it can be hard to fix the joke on a sales copy. You will need to get some tips on how to add humor on a sales copy without forcing it.

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Barida

One good thing that I've discovered about using humors while selling is that it can make the buyers feel relaxed and open up to you on what they need as regards improvements on what you're selling. That's the reason we should interact in a good with them as well.

0 6 years ago

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jaymish3

I absolutely recommend using humor in sales copy.Remember you are trying to get people to read your sales newsletter. If you open with a joke, and the rest of the email/letter is funny people are bound to read the whole thing to the end and maybe take up your call for action. On the hand if it's boring people like me will skim through it and press the delete key. I get many email newsletters, if the firs paragraph does not speak to me I simply delete the email without reading it. Humor would definitely capture my attention.

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Corzhens

I have a friend who was posting in Facebook about serious matters. He was getting from 10 to 20 likes with those posts. But some years back he changed his style from serious to humorous. He would post a selfie with a humorous caption and later on the selfie would contain short funny stories about the place where the selfie was taken. With that kind of humor, he is not getting more than a hundred likes and many comments. That goes to show that humor is far reaching because it is universal.

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mdayrit

It is important to consider what you are selling in order to determine if it is appropriate to add humor to your sales copy. It is not a bad idea to add a little humor once in a while to make the talk lively and establish rapport to your client. You just need to know how to balance giving out jokes and knowing when to stop.

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stbrians

Humor has really enticed traffic in business. People come to be entertained. I have once used it with great success.

Humor is a good tool.

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jaymish3

@stbrians you are correct. We live in the Entertainment age. Anything that entertains is bound to get loads and loads of traffic and views. Copy especially sales copy can be dry and boring. A good way to keep it fresh and exciting is to add humor. We all know that the internet has a million products and a million different people trying to sell them through sales copy. I think that using humor is a good way to differentiate your sales copy.

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