I’ll admit it: I love memes. The playfulness and satirical humor that I can use in social media marketing thanks to these random pictures with text has made my job a lot more fun. Have you started using memes in your marketing strategy?
This simple idea of adding text to a well-known photo, or changing a word to match your brand is an incredible way to make your content shareable and thus, viral.
Is your marketing strategy ready for memes?
What is this clever marketing tactic called, you may ask? The answer is meme-jacking.
Here’s a little history lesson for you: The term “meme” was coined back in 1976 by an evolutionary biologist by the name of Richard Dawkins. The name comes from the Greek word mimema, meaning “something imitated.” The idea was originally presented as a psychology term for, “humans’ method of transmitting social memories, cultural ideas and truths to one another,” according to Adrienne Erin. Little did history know that we would turn these imitations into a pure gold marketing strategy.
Why do memes work? Here are 3 reasons:
1. They are established.
According to Erin, “Memes are not memes unless they’re already a popular theme spreading through online society.” That means that creating a meme that carries no popular significance isn’t going to get you very far. Grab onto something that has already gained some viral traction and give it your own twist.
2. People like to share.
There’s a reason that a “share” button exists for all social media platforms (also seen as re-pin and retweet). We are a society that likes to share inspiration – whether that be happy or sad – with our friends on social media. We want to engage; we want to say, “Hey, check this out!” Creating a meme that is relatable and clever triggers that click of the share button, and that makes it go viral.
3. They’re ideal for social media.
A meme is bite-sized piece of content that is fun to chew and easy to swallow. It’s also an SEO bombshell due to the fact that it’s an image, which the search engines love.
Think you’re ready to create a meme? It’s easy! Try it out here and post it in the comments below or on our Facebook page, we’d love to see it!
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