Meme Marketing – Not a Laughing Matter for Brands

Rohan Mathew

With the proliferation of memes on social media, it can be hard to imagine our digital lives without these funny posts. Even though most of us have encountered memes only recently on social media, they have a deep-rooted history with their meaning in Greek, “that which is imitated.” Memes have become popular largely because they represent an easy way to communicate feelings, reactions, and attitudes, as well as brand promotion messages.

Reasons Why Memes Have Clicked

With the young generation developing blindness to online advertising, marketers have rapidly taken to memes for raising brand awareness. At a time when it is increasingly becoming difficult to engage audiences, memes are a marketer’s delight because they are invariably topical, trending, and allow instant connection with audiences. When executed properly, meme marketing can be very profitable for enhancing brand awareness and building engagement with Gen Z. It is because of their entertainment value that the followers of your social media account are encouraged to share them with their followers and the memes turn viral before you know it giving invaluable exposure to the brand.

How to Do Meme Marketing 

You can create your own meme according to the requirements of your marketing campaign or ride piggyback on an existing meme that is trending. Creating an original meme is technically not a difficult process because even if you are not familiar with design software, you can take the help of one of the many available website services. You can choose an image and add a snappy caption to create a meme in just a few minutes. The real issue is to keep your ear close enough to the ground so that you can spot trends and developments that have the potential of becoming popular enough to be captured in the form of a brand-relevant meme. You can use Meme Scout to discover what memes are trending on social media. Creating and popularizing a meme is more difficult because it is not something that the audience is familiar with

However, an easier way of meme marketing is by what is popularly known as memejacking. It is nothing but a process by which you identify a trending meme and modify it with your marketing message before sharing it with your target audience. However, you need to be conversant with the meaning of the meme and ensure that it is original and really funny. Understanding the meaning and cultural nuances of the meme is vital as sometimes the meanings change over time and can inadvertently be offensive to some sections of your target audience.

Conclusion 

For your meme marketing to be successful, you must ensure that you understand your audience well. It is also important that you appreciate the meaning of the meme and whether it is properly aligned with your brand personality. If you do not understand the mindset and attitude of the younger generation that uses memes more, take the help of someone who understands them better. You must make sure that your meme is not only liked by your target audience but is also relevant to your brand; otherwise, it will be a wasted effort.