While the use of memes in marketing is far from a new development[1], in 2023, the idea of meme marketing has transcended beyond the boundaries of social media to become an accepted tool across digital marketing venues.
Organizations are now using memes in everything from TV commercials to product videos, brand awareness campaigns, and many more spaces.
When it comes to reaching your target audience, engaging younger audiences, adding familiarity and relatability to your content, and getting your social media accounts to be the talk of the town, meme marketing is an avenue you should absolutely pursue.
Let’s take a deeper look at meme marketing, why it matters, and why it’s definitely worth adding to your company’s marketing efforts.
What is meme marketing?
Meme marketing, simply put, is the use of memes–images, videos, or words that spread and evolve exponentially across the internet–in your company messaging.
Bringing memes into your marketing strategy can do much more than result in an amusing Facebook post with good engagement, though. Meme marketing is extremely effective at making your organization seem more relatable, demonstrating that your brand is aware of current trends, and showing that your brand voice includes a sense of humor and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Meme marketing[2], like all forms of marketing, requires a strategy–in this case, a meme marketing strategy. It isn’t enough to simply share the latest internet memes along with a few quirky hashtags. Consider your target audience, their interests, and how you can leverage trends to create unique memes that are engaging, effective, resonant, and shareable.
How does meme marketing work?
One of the best things about meme marketing is that it’s essentially free. Creating memes, either as one-offs or as part of a larger marketing campaign, can be done with popular meme generators found online (just search “meme generator” in your search engine for options).
Most of the popular, high-quality memes that you see online are created this way, and they’re perfect for customizing (you don’t have to feel bad about borrowing a meme template, that’s how memes work).
Another great thing about memes is the legal concerns … because there aren’t really any legal concerns[3]. Memes are generally considered to fall under fair use guidelines, and this is especially true when you are customizing a template or creating your own memes based on popular existing memes.
But that isn’t to say that you’re free to do absolutely anything when it comes to memes. Small businesses need to be mindful of the components of the memes they are using. Fair use applies as long as you are not trying to directly profit from the use of copyrighted material, like selling merchandise featuring images from movies or TV shows, for example.
While the most popular or familiar memes that we often see do usually rely on this type of material, there are countless examples of memes originating from non-copyrighted images (like the “distracted boyfriend” meme, for example).
Public domain and license-free images and videos are also abundant, so creating your own content within a familiar meme format is another way to engage in meme marketing without legal concerns. Who knows, you might even create the next viral meme sensation!
Advantages and disadvantages of meme marketing
The benefits of meme marketing go far beyond affordability. Here are a few more compelling reasons to make meme marketing a part of your content marketing and social media marketing strategies:
Memes are relatively easy to make
As mentioned above, you can create your own memes using meme generators and templates that are found for free all over the internet, or even have your own designers create them as part of your digital marketing assets.
Memes move the needle on engagement
From Facebook to TikTok to even LinkedIn, social media platforms and apps thrive on meme content. People love them, and people love to interact with them, which leads to remarkable engagement levels.
Memes have the potential to go viral
It’s what everyone wants, of course–to go “viral.” And while you probably won’t capture worldwide attention with your meme, current and potential customers are much more likely to notice one of your social media posts if a meme is included.
Memes are more relatable
From blogging and video content to social media and more, memes might be one of the most effective ways to make your brand seem relatable to younger demographics.
On the other hand, there are some potential disadvantages to be aware of with meme marketing:
Meme marketing is inherently short term
Think of a recent meme that amused you, and then think of memes from 10 or 15 years ago (cat videos, anyone?). Most memes don’t have much staying power, which is not surprising given the realities of the internet (and digital marketing in general).
Meme marketing is a crowded forum
Memes are powerful, which means that lots of other businesses are also trying to get into the mix with their own meme strategies. Making your meme marketing stand out can be challenging. This is why originality generally wins out: taking popular meme templates and making them unique, clever, and relevant to your audience should alleviate these concerns.
What tools do you need for meme marketing?
While it is fairly easy to get started with meme marketing, you still need a sound marketing strategy behind your memes, and that can be the most complicated element.
Whether this means simply incorporating memes into your existing SEO strategy or developing a new, meme-centric marketing strategy aimed at specific goals, a good marketing plan is the first and most important piece of the puzzle. While it’s fine to just have fun with memes on your personal accounts, meme marketing for your business requires many more considerations in order to be effective.
While developing your strategy, you should consider incorporating tools that will help you figure out what’s trending. Just as you would for your social media marketing and content marketing efforts, utilize tools like Google Trends and Google Alerts.
From here, you’ll want to consider meme generator tools like Imgflip, Quickmeme, Meme Creator, and many more. If you need more customization options or you want to try creating your own memes from scratch, you can use design tools like Canva and Adobe Express.
Finally, don’t forget to use the same analytics tools that you’re likely already using as part of your digital marketing toolset in order to measure the reach, effectiveness, and engagement of your meme marketing.
How to best use meme marketing
While you can find plenty of best practices for digital marketing and social media marketing online, there are a handful of important considerations to help you make the most out of meme marketing specifically.
Don’t be offensive
This is an obvious one, but it bears repeating. Make sure you’re aware of what’s going on in the online conversations, and choose only memes that have the right tone for your brand and your audience. The last thing you want to do is use an insensitive meme in an effort to get attention only to have it blow up in your face as a costly PR crisis.
Recognition matters
People love memes because they’re familiar. They need to be able to instantly recognize the point of the meme so they can feel like they’re in on the joke. If you get too obscure or inside with your meme marketing, you risk alienating the audience that you’re attempting to draw in.
Don’t go overboard with the promotion
If people see a blatant sales message in a meme format, they’ll be immediately turned off by your attempted subversion. Meme marketing is meant to draw potential customers and clients in through humor and relatability, not to deliver a sales pitch.
Be inspired, but be original
Take cues from other brands that have had success with certain memes, but don’t copy directly. Find your inspiration and then make memes that fit your brand and your goals, even if it just means adding your own original copy onto an existing meme template.
Dos and don’ts of meme marketing
As a digital marketer, when you introduce something new into your marketing strategy, it can be tempting to use it everywhere, all the time. This can apply to anything from blogs to videos to podcasts to email newsletters. And meme marketing is no different.
Meme marketing might be a “new and shiny” marketing option for a lot of small businesses, and it can offer a lot of immediate feedback and engagement through social media. This can make meme marketing an addictive option for marketers.
But there are many situations that are good for meme marketing, and many situations when you shouldn’t use meme marketing.
Generally, it’s a good idea to try meme marketing when:
- You already have a solid marketing strategy in place.
- You have identified and defined your brand voice.
- You are between product launches and want to maintain engagement.
- You have something unique to contribute that speaks to your target audience.
On the other side of the coin, you should NOT engage in meme marketing if:
- You are hoping to copy another company’s success.
- You haven’t developed a strategy to support this new approach.
- You’ll only consider your meme marketing campaign a success if it goes viral.
- You haven’t researched what resonates with your target audience.
- You’re hoping that your meme marketing directly translates into a rapid increase in sales.
How should meme marketing fit into your social media marketing strategy?
When thinking about how meme marketing should fit into your overall digital marketing strategy, remember these key considerations:
- Research your audience, your brand, and your marketing needs.
- Look at your existing digital marketing strategy and think about where meme marketing might best fit in.
- Choose the right outlets and moments for memes.
- Be creative and original while strengthening your brand.
- Create memes that very clearly connect with your brand and your audience.
- Don’t overdo it: a little can go a long way.
The best meme is the one that works
There are just as many options for your company’s meme marketing as there are email addresses in your customer database. And while this can seem daunting at first, it really just means that there are a lot of new opportunities ahead for you and your business.
From accounting services to eCommerce, software to salad dressings, B2B or B2C, meme marketing offers a lot of potential for your digital marketing and social media marketing efforts.
But it remains just one piece of your overall marketing strategy. To see how meme marketing can have the greatest impact on your specific marketing goals, reach out to one of the many digital marketing and social media marketing experts who are part of the UpCity network.
Top-rated experts and agencies with decades of experience are ready to learn about your business and demonstrate how meme marketing can be a powerful addition to your overall digital strategy.
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