If you’re reading this blog right now, we’re going to assume that you are familiar with the internet and it’s the twenty-first century. If we’re being real, no internet user is a stranger to social media. There are numerous reasons for people to use social media but one big sell that is common across platforms are memes. Yes, those fun bits of data are put together with the sole purpose of getting a smirk out of you. Hilarious and relatable, these pieces of content are the backbone of social media.
But, why are we talking about memes, you ask? Well, it’s because we are professional meme-makers. Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, we don’t wake up each morning to create new relatable pictures of Kermit and Spongebob. But, a part of the work we do actually involves creating memes. Seems strange but it’s actually an obvious part of content creation that brands tap into these days. You’ve probably seen brand pages feature a few memes here and there on their feed that have a direct connection to their products or services. That is just the tip of the iceberg.
Meme jacking has been around for a while now, where you have brands market their product or service openly on meme pages, solely because of the reach that it has. This is obvious and gets the brand the attention that it wants, but meme marketing goes deeper than that.
While scrolling through your favourite meme pages, you would have definitely come across meme content related to popular movies, shows, songs, brands, etc. It’s completely normal for people to take regular content and turn it into a meme. But, the interesting part to note here is that it’s not always organic. Do you think it’s a coincidence that every time Netflix or Amazon Prime release a new show or series, the meme game is dominated by content based on it? Not at all.
Engagement is king on social media and brands will do what they need to do to get their hands on it. Memes have now made it into social media marketing plans because of the engagement it has the ability to garner. The idea isn’t to hard-sell a product or service, but to create a subliminal communication for their audience. For example, maybe you didn’t have the slightest intention of watching the latest Spiderman movie, but then your feed starts to be filled with memes about the movie, your friend who watched the movie has shared a meme on their story, so many mutuals have liked the post, they have a common topic to discuss, but, you haven’t watched it yet. So you think, what’s the big deal? I’ll just check it out to see what the hype is about. Now, the Spiderman movie has another viewer and now Spiderman has taken the box office by storm, with minimal marketing… or that’s what you think at least. That is the power of meme marketing!
