Does humor sell more than serious dry copy?

15 years ago

I think by integrating humor into your sales copy could get more attention from your customers but not necessarily increase sales.

Using the same old copy tactics usually gets the best response for me.

Copywriting rule #1 : Don't Reinvent The Wheels

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BrianMcLeod

15 years ago

"Funny" is tricky... Done well, it's a great way to break through the wall of resistance and get someone to pay attention:

Mark Widawer did a promotion that I thought was great at both driving home the sales message while being funny:

Frank Kern is Stupid

That said, trying to sell with "funny" can be risky. It can backfire on you very easily because the public is full of idiots and assholes. Sad fact of life. What you and I find hilarious as genuinely outgoing personality types others can find crass and annoying.

So, the point is... while dry may be "boring" it doesn't usually ALIENATE...

I guess what I'm saying is: if you're going to do funny, it better be funny...

: )

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Raydal

15 years ago

Another way of asking the same question is try naming all the
top selling sales letters that employed humor.

The vast majority of veteran copywriters suggests that you go
easy on trying to use humor to sell, except of course you are
selling humor.

I've used humor in my copywriting, but with a definite point of
not just making the reader laugh but to build rapport with him.

You should never 'force' a joke into your copy just to be funny.

-Ray Edwards

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EmpoweredCreator

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Raydal

Another way of asking the same question is try naming all the
top selling sales letters that employed humor.

The vast majority of veteran copywriters suggests that you go
easy on trying to use humor to sell, except of course you are
selling humor.

I've used humor in my copywriting, but with a definite point of
not just making the reader laugh but to build rapport with him.

You should never 'force' a joke into your copy just to be funny.

-Ray Edwards

This says a lot. A reader can see through a forced joke and then it's not genuine at all. I would say that if you can use humor with tact to build rapport with your audience then humor very much can up your sales and increase trust with your visitors.

But if you are not normally a funny person then, do yourself a favor and just don't try to be what you aren't.

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BenCarroll

Banned 15 years ago

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ndcole78 15 years ago

It really depends on your personality and who you are. If you customers know you in a certain way, you can say and do things that others can't. I myself do use a lot of humor, but that's my personality in real life. I like to joke and have fun with people.

As far as copy, dry copy is just that---dry. Your copy should entice, inspire, convince, and be compelling enough to make people want to buy whatever it is you're selling. Dry copy doesn't do this. When I think of dry, I think or boring and in marketing, as soon as your letter gets boring, it's time to stop.
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Harlan

15 years ago

Originally Posted by BenCarroll

LoudMac, i saw that video awhile ago and it really was a great way to get his point across, plus pretty amusing.

Right. Very funny video but...

the product bombed.

The results/bottom line is what counts.

Bottom line - humor does not sell in copy.

Old rule still applies.

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Hesster

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Harlan

Right. Very funny video but...

the product bombed.

The results/bottom line is what counts.

Bottom line - humor does not sell in copy.

Old rule still applies.

There are many reasons a product can bomb, though. Maybe it was a crappy product. Maybe the price was wrong. Maybe it was pitched to the wrong audience.

Human nature certainly hasn't changed since Scientific Advertising, but methods of communication have. Hopkins died before TV was a commercial reality, let alone the internet. Back in his day, if someone found an ad entertaining, they might cut it out of the newspaper or magazine and pin it up at work in the lunchroom where it might be seen by a few hundred people at most. Today if someone finds an ad entertaining, then they can put it online and post it on their blog or forward it onto their friends who do likewise, where it can potentially be seen by millions. The internet can keep the ad circulating long after it's off the air. Not everyone who sees it is a potential customer, but it does reach a much wider audience. If you can hit your target audience and pick up some more eyeballs at no extra charge, why not do so? Youtube is full of humorous ads from the 80s and earlier.

The classic "Where's the beef?" Wendy's ad is a good example. It was funny, but the humor backed up the message the ad was trying to get across. Wendy's hamburgers had more hamburger than the competition. It delivered the message in a memorable way and sold a lot of hamburgers for Wendy's.

Now, is humor useful for DM and long copy sales letters? Probably not for most products. But for other types of advertising that is highly visual and doesn't ask for the sale immediately, I agree with Ogilvy. Humor can have its place, as long as it actually supports the selling message and isn't stuck in just to draw attention to the ad itself and not what's being sold.

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Harlan

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Hesster

The classic "Where's the beef?" Wendy's ad is a good example. It was funny, but the humor backed up the message the ad was trying to get across. Wendy's hamburgers had more hamburger than the competition. It delivered the message in a memorable way and sold a lot of hamburgers for Wendy's.

Dude, one of the most effective commercials ever.

But this is a discussion of copy as you pointed out.

Totally not relevant.

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Aronya

15 years ago

Another consideration is the audience/product mix. If you're selling burial plots or a treatment for AIDS, humor is probably not the route to go.

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creativeblogger

15 years ago

lol agreed

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TSDMike

15 years ago

The short answer is yes - but using humor is more of a tactic of branding than it is closing a sale. It's a way to get people to remember you. It also depends on what you're selling. Humor works great at selling beer - probably not so much for getting someone to download your e-book on the latest and greatest PPC and PPO campaigns.

Right now I am writing humorous content for two sites - currently they're purely FYE - but hopefully I can build an audience and use that rapport to market certain items to them. We'll see how it works out.

Mike

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mr.steve 15 years ago

Humor in advertising? Let's see what the masters say...

First up to the podium... the great (alas late) Gary Halbert...

"Where do you start [to get a marketing education]?
What's the first step if you are at ground zero?
Well, it sure as hell isn't to go to a marketing convention!
No. The very first step is to become grounded in the
basic and enduring principles that are the foundation
of every successful direct marketing effort. And, the
way you do this is by reading and re-reading the most
important advertising book ever written which is...

Scientific Advertising
- by Claude Hopkins

...And the reason you should read this particular book
several times, before you read anything else is, it will
give you a hard-core, bedrock foundation of truth
that will make it difficult for other authors who are
'pretend experts' to lead you astray with their 'silly
notions' about what makes marketing work."

Next up to the podium, the man who wrote this
excellent book... the great (alas late) Claude Hopkins
himself...

"Don't try to be amusing. Money spending is a
serious matter."

"Ads are not written to interest, please or amuse.
You are not writing to please the hoi-polloi. You are
writing on a serious subject -- the subject of money
spending. And you address a restricted minority."

"There are two things about which men should
not joke. One is business, one is home. An eccentric
picture may do you serious damage. One may gain
attention by wearing a fool's cap. But he would
ruin his selling prospects."

That about sums it up for me. Humor works very
seldom. People love the humor. They seldom buy
the product.

Cheers

Steve
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Hesster

15 years ago

Well, Ogilvy mentioned in his second book that he did have success with humorous ads and no longer turned them down just because of the humor. I can't remember offhand if he mentioned any product in particular.

I also remember reading in a recently released book on great advertisements (the title escapes me at the moment) that the John West salmon commercial with the martial arts bear fight caused the product sales to go up by more than 70%.

So humor can work, but it has to be handled correctly and it has to support the selling message and not just be stuck in there because the writer thinks it's funny.

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mr.steve

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Hesster

So humor can work, but it has to be handled correctly and it has to support the selling message and not just be stuck in there because the writer thinks it's funny.

Spot on. It's just that most products
don't lend themselves to humor very
well. Be cautious...

Cheers

Steve

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goarose

15 years ago

Some relax from serious reading. But not sales!

Many types of humour are there!
Some gives inspiration to think and enjoy!
Anyhow, it gives some relaxation from serious work and not sure about sales1

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Tom E

15 years ago

It all depends on how humor is used in your copy. I've written sales pages with humor, but weaved into the context, so that the reader chuckles, but learns something at the same time. A very fine line indeed

.

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Adaptive

15 years ago

Maybe it's the humor in the post that convinces them I have something?

With the example you gave, Leah, maybe it's proof that long copy works; that clients should not be afraid of too big a presentation?

But this is a discussion of copy as you pointed out.

Harlan, why wouldn't the scripted lines from a TV ad be considered copy?

Aronya, I agree that a joking ad about coffins would be a disaster.

Regards,
Allen

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Bigsofty

15 years ago

I was very tempted to write a humor-laded reply but I won't, as salescopy that farts is no laughing matter.

(unless it's CreativeBlogger's, cos we're all picking on her at the moment due to her desperately deserving it)

What is laughter?

Serious question?

See, laughing and crying are virtually indentical, indeed from a purely medical point of view they're the same thing.

A release of tension.

Did you hear about the copywriter who grabbed passing eyeballs, squeezed em in his fists, building more and more tension?

He got things to a FEVER pitch, then...

Broke the tension with farty copy and lost the sale. Way to go, dopey.

But it was funny, right?

B.

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creativeblogger

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Bigsofty

I was very tempted to write a humor-laded reply but I won't, as salescopy that farts is no laughing matter.

(unless it's CreativeBlogger's, cos we're all picking on her at the moment due to her desperately deserving it)

B.

yes but the negative comments have no impact as you may have noticed.

I have the hide of a Rhino and it amuses me to see everyone in a lather while my threads viewing figures beat the pants off your slow, failing threads

Being controversial has it's merits you know.

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Ken Strong

15 years ago

Originally Posted by creativeblogger

it amuses me to see everyone in a lather while my threads viewing figures beat the pants off your slow, failing threads

Being controversial has it's merits you know.

Bumping your own thread after two days to keep it alive doesn't count.

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creativeblogger 15 years ago

Originally Posted by KenStrong

Bumping your own thread after two days to keep it alive doesn't count.

That wasn't a bump it was a genuine reply.

I have been accused of ignoring advice afterall. Can't ignore all these replies can I ?

Maybe I should answer them all individually?

Nah
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Bigsofty

15 years ago

The problem Leah, is you keep demanding advice and critique, if only as a means of pimping yet another advert for yourself, then ignoring it.

You take it as a matter of pride it seems?

Why?

Do you enjoy failure? Perhaps you enjoy irritating people more than selling to them? Some other reason?

B.

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creativeblogger 15 years ago

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- Y.L. Prinzel 15 years ago
  
  I think Quiznos Sub Shop offers the best example of humor as a hard to nail, subjective animal that possibly does more harm than good.
  
  I find Quiznos' commercials hysterical. The guy who was raised by wolves, those weird looking, gravelly-voiced singing potato things ("at Quiznos Subs, they got a pepper bar..."), the sexy male oven voice asking for the sub to be "put in"...I love watching their commercials--but they don't make me buy their product. They do manage to create boycotts among certain groups and they also have a very short shelf life for their commercials since many find them offensive.
  
  My point? No, I think most products/ services are better served with a dry approach.
  
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Warrior Globetrotter

15 years ago

From my experience no, humor does not sell more than dry copy...but dry doesnt have to mean "boring"...people are busy, respect their time... tell them what they need to know about your "thing" and get out.

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1 Marketing

15 years ago

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Smokey_Joe

15 years ago

A successful copy is a well-conceived one. That means that if you feel you can put in some humour, and it is up to the point, sort of belongs there, just do it. The question here is to my mind not whether humorous sells better than dry, but whether appropriate sells better than inappropriate. Humour is a great attention-grabbing technique, but one needs to make sure there's something more substantial behind: things like a lousy house with a freshly-painted facade just don't do well.

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funphilled

15 years ago

Hello all
I'm very new to this dance. It is fascinating to see the moves!
Copy and ads on tv seem to be the same thing to me.
I'm an aussie. Over here we have a word called irony that is all over every sale of every thing... coffins included ! !
Do you see irony as the same as humour? If you see it as different, do you see it as being ok, even desirable in copy?
Cheers
Phil tozer

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MontelloMarketing 15 years ago

Phil,

You'll be delighted to know the word irony exists in all english speaking places and in those that don't speak english, I suspect.

Irony isn't another word for humor. Irony is a kind of humor, however.
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venomous2000

15 years ago

I like to see a little bit of humour in a sales page as it keeps me entertained for the rest of the long and boring copy. However, as long as the humour doesn't go OTT it will be fine

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The Copy Nazi

Banned 15 years ago

The funniest thing about this thread is that CreativeBlogger managed to get herself banned.

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AnneE

15 years ago

I'm in a rather odd position of currently attempting to use humor to sell the marketing genius of Claude Hopkins, a man who cautionned against humor, saying you do not buy from a clown.

It is true, you do not buy from a clown and if you are simply telling jokes and there isn't any point to it other than trying to get a cheap laugh, then you will not be making sales. How many of us have watched a hilarious Super Bowl commercial only to turn to someone watching with us and asked, "What was that commercial for?" and "I don't know" is often the response.

But... what about the hilarious MacIntosh versus PC commercials. Oh... too funny, I LOVE those commercials, but they use humor to make a point.

Similarly, I changed my signature and thread title on my current WSO from the more traditional, Scientific Advertising to Skyrocketing Sales -- Jay Abraham recommends

which I may still return to. to the current

Top 10 Reasons to Kick Yourself in the Ass If You Miss My Warrior Special

It's meant to be mildly humorous, but I'm also trying to make a point in the top 10 list that ANYONE who markets anything online, basically any Warrior, can benefit from Claude Hopkins Scientific Advertising... not just copywriters. I changed the title after a couple folks commented that they really weren't into copywriting, so didn't think it was for them.

So I agree that humor, just for humor isn't going to make any sales. People didn't leave a Seinfeld stand-up routine ready to purchase an item that he recommended. But I believe that mild humor that is being used to make a point CAN outsell dry copy. Personally, I find myself contemplating purchasing a MacIntosh and I don't think a dry list of 'here's what our computer can do that Windows can't ' would have had the same effect.

My two cents.

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The Copy Nazi

Banned 15 years ago

Originally Posted by AnneE

I'm in a rather odd position of currently attempting to use humor to sell the marketing genius of Claude Hopkins, a man who cautioned against humor, saying you do not buy from a clown. ...

The radio spots for BudLite "Real Men of Genius" are my all-time favourites. But then I'm an ex-radio copywriter myself. You can hear them here - http://thefuntimesguide.com/2004/10/bud_light__real.php

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Jon Steel

15 years ago

Checking your original post - it seems that if you are talking about "penis size or similar" - you are referring to the "shock tactic" and not necessarily humor. However, humor is good because it shows the reader that there is an actual human with a personality on the other side of those words. However, this is as far as humor will take you. to close a sale you still must quench your readers thirst...

cheers

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MontelloMarketing 15 years ago

First... the real men of genius ads are brilliant.

Second... I'm one of the few DR copywriters who disagrees with Hopkins on this.

I think his rule should be that MOST writers shouldn't use humor. Just like MOST people aren't funny.

There's a right way... and a wrong way to use humor even in DR.

Before moving to direct response writing in 2006, I spent the previous 22 years as a stand up comic and later a television comedy writer.

Most people shouldn't do that either.

So... don't use humor unless you're proven already to be funny. And being the "clown" at work doesn't count. There is an art and craft to writing humor. If you don't know how, it's very dangerous territory.
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Does humor sell more than serious dry copy?

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