quick tips for joyful content!
Everybody wants to be happy. The choices we make, the paths we take, and the people we surround ourselves with are all informed by the pursuit of joy. We share the joy in little jokes, memes we send on to our best friends, and the TV shows we love. There’s no denying that happiness is one of the primary motivating factors that drive a lot of our decision-making. But how can you use this to your benefit when you’re marketing? How can you design your offerings in such a way that they spark joy and keep people coming back? There’s no sure-fire content creation formula that can make everyone happy, but we’ve got some tips!
1. Depict real people
One of the things that makes people extraordinary is our innate ability to feel empathy. There’s something so special about an infectious giggle or beaming smile that makes all of us return the gesture when we encounter it. A great way to evoke joy in your content is by including images of real people experiencing it. These people can be smiling, laughing, dancing, sharing, or even honestly reviewing your offering. You can add that element of authenticity and connection into your voice, too. If your brand’s voice feels authentic, funny, or even flawed, your audience is way more likely to identify with the message you’re putting out there.
2. Personalize your offerings
If you want people to care about your brand, you need to show them your brand cares back. Small touches like customized first name tags when designing email campaigns, personalized labels when sending packages, and posts designed around the interactions you have in messages and comments will go a long way. Try to show consideration for your audience as individuals in every interaction you have and piece of content you publish. Add value in the ways that make your audience feel like you truly know them, and they’ll feel the joy of being seen. Loyalty through mutual care is a happy way to build and maintain a customer base.
3. Keep your content open-ended
Happiness isn’t a one-size-fits-all hat. Everyone experiences joy because of different things. Because of this, it’s generally advisable to keep your happiness-sparking posts more general and over-arching than incredibly specific. Though your memories of your grandmother at your beach house may make you feel all warm and fuzzy, turning that profoundly personal moment into content won’t resonate with as many people as, say, a post about generally appreciating your family would. Hint at the joy and let people fill in their gaps!
In short, happy marketing starts with three things: your audience seeing themselves in your content, you seeing them in turn, and you providing a space where they can form a personal connection to your message. Or, you could just post only photos of cats and dogs. That would probably have the same effect! 😉