People like social media because it lets them speak and engage with other people (I know, obvious, right?). So it makes sense that people are more likely to interact with businesses who act like people — who have a bit of personality — who like to have fun. Sharpie, as in the pens, is doing just that, using their Sharpie blog as their main base of operations. Encouraging people to use their pens to make fun projects — or “random acts of self expression” — and share how they’re using Sharpie pens.
Sharpie supports their efforts for fun with a flickr group, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube .. all the usual suspects. People interested in engaging with Sharpie can do so on their terms — and have fun doing it.
I think this really goes to show how a sense of humor is good for business. And if you can put a little fun into your social media marketing — maybe stop thinking of it so much as marketing and more about how you can have fun with your customers — people will be more likely to respond favorably with your brand.
What do you think of Sharpie’s efforts? Do they put fun into social media marketing? Do you have another example of a company adding fun into their marketing?