Why Meme Marketing Works For Promoting Your Brand On Social Media
Have you planned out your meme marketing campaign yet? Perhaps you’re thinking that silly memes have no place in your social media marketing but that isn’t true. Now is the perfect time to add social media memes to your marketing campaign. Of course, you will want to get it right. As effective and fun as memes are to work with, they can fall flat if not done correctly.
Why Should You Use Social Media Memes?
Social media memes are a way to unify, entertain, and relate with your audience. When done right, meme marketing will attract new followers who will not only enjoy your content, but also share it. Memes offer a way for visitors and followers to relate to your brand and see it as more human, light, and accessible.
Your average person spends at least an hour per day on the internet. While they may be there to catch up on the latest news and information, there is a high priority placed on humor and entertainment. People want to laugh, they want humorous content they can relate to, and they enjoy sharing that content with like-minded friends, family, and acquaintances. The ultimate goal is to create a meme that goes viral.
Understanding Social Media Memes
It’s important to understand how to use memes in your social media marketing campaign. Your first order of business is to understand what types of memes your audience will enjoy. Memes should be appropriate for the intended audience and on-brand. Memes have a quality to them that makes them appealing to a wide audience. They are often targeted toward a certain group of people who relate to them. When the right combination of image and humor click with a group of people, it has the potential to go viral.
When repurposing current memes you have to remember that memes are fair game. While you normally take all necessary precautions to ensure you are creating unique content and sourcing images the right way, memes are not copyrighted and you may use them, alter them, and share them any way you choose. It is absolutely appropriate to “hijack” a meme image that is trending and use it to create your own meme. In fact, it is the best way to go viral with a meme of your own.
What Makes A Good Meme?
A meme that works is a meme that isn’t forced, that fits your brand, that appeals to your audience and that is compelling enough to share. This sounds like a tall order, but it’s absolutely doable.
One place to start is with current, popular memes. It’s common for trending images to circulate throughout social media and it’s okay to use these as a starting point for your own memes. Take the “distracted boyfriend” meme. You know the one, right? This meme has been around for years now, but it continues to circulate and easily lends itself to an endless stream of relatable, humorous memes. If you are starting out creating memes, you can go with these easily recognizable meme images and start creating your own.
It is important to stay current, though, and while there is no crime in using older images that people will recognize, you’ll want to find red-hot and viral images that are trending and spreading like wildfire. Don’t hesitate to seek out what other companies are doing with memes.
The most important thing to remember is your audience. Knowing your audience is key if you want to hit a home run with your memes. If you don’t know what they find funny and sharable, your meme marketing will fall flat.
How To Make Memes
There are free meme generators but you can use any text and imaging software to create your memes. Remember that it’s okay to be funny, wacky and even make fun of yourself a little.
Aim to create memes on a regular basis but remember not to overdo it. You don’t want a new meme every day. Stick to your regular schedule of posting informative, engaging content, and sprinkle your memes in sparingly.
Final Insights
We hope you learned something useful about memes and their viability in marketing strategies.
Remember to keep your memes simple, creative , and above all else, tasteful.