«Give the customer quality. This is the best advertisement» - This phrase belongs to Milton Hershey, one of the oldest and largest chocolate makers of the twentieth century. 21st Century Marketers would suggest a slightly modified version of this phrase, saying: «Give customers quality and emotion. This is the best advertisement».
In a modern market saturated with many competitors, quality is already such an essential fact. That distinguishing only by this mark does not give companies a great advantage in the eyes of the consumer. It is necessary to do something else that will win the hearts of the masses and which will not a one-time gain. Something that in conscious or unconscious memory will remain in the long term. This something is an emotion. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the interest is toward the product. The more positive the emotion, the higher the likelihood of the customer relying on the product, and the more enjoyable the memories associated with that product, the greater the customer loyalty. It is therefore crucial that remind the customer of ourselves with positive emotions. Nothing evokes positive emotion and keeps it better than humor.
«Humor and funny words can often solve big problems more easily rather than seriousness and sharpness» - * Horace.
Studies show that humor sells the best product in communication. Humor draws the user's attention. It has the power of persuasion and helps to build a good relationship with the customer. It evokes sympathy and trust. Humor influences the buyer in a positive mood and leaves a positive impression. Positive emotion and the feeling of joy are stored in the human memory for the longest time. What should be more desirable for a company to remember it as a customer and assimilate it with joy. However, at the same time, humor is the edge of creativity and intelligence, which is very difficult to go through. Because communication is hard to achieve at a relevant, contextual, and subtle level of humor.
The use of humor in sales is a sensitive topic. You should always control what you say, with whom, when and in what form. There is no recipe for this and it depends entirely on the intuitive ability of the seller, how well he feels about the customer, his internal (character, mood ...) and external (mentality, cultural context ...) structures. Even more attention is paid to irony and sarcasm. That's because of this care many avoid engaging humor in sales, but its positive impact on sales is indisputable.
We all remember the founder of «Gardenia Shevardnadze», Zurab Shevardnadze's attitude towards humor, which has already become a brand. He is the best example of how he can use humor to promote personal branding and then adapt his own brand name to a business that everyone knows. If we meet a few people who do not remember "Gardenia Shevardnadze" when mentioning the greenhouse. Also, there are some people who Mr. Shevardnadze did not remember himself with his laconic humor.
Even large companies do not dispute the impact of humor on sales. We all remember commercial of Magti «Gadmoreke» shot by Neostudio in 2003. This humorous genre commercial has had an even more positive impact on consumer goodwill towards this brand.
Nor did Mercedes think long, in what genre should be decided its next quite creative and very successful commercial. The appearance of the chicken in the Mercedes advertising campaign in 2012 did not leave any viewers indifferent and became one of the most memorable commercials among the company's commercials. Also, it was interesting and amusing when JAGUAR made tasteful sarcastic reaction to this Mercedes ad. Both companies managed to make the customer smile without offending them and left a positive emotion in their memory.
So, use humor in sales, but keep in mind:
- Be spontaneous in humor, but be prepared to be natural
- Your humor should not look like a staged script and should sound credible
- Be careful and restrained. Remember, excessive familiarity will create a frivolous and unprofessional impression on customers about you
Make the customer laugh and win their favor today, and tomorrow his loyalty.
Join our workshop on «Neuromarketing Techniques for Effective Sales», explore the role of emotion and other marketing practices in sales and make your product more attractive to the customer.
* Milton Hershey (1857–1945). Founder of The Hershey Company
* Horace (c. 65 BC) Roman poet
