Using Humor To Build Your Business: Signs That Make You Smile
I'll admit it - when I first saw this restaurant sign featured in the Huffington Post, I laughed out loud. Chances are you did too!
Now imagine what your reaction would have been if, instead of encountering this sign on the internet, you saw it while you were driving through your neighborhood. It's still funny - and the fact that the restaurant shared a funny sign might just be enough to motivate you to turn in and have a taco (even though they're not free!)
Humor is Power: Building Your Business
Businesses that offer their customers a way to laugh gain a significant competitive advantage. Humor is disruptive. It attracts our attention and makes us change the way we think. The Mexican restaurant advertising “Free Tacos – Yesterday Only!” will make us laugh, but they’re also planting that seed reminding us how much we like tacos. Couple that with the powerful emotional associations people have with humor, and you’ve got circumstances that predispose the customer to stop in and have a quick bite to eat!
As business owners, it’s important to be sensitive to the emotional environment your customers are experiencing. When things are downbeat, the way they are right now with our turbulent economic and political situation, deliberately using your messaging to introduce humor and joy into your customer’s day is a wonderful gift. People enjoy laughing. Even if you’ve never engaged with someone – never talked to them, never made a sale – if you’ve made them laugh, people feel like you’ve done something good for them. This has an obvious positive impact on the relationship they’ll have with your organization going forward.
Consider your business signage. Signs present an easy, no-cost way to introduce some laughs into your customer's day. You already have the physical infrastructure in place! If you make a habit of posting funny messages, your customers and area residents will begin to seek out your business specifically to see what funny thing you've said today. Handwritten signs in your business's interior, the use of chalkboards, and even table tents can all incorporate humor. The laughs will help build your business - and that's something you can smile about!
