21 Jun Meme Culture and Business Marketing
Social media has undoubtedly taken over our lives. With over 4.5 billion across the globe having access to it, there is literally no denying of the fact that it has the ability to generate the greatest impact on people’s minds and lives. One aspect of social media is meme culture.
A meme is a picture or a video that is accompanied by a funny caption to make it relatable to an audience. Every now and then, there is a new template that goes around the world of social media and is used in every possible situation until it goes viral. Once it reaches the peak of its popularity, it quickly dies out and makes room for another, fresh template. The cycle is never ending and quite frankly, the millennial generation is obsessed with it.
How memes are beneficial for a business’s marketing campaign
In the world of digital marketing, it has become increasingly important for businesses to be able to adapt to the rapidly changing online trends in order to stay relevant and competitive. While the business world has always been fast-paced, the internet has almost quadrupled the speed. This leaves no time for marketers to breath. The audience that products and services are directing towards is increasingly becoming more impatient and hungrier for fresh and relatable content. This puts a great deal of pressure on content developer in today’s day and age to make sure that their marketing campaigns are well-received. In order for that to happen, there is a LOT that needs to be paid attention to. The content needs to be informative, relatable, entertaining and, most of all, sensitive towards the controversial topics in society. In fact, it is best to just steer clear of anything that might even slightly upset any group of viewers.
How to make the best of the opportunity
The internet is like a giant pyramid made of 20,000 dominoes. One small mistake in any part of your business’s marketing campaign can set off a chain reaction that has the ability to go more viral than your initial advertisement. This pyramid will bring down your brand’s image with it. Thus, you need to be smart and stay away from controversy.
Many would argue that all memes being shared on social media platforms are insensitive towards one or more groups of different people which is why businesses should not be incorporating them in their social media marketing campaigns. This is, however, not true. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of memes circulating around the web on a daily basis and there is a variety of all sorts. It is the job of competent marketers to come across a meme that the business’s campaign could use and then incorporate it in the strategy in the smartest way possible.
Contrary to popular belief, many huge brands who already have a well-established customer base and a good standing in the market, have used and are still using memes to promote their products because they have tested and proven their effectiveness. The primary purpose of using social media as a whole to promote a brand or a product is to reach wide audiences all over the world in a short period of time. What better way to do this than to use a funny picture that will practically make itself go viral. What business marketers that do not support meme content need to understand is that the picture in the meme popular.
This means that whenever a meme picture shows up on social media, people are sure to pay attention to it and respond it. All you have to do is make sure that the meme with your brand’s affiliation appears at the right place at the right time. This is what website cookies are for. Cookies help social media websites decide what to display in front of specific audiences in order to make the viewer’s experience most enjoyable and cluster-free.
When you post an ad or, in this case, a meme social media website make sure that it is displayed in front of the audiences that are most likely to respond efficiently and those that are most likely to be your customers. As mentioned before, the main purpose of using memes in an ad campaign is to target it towards millennials. This is because memes resonate with them and are one of the most, if not the most, effective way to spread word about your product.
How to start incorporating memes in your campaign
The first step you need to take is to browse the internet from the perspective of a normal potential customer. You have to keep your eyes open to the different trends that are growing in popularity and then, most importantly, you have to look for the most popular meme templates. Once you have your eyes set on a meme and there is a great response to it, you can then start to think how you can use that template to make a joke/statement/comment about your product or brand.
The best way to target young minds is to use young minds. Set up an internship program in your marketing department for the youth to come in and help you with their thought processes. This can be an efficient, cost-effective way to develop a smart marketing strategy.
Once you have the minds and you come up with a great meme that is clear of controversy and is relatable for the general public, it is time to think about posting it. Use your brand’s social media profiles such as Facebook and Instagram to post it. To make it popular, however, you need to put in some extra efforts. These can include the use of hashtags and shout outs from social media personalities. The more effort you put into promoting a post, the more effective it will be and the greater results it will reap for your business.
Meme culture is a trend no business can afford to ignore and there is, in fact, no better way to target specific audiences in the most cost-effective way possible. Start browsing today and get internet famous in no time!