We do it every chance we get, and we feel great afterward. It’s actually really good for us, and is completely free. However, it’s on the “taboo” list for smart direct response marketers.
I speak, of course, about laughing.
- Last Saturday we played a card game that had my family laughing until the tears were streaming down.
- David Sedaris is one of my favorite authors because I find myself laughing out loud when I read his books.
- “Laughter is the Best Medicine” was one of the most popular features of Readers’ Digest, and is now available in book form (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/237952.Laughter_the_Best_Medicine )
- My mom put Erma Bombeck clippings in with every letter I received from her for decades.
- I remember the first joke I ever told: “Where does the dog go when he loses his tail? To the RE-tail store!”
Laughter is cathartic. Laughter is contagious. Laughter keeps comedians employed. Laughter transcends age and economic boundaries.
But laughter, and by extension humor, is toxic to marketers.
We use humor (successfully) as public speakers and parents and columnists and authors. But direct response marketers know that including a joke in a letter or a landing page is a bad idea.
Amy Doll
One of the most delightful, witty, guaranteed-to-make-you-laugh creators we know is the wonderful Amy Doll. But Amy is a serious, effective, and as a result, humorless writer.
We asked Amy her thoughts on the subject, and what she does to muzzle her infectious sense of humor when she sits down to write a winning direct response campaign:
Fortunately (unfortunately?) the products I market usually aren’t natural laugh riots.
Health and life insurance? Ugh. Financial products? Nothing to joke about there … particularly these days. Software for healthcare professionals? I’m not going to be the one to make light of their practice/profession.
The way I start any project is determining what I really want the reader to feel and what I want them to do. The WIIFM. And—in most cases—it’s a solution to a pain point in his or her life. No laughing matter.
I just read a quote in John Forde’s latest issue of “The Copywriter’s Roundtable” that seems to sum it up pretty well:
“Copy that calls attention to itself and not the product is what a lot of expensive advertising does, but it’s not nearly as effective as something that can make you want to buy the product alone.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. (And how often do you hear a copywriter say THAT?)
Laughter might be contagious, but what we find funny or witty can be highly personal, and the potential of derailing the prospect from the desired result is a risk that is no laughing matter …
But don’t hesitate to send a good joke our way! I promise to laugh!
