Looking for a way to stand out from the pack with your copy? Humour is a great way to give your copy an edge, but it can be somewhat of a double-edged sword. It needs to be approached with caution and only used if you believe it will resonate with your audience. 

A criminal law firm and humour, for example, probably don’t really go hand-in-hand. Humour can work for a lot of different brands, though, so if you’re willing to tread the line, you could make your brand more memorable. 

When using humour in copywriting, these are the tips I live by:

1. Appropriate 

Remember the treading of the line I was talking about before? Well, that all comes down to appropriateness. You can try to be edgy with your humour, but there is a very thin line between edgy and offensive. Also, remember that something someone finds funny and edgy, someone else may find offensive. 

When you first begin adding humour to your copy, start on the safer side to see how your audience reacts. Build up from there, but look to avoid overly sensitive topics as this can alienate your audience. Ultimately, you want your humour to pass the pub test.

2. Relatable

Humour that really hits home is the most relatable one. It can be a generational thing as well. Something that relates to a Millennial may not relate to a Boomer. This is where knowing your audience can help, as your humour is more likely to hit home.

Social media can come in handy here as well, see what trends your audience is gravitating towards. Some people don’t like the notion of jumping on the bandwagon, but if something is working, why not? Viral social media trends usually come thick and fast, so make sure you keep your eyes peeled and jump on something suitable as soon as possible.

3. Supports Messaging

Don’t just add in humour for the sake of it. Your humour should be on brand and support your overall tone and messaging across all platforms. Whatever your core message is, humour should be there to drive it forward. 

4. The Pub Test

I did mention this earlier, but I thought it needed its own little section. Before you go all guns blazing with this amazing joke you’ve come up with, make sure it passes the pub test. This means sharing it around with a few different people and seeing what they think.

What was their initial reaction? Did they laugh, cringe, or get offended? If it gets the green light from a couple of different people, then you’ve got a better chance of hitting the mark. And if it doesn’t work out, you can always blame them!

I’d like to think I’m a funny person, but humour is in the eye of the beholder. If you’d like to add more humour to your copy, I’m more than just Dad jokes. Get in touch and let’s get some belly laughs (or a smirk at least) 😏