Why So Serious? Use Humor To Spruce Up Your Emails

What is something that will bring you success both in email marketing as well as dating? If you haven’t guessed already from the title of this blog, then let us spell it out for you- humor. When it comes to grabbing your readers’ attention, nothing works quite as effectively as good ol’ humor.

All brands use emails for communication, lead conversion, and spreading awareness. Still, the smartest among them club these with humor to make themselves more exciting and relatable to their target audience. Not just that, it also allows them to enrich their brand image, drive better engagement, and influence the buying decisions of their customers. 

Need more convincing? We thought so too. Keep reading.

Why So Serious? Use Humor To Spruce Up Your Emails

Why Should You Use Humor In Your Emails?

Popular Danish-American comedian Victor Borge once said, “Laughter is the closest distance between two people,” and this could not be any truer in the world of email marketing. There is no surer method of winning over your audience than tackling them with humor. And that makes one think? What makes humor so powerful, to begin with? Let’s find out why. 

It Coaxes Out An Emotional Response 

At the heart of every successful email marketing campaign lies strong storytelling. Strong storytelling, in turn, is constituted by evocative content. If your content is able to trigger an emotional response in your audience, then they’ll definitely connect with it.

When your content has humor, it generates a feel-good response in your viewers, and this subsequently goes a long way toward breaking the ice between the brand and the consumer. Similar to how funny anecdotes light up family gatherings and strengthen friendships, humorous content helps businesses build an uncompromising relationship with their customers. If used cleverly, humor is your best bet at making your brand look humane, thereby paving the path for more significant interaction and engagement. 

It Leaves A Lasting Impression

Okay, let’s take a jog down memory lane (high-five if this is the only kind of jogging you do). Now, try to remind yourself of some ads that you watched during your childhood. What comes to mind? 

You’ll notice that you are mostly able to recollect the ones that had made you laugh the hardest, right? That’s the power of humor. Sure, there will always be the occasional Apple 1984 ad that etches itself into your memory out of its sheer brilliance, but invariably it is always the brands that bring a smile to your face which remain committed to memory. In the world of marketing and advertising, humor is the opiate of the masses, and all brands are well aware of that. Hence, they’re continuously striving to weave humor into their campaigns with the hope of rendering them timeless. 

Now that we know the power of humor, let us try and understand the various ways you can use it in your emails.

Subject Lines

What teasers and trailers are to movies, subject lines are to emails. If your subject line is interesting, it drastically improves your subscriber’s inclination to open your email and interact with its content. And, what better way to capture your customers’ attention than by using a funny subject line?

What makes a subject line funny, you ask? Let us take a look at the following examples to find out. 

Threadless:  It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… no, it’s a plane. (Source: https://www.thebestofemail.com/inspiration-gallery-items/threadless-its-a-bird-no-its-a-plane-standout-subject-line/)

Madewell: Repeat outfit syndrome? We understand. (Source: https://www.thebestofemail.com/inspiration-gallery-items/madewell-repeat-outfit-syndrome-we-understand-standout-subject-line/)

American Apparel:  It’s National Men’s Day – We Support Your Package! Free Brief! (Source: https://www.thebestofemail.com/inspiration-gallery-items/american-apparel-national-mens-day-we-support-your-package-standout-subject-line/)

PureWow: Pants are for sissies (Source:https://www.thebestofemail.com/inspiration-gallery-items/purewow-pants-are-for-sissies-standout-subject-line/)

Etsy:  Wish You Were Beer (Source:https://www.thebestofemail.com/inspiration-gallery-items/etsy-wish-you-were-beer-standout-subject-line/

Holiday Emails

Here’s a bitter pill to swallow- on holidays, no customer actively looks forward to receiving emails, no matter how loyal they are to their brands. The situation is made worse by the fact that most of these emails are incredibly run-of-the-mill and either wish the reader or convey some “special holiday offer” to them. This is where humor can come to your rescue. 

The most innovative brands out there capitalize on holidays and other special occasions to send out topical emails that contain a subtle brand plug-in. Throw humor into this mix, and your email becomes quite irresistible.

Here’s how some of the best brands out there have used humor to elevate their holiday emails.

ModCloth on Halloween: 

Source: https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/dont-let-halloween-sneak-up-on-you

CLEAR on Halloween:

Source: https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/your-scary-good-deal-is-here

Fortnum & Mason on Halloween:

Source: https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/so-delicious-its-scary-shop-halloween-treats

Quartz on April Fools’:

Source: https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/april-fools-is-canceled

Harry’s on Valentine’s:

Source: https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/a-valentine-from-you-to-you-2

Harry’s on St.Patrick’s Day:

Source: https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/savethestout

Announcement Emails

You have an important announcement to make. How do you make sure that your customers pay attention to it? By making it funny, of course. 

Take a look at these humorous announcement emails.

MailNinja:

Source: https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/excited-for-tonight-email-geek-

Phrasee:

Source: https://www.thebestofemail.com/inspiration-gallery-items/phrasee-this-is-a-big-deal-standout-email-copywriting/

Wistia:

Source: https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/our-new-enterprise-plan

Abandoned Cart Emails

Abandoned cart emails are a crucial component of any email marketing strategy out there. Because these emails serve to re-engage a customer, sufficient care should be taken while crafting and curating its content. Believe us or not (we’re not giving you a choice anymore, but still), humor-infused abandoned cart emails work wonders when it comes to recovering lost sales.

Take a look at these examples to understand why.

Casper:

Source: https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/did-you-forget-something

Whisky Loot:

Source: https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/your-cart-is-sobering-up

Wrapping Up

While funny emails are very charming, you need to keep in account your target demographic and your existing brand tonality before you start working on one. And if you’ve already carried out that assessment, then what are you waiting for? Go ahead, and have the last laugh!