Marketing Memes: a great addition to your strategy

Memes are an essential part of social media content and a great marketing instrument when used correctly. Some of the biggest brands in the world use memes as a part of their content marketing plan, and here are some of the top reasons why you should consider doing the same:

Draws more engagement

One of the top reasons why brands have started to create memes for their social media pages is because they are a way of almost immediately increasing engagement levels. Your audience will be quick to share memes, which helps them to feel like they are part of something.

Your audience enjoys engaging with them

Memes will also make your audience feel like your brand understands them. When you are sharing relatable memes that people feel truly engaged by, it means that you are creating a content platform that people enjoy being a part of.

Your memes don’t even have to relate specifically to your brand; they can just be something that you feel your audience can relate to and enjoy more generally.

They are easy to make and share

Memes are also one of the most time and cost-efficient content strategies, and they don’t require any specific software to create. You can use free photo software to make memes, like Imgur, and within minutes they can be posted on your social media.

Good and bad examples of how famous brands use memes

These days more and more brands have started using memes in their content strategy, but that does not mean they always get it right. Here are some of the best and worst examples we have found of companies using memes so that you can hit the ground running and use them in the best way for your business:

Best meme examples

SparkNotes

SparkNotes has developed a bit of a reputation over recent years for its use of memes on Twitter. What they do with their meme content is very clever; they aim for relatable meme content based on literature for their audience, who are school children studying English.

This makes the subject matter more enjoyable for students and encourages them to engage with more SparkNotes content.

Chipotle

Some brands also use more specific memes coupled with some sarcasm or a joke made at their own expense, such as Chipotle. Here, Chipotle used a meme format that was popular on the internet at the time and inserted a picture of their own cutlery to make fun of them, changing their forks to a less favorable style.

This meme brought their customers something they could directly relate to in an amusing way.

The worst examples

McDonald’s

Now, here is an example of meme marketing gone terribly wrong. This tweet from the fast-food brand McDonald’s received a huge amount of attention, but for all the wrong reasons.

The issue here is that the creator of this meme did not seem to understand what the purpose of this meme format was, and therefore the meme does not make any sense. It is essential when creating memes that you understand the joke in the first place before replicating it.

DiGiorno Pizza

Once again, doing a bit of research before creating and posting a meme is of the utmost importance. This meme went terribly wrong because the company did not check what the popular hashtag was referring to before posting it on Twitter, and the result was an understandable backlash.

What companies should and shouldn’t use as memes

As we can see from the above example, using memes can be tricky. Memes need to be well researched and timely as well as used at the appropriate time. Here are some Dos and Don’ts for using memes in your content:

• Make sure you are posting a meme format when it is still popular and relevant so as not to seem out of touch
• Make sure you understand the meme before recreating it
• Know who your audience is, and post memes that they will enjoy and understand
• Try to have some kind of originality and creativity, rather than copying exactly what others are posting

Ways to create your own custom memes

Now you know the basics of how you can use memes in your content strategy, it’s time to start making and posting them yourself. Here are some things to consider when you are creating your memes:

Adapt memes for your marketing goals

The best way to make memes work for you is to figure out who you are trying to reach and adapt the memes to them. This is going to help you reach your marketing goals as well as create more engagement with your audience.

Make the photo similar to the original meme

If you are adapting a meme for your brand, make sure that it has enough likeness to the original meme so that the idea is still recognizable. Otherwise, the joke might go over people’s heads.

Draw the meme in your brand style

Drawing the meme in your brand style can help it to be more recognizable as yours and help it to stand out. This is a great way to get people talking about your brand as well as promoting your products or services. Plus, doing so helps keep it consistent with your brand.

Be witty

When you are creating memes, try to be witty and clever with the text so that people will want to share it. The funnier the meme, the more likely it is to be shared, so try to make your memes as amusing as possible.

Marketing memes: final thoughts

As we can see, memes can be a great way to connect with your audience and promote your brand. However, it is important to remember that they need to be well-researched and well-executed in order to be effective. With that in mind, start brainstorming some ideas for how you can use memes in your content marketing strategy today.