Social media has evolved from being a tool of communication to becoming one of the largest marketing platforms. Despite all such popularity, you need to realize that the reason why people take to social media is that they want to have a pleasant time and catch up on some fun content. Being edgy and funny, memes are one of the most well-received forms of social media content. Brands that are keen on social media marketing are using meme generator tools to brew fresh content for their followers.
However, merely using the right tools will not suffice, and you need to walk the extra mile to create mesmerizing memes. Here are five things you should consider before creating memes.
Figure Out How to Make Your Memes Work
Memes make it easy for you to capitalize on shared knowledge and lend an authentic voice to a brand. To ensure that your memes give you the marketing results that you expect, make sure that you have a clear meme strategy in place. The strategy should consider your brand’s risk tolerance level and budget allocations.
Ideally, when you create a meme, you expect your audience to relate the meme to your brand when they see it elsewhere. While this is an acceptable expectation, ensure that your meme content does not imply an endorsement. Also, if you are using an external image or reposting someone else’s content, make sure that you have the right to use the image.
Get to Know Your Audience
The popularity of memes causes brands to believe that investing in a meme strategy is a sure-shot win at marketing success. However, you need to realize that such a situation will arise only when the memes that you create resonate well with your audience. That way, viewers are more likely to be engaged with your content.
Start by understanding your audience and figuring out if they are the kind of people to enjoy a meme or ones who will find it hard to comprehend. For example, if your product or service caters to a classy and aged target group investing in a meme strategy may not yield great results. However, if you cater to a millennial audience, memes will help you get noticed.
If you have a diverse customer group, divide your target into various segments based on their interests. Then, come up with customer personas for each such group. When you have a clear picture of who you are talking to, it helps you plan your meme content accordingly.
A safe approach to meme-making is when you incorporate memes on a small scale. For example, you can experiment with memes on a small segment of your audience who you feel will be most receptive to memes. Depending on their response, you can strategize the memes accordingly.
Decide on the Tone of Your Meme
The voice and tone of any brand message play a significant role in dictating the way your audience receives it. If you are a quirky brand, memes will be a natural fit for your content. However, if your brand is into more serious content, then you need to identify the perfect tone. That way, the memes that you create will be consistent with your other marketing content.
Take proactive measures to ensure that your memes are not too obscure. Attempting to come off as ‘too smart’ will backfire and will cause people to have a negative impression of your brand. If you have a team of content creators, try to have a section on voice and tone in your brand’s social media guidelines. That way, everyone will be on the same page, and the memes that you create will be well-received by your audience.
While creating memes, avoid poking fun at sensitive gender or racial issues and keep away from controversial topics. These might make you come off as offensive and may suggest ideas that are in contradiction with your company’s values. The safest way to leverage memes is to keep things light-hearted.
Develop a Sense of Humour
Memes leverage humor to come off as human and strike a chord with the audience. While it is an easy way to develop an emotional connection, you need to have a personal sense of humor before you contemplate using memes in your marketing strategies. That way, you can draw the line between acceptable and offensive humor and avoid major embarrassments in your business.
Understand that there is a limit to the amount of informality that you can practice with your clients. The nature of your products or services, the demographics of your target group, and your past interactions with them define this limit. If you overuse your memes, after a certain point, the meme will get predictable and commonplace. It will then lose its appeal and no longer contribute to your marketing strategies.
As a brand, you need to resist the temptation of posting any funny content that comes your way. Understand that the purpose of your memes is to aid your marketing goals, and posting just any funny content will not do you any good.
Embed Your Brand in A Meme
One of the main reasons for the widespread popularity of memes is that they are easy to create. Multiple memes-generating tools allow you to choose from a host of templates and personalize a meme in a few minutes. As a brand, you can attempt to go beyond established tropes and create original memes. That way, the brand image can take up the central stage in the meme. When such a meme gets viral, it aids in your brand recognition.
If your brand has refurbished memes in the past, it is indeed worthwhile to attempt to create an original meme. Start small and create a simple meme with your brand image that most of your audience can comprehend without any explanation. As the meme gets viral, you can experiment with the textual content and come up with product-specific memes.
While creating your original memes, make sure that the meme only features your brand or product. Do not make the meme all about the brand. If you push it too hard, the meme will come off as over-promotional, and people will be less likely to share it with their peers.
Memes are dynamic, and what is viral today may become obsolete tomorrow. To leverage memes in your marketing strategies, you need to be on the top of your game and keep yourself abreast with the latest viral trends. As you get to creating memes for your brand, you will eventually figure out the tactics that work the best for you.
