Memes are a fun way to engage people on social media. As users on social media consume and enjoy visual content, memes are deemed to be the most effective as it presents visual images with an added humor angle.
Memes can provide a sneak peek into the cultural events and offer users and brands an
opportunity to refer to a joke that is already established over the internet.
What Are Memes?
Memes are a way of expressing an idea that is culturally relevant. A meme is often an image or video representing the thoughts and emotions of a specific group or community. They are essentially captioned photos planned to prompt humor.
Since memes have become a global phenomenon, they are an increasingly important aspect of viral marketing and social engagement. Often related to existing cultures or subcultures, memes are shared through social media, email, and forum boards.
Memes stimulate better reactions from audiences as they are customized for social media.
Sharing memes is a part of the online experience, so it is a great tool to improve customer engagement. But like any other social media marketing, memes should always be quantified.
With memes, marketers can engage hard-to-reach viewers with fun and humor. Besides, it is also a cost-effective way of marketing and creating engaging content.
As memes are related to a current trend, they also humanize the brand by making it appear more real, modern and relatable
Rightly used, memes can be a vital marketing tool. Keep reading to know how.
Memes Must Resonate with Your Brand Voice
It is essential to maintain your brand consistency while incorporating memes in your
marketing campaigns. Nowadays, even high-end lifestyle brands have started incorporating
memes into their campaigns. As memes can also be rude, brands must draw a
thin line while experimenting with them.
Brands must sound authentic while using memes and leverage them to support their
positioning and reaching a specific community. It would be best if you had a fair idea about your target audience, then only you would be able to employ memes rightly. There are many meme makers like InVideo available online which you must try experimenting with. These platforms also provide meme templates, for example, the drake meme maker.
Create Original Memes
While you can bank on copying or repurposing popular memes, it is also vital that you try to create original ones, specifically for your campaigns.
This way, your brand will be able to realize better results. You may consider using emojis,
embedded text and special effects in your memes.
Just keep in mind that the images you are creating must have a context and create a long-lasting impact. And make sure that the memes do not look forced upon and be organic.
Know the Many Ways to Incorporate Memes
If you are new to social media marketing, then there are few ways to incorporate memes into your campaigns.
- Post a reaction to a recent moment, one that is happening in real-time, like any sports event or any recent festive occasion.
- Try participating in meme-style challenges like the ones run by Facebook. This way, you will be able to relate with your consumers better.
- Repurpose Twitter content for creating a joke for other social media platforms like Instagram. By doing this, you will be able to set up a brand-related meme.
- Marketers can also reshare memes directly, though the legal aspects must be checked before using them.
Know Which Memes Are Meant for Repurposing
If you know well beforehand that which memes you can repurpose accordingly, you will maximize customer engagement. You must select a meme that is popular and easy to comprehend. A complex meme might appear good but might not serve your purpose.
What to Avoid While Using Memes
While memes are an awesome way to connect with your audience, it can also pose some risks for a brand. Humor and relevance are the two key factors that define the value of memes. These factors are subjective; a meme could be considered hilarious by one viewer and offensive by another. So it is best to stay away from an offensive meme creator.
Stick to using simple memes to avoid any misunderstanding; a good meme is enough to speak on its own. Your jokes should not be offensive or target a particular community or sector. It would help if you avoid using topics related to racism, gender, and religion. The meme should focus on your branding but should not push it too hard that the viewers lose interest.
There Must Be a Takeaway
Though memes are meant for humor, they should have a takeaway for your audience at the end. Make sure that your brand’s messages reach loud and clear.
More and more marketers leverage memes as a part of their marketing strategy to reach a broader audience. Meme creation is a creative process, and one should take meme-based marketing business seriously.
