Get the Audience Laughing: Incorporating Humor Into Retail Displays

For many customers, direct selling is a turnoff. They want to walk into your store without being pushed to buy anything. They also don’t want to feel like they are parting with their hard-earned money too soon.

So how do you appeal to a customer’s emotions and still generate more retail sales? By incorporating humor.

If used properly, humor can be a big asset. Besides making you stand out from your competition, it also helps to relax the buyer, keep them coming back for more, and will likely get them to tell others about your product. Data shows that more people will take action on a product if it has made them laugh.

How to Incorporate Humor Into Displays and Marketing

There are both benefits and risks to using humor. You need to be wise about how you employ it as a marketing strategy in your stores. Consider whether the humor you used is in line with your brand vision. Take into account your customer’s values and personality as well. Are they likely to “get it” or be turned off by it?

For example, if you are a high-end jewelry store, you might not want to use toilet humor or other such jokes in your ads and store displays. You should come across as classy, but with a hint of fun.

Used in the correct tone, humor, satire or comedy can be appealing to shoppers. It should reflect your image and something you would not be ashamed to have people laughing about.

Outline Your Goal

As a retailer, what is your ultimate goal? You could use funny signage that are seen through your front windows or porch area. Remember, you want your shoppers to feel relaxed and even come into your store — and leave — smiling and feeling good. Whatever your tactic, make sure that it relieves stress and does not enhance it.

People will often take pictures on their mobile phones of things that amused them during the day, then share with their friends and networks on social media. This has happened for a number of “boring” brands who used humor as a marketing tactic — and it worked.

Try to appeal to this side of people. Get them talking about you in a good way. To help generate sales or reassure shoppers, tactful, funny signage can be included on the shelves and at registers.

Remember, it doesn’t have to be a big, expensive production to appeal to a client. Simple yet funny and heartwarming signage may just do the trick.

In the saturated sales industry, humor can be your secret weapon to beat all the other competition. Let your company’s personality shine by standing out with quality and wit.

Understand Your Customer

This is our last but most essential point. In this day and age, customer engagement is essential for sales.

Avoid appearing offensive or ignorant (this can happen when a joke does not resonate well with shoppers or if your type of shopper does not understand the joke) and always ensure that the humor used connects with your brand and your audience.

If you position yourself as a brand to go to for good vibes, a positive outlook and, at the end of the day, some witty humor, you’ll keep reeling the customers in without even trying too hard.