Memes are now all the rage with online marketers faced with increasing indifference to conventional online advertising. The combination of an image and a funny or sarcastic comment allows brands to connect better with their audiences at an emotional level. It also enables brands to highlight their personality and ethos unforgettably. One can be forgiven for thinking that meme marketing is nothing but putting together a funny image and caption. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Some important things to do when using memes explained:
Do Study and Know Your Audience
For brands wishing to connect with their audiences, the most important thing is to figure out what their audience likes to consume in terms of content. With memes using humor as the central point for getting your message across, you must figure out the kind of humor that makes your audience smile or chuckle but is relevant to your brand. It is not enough to simply study the demographics; you need to delve deep into their psyche and behavior to figure out their motivations and biases. Some of the things you need to figure out include what they consume on social media platforms, how many times your followers engage with you, and what other brands, including competitors, do they follow. You should also find out how they spend their leisure time, when they are most active on social media, what interests them, and their cultural profile.
Do Copy Successful Memes
While you can design original memes to boost your brand visibility, most often, you may not have the luxury of time. When you need to be quick on the draw, you should take advantage of trending memes to make your point in a way that boosts your brand awareness and underlines your marketing message. You can also keep on studying trends and developments for opportunities of creating your original memes. It can be a slower process but the result is uniquely yours and you can construct it to support your brand better. Using an online service like Meme Scout can help you to find trending memes.
Do Appreciate the Short Lifecycle of Memes
One of the main attractions of memes is that they keep on changing very quickly. Because they are short-lived, brands need to spot memes that have the potential of becoming viral on social media early on before others have latched on to them. If you jump on to the bandwagon when the meme is already trending, you will become one of the many competing for eyeballs, and secondly, you will have a shorter time for the campaign to run. Also, by using memes that have run their course, you run the risk of your brand being perceived as slow and not in step with the times, according to Entrepreneur. The best time for indulging in memejacking is just before its popularity peaks.
Conclusion
Memes can be an integral part of your social media marketing strategy when executed properly. However, if implemented incorrectly or without an understanding of your audience or the meme, it can backfire, leading to loss of reputation and marketing opportunity.
