Why use a meme?
If a picture paints a thousand words then a meme paints a million. The correct meme can express a difficult emotion or explore a difficult situation. It can do it with a speed a long business post would fail to do.
The famous marketer David Ogilvy stated that most people only read the headline. Well today people glance at the meme. If it catches their humour they will explore further. If it falls flat they will ignore your content forever.
Memes can express something inherent about your brand’s values and aspirations. It can brighten your audience’s day and become viral in the way the right TV advert used to. The wrong meme can leave you looking outdated and or like a try-hard, or worse. You could become unexpectedly notorious.
Follow this helpful guide on how to use memes today.
How to avoid becoming a meme
Beware contentious memes
You don’t have to have a degree in internet culture to understand memes, yes it is a real subject.
You do have to be aware of each meme’s format history. This may read as over critical. But, the use of a contentious meme or a questionable link can land your business in hot water.
We all know the story. A politician or celebrity shares an image before checking where it came from. Queue the grovelling Twitter apology.
The Pepe the frog meme went from a beloved internet character into a recognisable symbol of hate. This is an extreme example but I have included it so you can understand what may happen.
The idea is to use memes to draw attention to your brand.
For the right reasons.
Each time you decide to share or create a meme double check the meme’s background. This doesn’t mean extensive research on 4Chan forums. It means a quick google to save you trouble later.
The easiest tool to do this is Know Your Meme (Discussed below).
Don’t be a boomer
We all meme now. We have all experienced our middle aged aunt showing us a weak meme or a meme attached to a religious quote.
You can reply only one thing - OK, Boomer?
What is a boomer? Strictly speaking a Baby Boomer is a person born between 1946 and 1964.
It is a phrase thrown into an intergenerational argument. However, it is just as often thrown at brands sharing flat memes.
The Minions Meme has become a byword for middle aged women sharing lame memes on Facebook. Make sure you do your research before sharing or creating a meme. Don’t choose a picture you like the look of. You might like Forrest Gump but that doesn’t mean you can apply the text of your joke on top of this image. Do your research and make sure you are aware of the subversive nature of each image.
Using the wrong meme format or sharing something sub-par meme will result in an apathetic 'OK, Boomer' from your audience. Even if you are a millennial or Gen Z brand.
Know your audience.
Sharing a meme, like any part of your marketing strategy, should be based upon an understanding of your audience. Demographics matter in memes. Whether you base this upon your current market or the market sector you are trying to enter. You should have a marketing personality created to test your memes against.
Not every advert chimes with every group. In the same not every meme format is appropriate for every marketing personality.
The Drew Carey meme is a great way of sharing information in an ironic tone. But will a younger generation be aware of the Who’s Line Is It Anyway star? Ask yourself if your audience will recognise the original image. Will the sentiment you are trying to express resonate with them, or, will it fall flat as a boomer meme?
Different memes will appeal to different audiences. You will have to test each meme. Are your audience sharing your content? Are they commenting on the post? Ask yourself 'is this meme resonating with my target audience.' You can make your life easier by researching how other public figures and brands use memes.
Places to find tasty memes
Make a meme
Make a Meme is the quickest and easiest tool for creating your own memes. Other tools offer a greater ability to manipulate images and create your own formats. But, I would advise you to use this tool for a few months as this is the best entry level tool. Use this tool for experimenting with memes for your social media campaigns. You can move on to other tools once you understand your audience's taste. Once you are confident you can move on to creating your own formats with tools like Kapwing or Canva.
When creating your first memes experiment with different formats. Don’t become attached to a given format. Our favourite format is Everyday We Stray Further From God. But this will not be business appropriate or the most effective way of sharing our message. So we chose a more accessible and a less controversial format for our article on templates.
Reddit is an absurd and inspiring place. It isn’t only a great way of scrolling through your break. It is home to some of the most wondrous and informative news alongside the bizarre, unsettling and business inappropriate. Luckily most of Reddit has marked darker content with an NSFW tag (Not Safe For Work) to avoid embarrassment.
Reddit memes are the cutting edge of meme culture.
This has the advantage that you are sharing fresh formats that resonate with a younger, edgier audience.
The downside is that after you have posted your meme it may evolve into something beyond your control (see the Pepe the Frog controversy above).
Memes taken from Reddit are often subversive. They may express a sentiment or line of thought that does not chime with your brand’s objectives. Make sure you are doing your research before you share anything you find on Reddit.
Know your meme
Use the correct meme format!
There is nothing worse than seeing a hacky middle shelf brand misusing a meme. It is like watching someone eat lasagne with chopsticks.
You can only stare in horror and ask 'Why?'
Know Your Meme is the go to resource for learning more about new and classic meme formats. Imagine a Wikipedia for memes.
The website’s format looks messy. It resembles a disordered webpage from the early 2010s. Yet, the guidance and context it offers will help your business to drill down into a meme that fits your demographic.
Each meme comes with an about, origin, spread section and a few examples. It also lists any notable controversy, trends or hashtags the meme may have caused. This is helpful for avoiding sharing controversial or unfashionable content.
Make sure you check Know Your Meme before sharing or creating any new meme formats.
Giphy
Not all hot tubs are Jacuzzis not all gifs are memes.
However, if you are looking for an animated gif for your content Giphy is the perfect place to find it.
But what is a gif? A gif is a short video clip or an animated image. They are often used like memes or emojis to quickly express an emotion or to undercut the seriousness of a conversation. They are often clipped from well known films or TV shows. We here at Wehi Web are having a love affair with Arrested Development memes.
In our private chats of course.
Giphy is the best source for gifs. Many messaging services automatically draw from Giphy. so you may have been using it for years without knowing. Again, like with any meme make sure you double check the derivation of the gif before you share it on your platforms.
This article contains a helpful guide on how to create your own gifs for your brand.
Conclusion
The world of memes and gifs can be a minefield. With this brief guide you will be able to create and share memes with confidence. No matter how much you read up on a meme format there will always be a risk
But you will now have your eyes wide open to the possibilities.
Like any element of content marketing memes are about test, improve and test again. The only way you will find your voice is through trial and error.
Don’t avoid memes as part of your social strategy. Get Stuck in today.
Still confused about the best meme to use? Struggling to get your head around social media? Need help hashing out a long term social media strategy?
Wehi Web is here to help you. Contact us here today to book your free video or phone consultation.
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