There is no doubt that humor is a tried-and-true way to engage audiences. Laughter connects us, and emotions are memorable.
When humor works, it creates an immediate connection that’s been known to encourage interactions AND transactions. And when we take into consideration that 54% of B2B marketers struggle to create content that elicits a response, it’s worth thinking about how brands can better incorporate personality into their efforts.
To better understand how we as brands can best incorporate personality, fun and humor to build relationships and rapport with our audiences, we sat down with Rachael Kay Albers, the one-woman SNL of business comedy. RKA is a creative director, brand strategist, business comedian and all-around amazing human.
The best advice we have for brands? >> Figure out who you are and start showing up fully!
“Monetize your truth,” Rachael shared at the start of our weekly show. (We were hooked on her energy from there.)
Why It Pays To Understand Who We Are:
The only way we can show up fully is to truly understand who we are. It’s about getting clear on our culture and crafting our brand manifesto accordingly.
Here’s the thing though; it’s not easy work. And as RKA can attest, it can be a very polarizing experience.
We have to understand that the fear we have about showing up as ourselves is real.
When we fully show up as ourselves, the people who we're committed to engaging with might respond negatively. And that’s going to hurt.
In fact, showing up with our truth is guaranteed to result in us losing people along the way. You could shed social media followers, friends, or even family members, which makes it incredibly difficult work.
The truth is doing it now is critical because it’s going to save you a ton of time and pain down the road. And that’s what makes it completely worthwhile.
This is part of the process -- the process of defining what we stand for AND the process of finding the right people that will become loyal, stick with our brands and ultimately end up driving repeat and referral business.
Challenging the status quo in any way will always lead to some form of animosity and/or resistance, but it’s truly the only way to stand out.
We love sharing the example of our friends 50 Strong. After implementing their brand manifesto, they lost over 1,000 Facebook fans AND had a higher ROI by 331%!
The point? >> It’s not about vanity metrics and fan count. The brand became MORE memorable and drove more sales because they understood who they were and started showing up and speaking to their ideal customer.
How To Become Memorable:
The brands that are memorable are the brands that are willing to define who they are and are unapologetic about showing up that way.
Brands that push beyond the BS—beyond the surface level—are the brands that create lasting connections and relationships with their audiences.
Often, it’s urgency that pushes a brand to go deep. For instance, the brands that shifted the paradigm during the pandemic all came from a deep need to make an urgent change because their livelihoods were on the line.
Without a sense of urgency, your brand might end up being a zombie business. Sure, you’ve got some money to keep you floating but you’re doing nothing.
It’s about going back to the basics and asking ourselves as a brand why we started this in the first place, who we want to serve, who we want to work with. These questions often lead to brand magic. By creating clarifying statements that set them apart, you'll be truly speaking to the right person.
Why Being Lazy Is The Best Marketing Strategy:
Now that we understand the importance of knowing who we are and being bold in how we show up, it’s time to talk about laziness and work culture.
The societal mindset around work ethic impacts both when and how we show up.
There’s this mindset that as long as we work incredibly hard, we’re good. We’ve been sold the concept that productivity is directly related to our moral value.
And while we’re all about working hard, it doesn’t make sense to “work hard just to say you worked hard.” In fact, Rachael argues the silliness of doing so and the danger of tying our value to our output.
“I am busy therefore I am productive is the mindset!” @jessikaphillips (click to tweet)
Not only is that not true, but it’s not helpful when we think about approaching business from a long-term perspective, especially as working women.
The idea of “lazy business” is both a comedic trope AND a way to push back on societal messaging that women must be endlessly productive in order to be valuable.
Men have a lot more slack in society; women have a disparity. Rachael is here to change the messaging, and we are here for THAT!
“Women’s value isn’t tied to whether we have kids or how much we produce.” @rkaink (click to tweet)
In fact, the idea that our output is tied to our worth is extremely detrimental. It’s what leads to hustle culture, which we know only leads to burnout.
Instead, we can be deliberate about where we want to go with our brands, show up on those platforms with intention, as our true selves, and know that we are golden!
How To Get Started As A Brand:
What we need to be doing now as brands and as individuals is empowering ourselves, and our teams, to be human!
If you don’t take a stand—on what you believe in, your ethics and values—people will find another brand to become loyal to. As consumers, we are making conscious decisions to buy from brands that align with our values.
While “influencing” in 2018 looked like pretending that we were all rich and beautiful, influencing in 2021 is about acknowledging all of our reality.
We need, and want, to work with people who GET us, and it all starts with our brand personality. That’s what makes us memorable and noticeable.
The best thing that brands can do today is take time to understand who they are and start showing up with personality today. NOW is the time.
What do you think? Do you think 2021 is the year for brands to embrace humanity? What brands do you think do a great job at showcasing personality and becoming memorable?
Share with us in the comments below!
Comments