Marketing can be done in different ways, and yes, meme marketing is a thing now. Marketing has gone from using long-form videos to engage audiences, to using short-form videos, to using picture carousels, to hiring micro influencers, to meme marketing.
Marketing is ever-changing, and to be on top of your marketing game, it’s only smart to be dynamic. Meme is a popular form of internet culture and marketing, and what better way to grab the attention of an audience than to use memes? If the internet were a grand banquet, memes would be the quirky appetizers everyone can’t get enough of.
The use of memes has woven itself into our very existence, but fear not as we will give you the inside scoop on how to use memes to grab audience for your brand.
What are Memes?
Memes are those internet pictures, gifs, or just digital media that are mostly relatable and funny. Their story begins as a concept, an image, a video, a phrase, or even a sound that suddenly gains a life of its own. There are several types of memes:
- GIFs: Graphics Interchange Format are animated loops of video that are just a couple of seconds long and are mostly funny.
2. Image Macros: these are the most popular form of memes that are usually in image form with a caption.
3. Video: these videos can be from anywhere and they’re usually funny.
4. Text-based memes: these are just funny words that are hilarious.
The Power of Memes in Branding
Now, to the main part of this article. You may be wondering how a couple of funny images or gifs would help your brand engagement. Well, there are so many ways that memes have helped numerous brands get a loyal following and some of them are:
- Humour is a universal language
One thing most people love, especially Nigerians, is being able to laugh in the most uncomfortable and stressful situations. Everybody loves a good joke basically, and being able to incorporate humor into your brand strategy is a good way to go.
A great example of using humour to fuel your brand is this “I Don Port” MTN video which used Saka.
- Authenticity and Relatability
One thing your brand should aim to accomplish is the act of reliability. Most individuals want to be able to relate to a certain brand to trust them. Ever seen a meme and thought, “This is so me!”? That’s the magic of relatability.
One brand that hacked this is Netflix. The online streaming platform launched by Netflix is a Joke on most social platforms and they create new memes from their own content to appeal to their audience. This makes them instantly relatable.
Ryan Air is another good example of a company or brand utilising the whole meme marketing rage. As soon as their social media strategy changed and they started churning out relatable meme content, their followers increased a lot.
- Virality and Shareability
One thing about memes is that they have a very strong potential of instantly going viral and reaching a bigger audience. PiggyVest is the first Nigerian brand that comes to mind and has crafted a unique niche for itself. When you think of a Fintech brand, you might think it boring and not entertaining in any way, but not PiggyVest.
PiggyVest recognized the power of memes in connecting with its audience, especially the tech-savvy and meme-loving Nigerian youth. They brilliantly transform financial jargon into relatable and meme-worthy content.
Challenges and Risks
There are a couple of risks that come with memes and you’ll need to be careful to know when to use memes for content and when not to, especially in our socially conscious society. The potential risks are:
- Cultural appropriation
- Legal concerns
- Misinterpretations
- Overuse and over-saturation
In conclusion, meme marketing is one of the best modes of marketing in 2023. To brands seeking to captivate today’s audience, the message is clear: wield memes with creativity and respect for internet culture.
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