Marketing is a demanding job that requires you to work hard to generate leads, optimize campaigns and prove that your strategies will work to produce a strong ROI. Even if you love your job, you can still get bogged down with tasks that leave you feeling depleted rather than recharged. You know the feeling… and so do we.

But guess what? Making a few simple changes to how you approach your work can help bring the joy back and create stronger connections with your customers, too. Check out these five tips to bring more joy into marketing.

Reconnect to Storytelling

Everyone loves a good story. They’re fun to tell, interesting to gather, and sticky with readers and viewers. One recent study asked students to each create a one-minute persuasive pitch and present it to their class. All of the participants used statistics in their pitch, but only one told a story. Do you know which presentation the students remembered best?

You guessed it, the one with a story. Only 5% of people recalled presentations with statistics, but over half (63%) remembered the presentation with a story.

Using relatable stories in your marketing shows customers that you understand their challenges. Stories also create empathy and give people real examples of how your product or service works. Of course, there are many ways that you can infuse storytelling into your marketing, but a few ideas include writing more case studies, sharing customer experiences on social media, or providing an “inside look” into your company culture to create greater connections with the people you serve.

Focus on Helping Others

Kindness creates more “happy” chemicals in the brain and, ultimately, more joy. Marketers have plenty of opportunities to integrate kindness and giving back into what we create.

Look for those small moments of joy that you can bring to others, even if it’s a compliment about the way they said something in an email. Kindness goes a long way.

Infuse More Humor

Do you ever notice how you feel better after a good laugh? Science supports that laughter is good for your well-being. It relieves stress, soothes tension, improves mood and even boosts your immune system. Plus, it’s just fun. A few brands creating humorous content include:

Intel uses “geek” jokes. Known for being staffed with smart “geeks,” the brand decided to poke fun at its reputation with a humorous video series.

ZenDesk went for it with a TV commercial entitled “I like it when he gives me the business.” I’ll let you watch that one on your own. It might give you a chuckle.

And, just like with the kindness thing, you can infuse humor into your daily interactions as well.

Read the full post on our partner Act-On Software’s blog.

Need help revitalizing your own marketing efforts? Contact Us today to learn more about how we can help.