Memes are the viral wonders that travel through a variety of sources such as Twitter, Facebook, hyperlinks, email, and so on. These funny pictures are the images, videos and GIF's that are famous amongst the users of social media. Typically containing humorous photographs that have a mysterious hint of politics or culture, it's the best memes that tend to become viral as they pass on a message that's funny, insightful or meaningful to the reader. When harnessed properly, the power of memes can be significant to your brand.
Memes in Marketing
More and more business owners and marketers are realizing that memes aren't just funny pictures to be shared among friends and followers on social media. Usually they can be found posted on social media sites to attract attention from a large number of people, subsequently resulting in likes, shares and retweets and hopefully, increased followers. Using memes can help attract attention to your business' social media page, therefore attracting users to your site and helping to grow your brand and company exposure to your target audience.
Meme Lifecycle
Before you start to use memes to promote your business, brand or products you should understand that they have a lifecycle and do not last forever. Whilst some memes last longer than others, there tends to be four main stages which occur - birth and growth, peak, decline, and demise. When you use a meme for promotion and marketing purposes it's important that you don't pick one that's nearing the end of its lifecycle as it's unlikely to attract much attention. You should always use a meme that is currently in the birth, growth or peak stage to get the best results.
Proper Branding
Prior to jumping on a particular meme, it's important that you develop a full understanding of it. You should know about the origin and the humor behind the image in order to be able to use the meme effectively for the marketing and promotion of your business. Analyzing the meme fully will help you to determine whether or not it is related to your business or not and whether it will be fully effective to engage and interest the members of your target audience. When using a meme, it's essential to choose one which can be used along with a humorous concept that is related to your business or industry. This is key to getting more shares and feedback.
Call to Action
If you are using a meme that's currently trending, you can be sure it will attract a lot of attention. However, the key to using memes to build your business and brand is to make sure that the views are converted into action. Include a call to action with your meme by throwing in the URL of your site or using a message that compels people to be curious about your business and visit your site.
Coming up with a meme is no easy task, but it is one of the most cost-effective and valuable tools in your marketing tool-kit.
