Okay, so I’m perusing my email last night, not minutes after posting about the use of the awful made-up word "architecting" when I spot a vulgar message head — "Dog Farts."

I’m poised to hit delete thinking it’s one of those nonsensical spams when I look at the email address and see a familiar name. Wow, someone must have spoofed her address, I thought. So I gingerly opened the email.

What I got was a concise discussion of the dog, his digestive woes, and more about a copywriting teleseminar she’s running.  The story about the dog could have been cute, and while I’m a fan as much as anyone of well-placed, on-the-mark vulgarity, "Dog Farts" didn’t come close. Which brings me to another important copywriting tip.

Don’t use humor or try to entertain in your marketing messages. Why?

1 - Humor is highly subjective. What I may find funny, someone else may not. Humor is also generational which means Milton Berle cracked up my parents but left my grandfather scratching his head. I loved Cheech & Chong, but they left my parents scratching their heads. You get the idea.

2 - Humor entertains but it rarely motivates action. Only solid information presented in a genuine, emotionally resonant way will get folks to click, call, and open up their wallents. (Humor wins TV advertising awards for the ad agencies but rarely does "funny" bolster sales.)

Maven’s Maxim
"Dying is easy, humor is hard." Rarely should you ever try to use humor in your marketing message. You risk distracting your reader from your otherwise carefully crafted message, or worse, alienating your reader completely. (And please, save the tales of your farting dog for your personal email circle.)

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