I also noticed that we now have 42 followers on Networked Blogs, and 42 just happens to be my favorite number. Our 42nd follower also happens to be the newest writer I’ve been working with, and I invited her to write a guest post. Dr. Anna Gralton is a talented writer from Australia, and has been very helpful to the Chefe and I with some blog posts lately.

One of the blogs Anna has been running is topcornholeboards.com. The company name is The Cornhole King, and Anna has written some brilliantly funny posts following the royalty theme. They are completely worth stopping by for. But let me stop going on, and here is Anna’s article!

Tips on Writing Humor in Social Media

Writing humor for social media can be akin to a minefield. Humor’s a great way to get the message across, especially in this day and age with social media. If you get it right, the benefits can be nothing short of a miracle: increasing brand awareness; buzz; attracting new clients and leads; promoting firm-client interaction; increasing followers, fans etc. In contrast, if you get it wrong, you’re likely to confuse the heck out of your readers or, worse still, insult them. They will lose interest and not come back.

Although social media marketing is ultimately about selling and is very serious, the fact of the matter is that much content is set in a light-hearted, entertaining backdrop. As such, if you can find a funny angle or if it just slaps you directly in the face, such as with our Cornhole client blog, then why not run with it? Let’s face it; no one wants to read dull, dreary blog posts about an obviously funny topic.

You might also think that writing a humorous piece is easy and can be done on the spot. Wrong! When writing for social media, as you know, there are many more considerations that go into it. This is where you have to sit down and consciously merge the two.

Considerations

• Commonsense 101. Make sure the product and/or site is really set up for humor. Consider what the client wants and needs. What type of content do they already have on their site? Consider their brand identity and tap into it. This is where a thorough understanding of the business, their target audience and their objectives is required.
• The Underlying Guts. Think about the guts of the article. What is the post really going to be about? This will be serious and you’ll need to connect humor to it, not vice versa. Only create this connection after the crux of the post has evolved. Unless you have a specific idea in mind, don’t start with humor first.
• Idea Creation. Revolve humor around a subject matter that everyone gets. If a client is entering a nationwide market from a localized geographical area, the humor must be understood by everyone out there in cyberspace. Pick a genre that’s popular. You could even tap into a subject that’s already been done, such as a slapstick movie. One pointer, though, if you’re going to continue to make a series of posts, ensure the topic is large enough to run with.
• Tread Carefully. When writing humor, there are a few basics you should be cautious off. Readers won’t get in-jokes and it will only come off stupid. Don’t say anything politically incorrect – remember it’s for your client, not you. Also, don’t go overboard. A nice subtle bit of humor before getting into the core of the piece is great. Too much and it will come across as ridiculous.
• Feedback. Get a friend or family member with a normal, but lacking, sense of humor and find out on a scale of one to ten what they’d give it. This is the person you tell a joke to and they give that socially inappropriate smirk and walk away. If the scoring hits above five, there’s a good chance you’re onto a winner!
• Frame of Mind. Don’t write the piece when you’ve just had a screaming argument with your next-door neighbor because his dog dodoed on your front footpath for the umpteenth time and you were lucky enough to step in it – again! Do it when you’re in a relaxed, happy frame of mind and thinking happy thoughts. If this happens to be limited in your universe, at least jot down the outline when you’re in a happy mood. You can fill in the contents later.

When writing humor for a social media client, try not to get too carried away. This can lead to “humor specialization” – that is, humor that only you find funny. Keep it light, simple and connected to the brand and customer base.

• Dr. Anna Gralton is the head of Freelance Formations,a freelance writing and research company based in Australia.

Social Media Guerilla brings tips and tricks for effective social media marketing, as well as social commentary to anyone who is interested or will at least listen. We are waging a war on traditional marketing techniques. We are the underground. We are the future. Enlist now.

For an example using humor to drive traffic check out the Cornhole Kingdom, the place for custom cornhole boards.  The Kingdom is a great site for humor, and it certainly spreads into the realm of social media.

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First, your quickest fans are your blog readers. Make sure that it is EXTREMELY easy for your blog followers to follow you on Facebook as well. Put a big Facebook button on your page and tell people to use it. It can help you establish an early fan base.

Make sure you interact with your fans on Facebook. And people love to be heard, so ask questions asking about their thoughts and ideas. Ask them for advice. Just get them engaged. And when people comment, make sure you reply to it. Don’t just ask a question and wonder off; let your fans know you actually care about their answer.

You can also use a FB similar to a blog for short snippets of info, links to other blogs, or to share pictures and videos of things applicable to your page. You want them to be interested and entertained by your page. Then they tell their friends and the word spreads.

Once you have some interesting posts up, start inviting people over. My favorite way to do this is to become a fan of a page related to my business, then use the @ sign to put my post on their page. TO do this, simply type @ in the text box then the first few letters of the name of the page you want your post on, and a list of friends will pop up that match what you’re typing. It will put a hyperlink in, as well as reposting the post.

Now people on the other page will hopefully see your post and follow it back to your site, and be so enthralled with you’re content, they will become fans.

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You should already be familiar with these sites!

That’s right, Guerilleros! As I promised, today we are going to look at how YOU can build a loyal fan base around your blog! I discussed the importance of a blog in the last post, and today I am going to give you 6 steps to follow for building a blog community that can attract real attention. Everything in it is easy, and with a little maintenance, you can have a killer blog following!

1) Provide Quality Content! (Duh!)

No one is going to read a blog with nothing on it, or worse, nothing good on it. So get a writer, or sharpen your pencil, because without some awesome content, written well, no one cares about your blog. Should this even be listed as a step?

The key is quality. An excellent test for this is to ask your self, Would I put this on my personal blog? If the answer is No, get back to writing. And it can’t be stressed enough: A Blog Is Not An Advertisement! You’re trying to give value to your readers, not sell them something.

2) Comment, Comment, and Comment Some More!

You can pack in as many keywords as you like, but that method is going to take some time to yeild results. Wouldn’t it be nice to find a large group of people who would be likely to be interested in your blog, all at once? You can! Unless you are blogging about something really obscure, someone else is already blogging about it. So go to their sites and leave comments.

But don’t just agree and leave a link. That’s not helping you. Leave insightful comments that show you know what’s up in your subject. Leave enough comments, and the readers will follow. Keep leaving comments, and you might get a link back! It takes time, but it will work!

3) Socialize Your Blog!

This is easy as pie. Put your posts up on Digg, StumbleUpon, all the major social bookmarking sites. This is a social media marketing page, and since you’re reading it, this too should be a given.

4) Keep Socializing!

Seriously, keep at it! Every word you write should go on all of these sites. And not just your writings either. you want to be very active on these sites, so people start to recognize your name, and trust you as a source for high caliber content.

5) Share the Page!

No one goes to just one person for advice, and that’s true for your blog, too! So instead of letting the reader go somewhere else for that second opinion, bring it to them. Ask other blog authors to write a piece for your site. They should be honored you asked, plus it’s free publicity for them, as well as a way to increase their followers with your followers. And your fans stay loyal, because you brought them a whole new place to learn from. Win-win for everyone!

6) Spread the Word Domestically!

Nothing is more aggrevating than asking an employee of your clients if they saw their picture on the blog, and they reply “What blog?” Really? Why are we even bothering, if your client’s employees don’t even know about it?

The largest fan base is initially  composed of an extended network made up of the friends of people directly connected to the blog. AKA, the employee’s friends and families are going to get the word out a lot faster than you. Use it!

That’s it folks! Building a blog community doesn’t get any easier than that. Yeah, it’s a little time consuming, but it’s worth it. Once you have a loyal fan base, you’re set. And speaking of loyal fan bases, make sure you join the revolution, and become a Social Media Guerilla!

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