Memes in marketing: a guide

The lowdown on memes

When the term “meme” comes to mind, few people automatically think of marketing. Perhaps you should. Memes refer to images, GIFs and videos, usually featuring funny or relatable phrases, which are popular on the internet. When trending, memes are seen by an extensive and diverse audience.

Why use memes in marketing?

In addition to the above-mentioned use of reaching a wide variety of viewers, there are many ways in which using memes can benefit your business. Using a popular and familiar meme in your marketing makes your company memorable and relatable. Associating your brand with a well known and loved meme shows off your sense of humour and fun, and could possibly lead to better engagement with clients.

Another benefit of using memes in your marketing strategy is the ease and low cost with which they can be created. Sites such as memegenerator.net provide templates of many popular memes – simply customise with your own, company-specific text, et voila!

Meme Marketing tips

Useful as they can be, sometimes memes can fall flat. They tend to be better received by the technologically inclined millennials, than older generations. It’s important to consider the audience you’re trying to reach as well as your brand personality.

Examples of companies who have successfully integrated memes into their marketing strategies include Virgin, with the popular Success Kid image, as well as Moz.com, who used a whole string of them in a press release.