Is there anyone who doesn’t enjoy a good laugh seeing those funny memes out there? I guess there would hardly be anyone who doesn’t get excited by memes, of course until its ruffles some feathers. Your social media would be full of memes made from movies, tv-series, news, speeches, and the list goes on. That small piece of wonder, as I would like to call it, can convey a lot of meanings to the viewer and can create an emotional connection in a matter of seconds.
Memes, in a way, has become a global language using which anyone can communicate their different emotions in a short and crisp manner adding that tinge of humor to elicit emotional connect with the audience and peers
Off late businesses are increasingly recognizing the enormous marketing potential of memes and have consciously included them as a part of their digital strategies across social media to interact with their target audience.
What is a MEME?
A meme could be any type of media like a photo, a video, a gif, or a block of text which usually contains a piercing piece of commentary on culture, society, symbols, ideas, or current happenings.
A meme can become Viral (spread through social media within no time) if the central idea of the meme resonates with people who happily share it across different social media platforms creating a ripple effect
As per Britannica, British Evolutionary Biologist Richard Dawkins coined the term Meme in his work The Selfish Gene. He considered them to be similar to biological genes in the sense that they contain information and can replicate themselves at will.
What makes Memes Click?
Memes are one of the simplest forms of digital media used to express emotions with minimum use of words that have the power to create a mindset change through fun, humor, or sarcasm. Their presence is in huge demand and they can be transmitted, reused, and overused multiple times.
They have become so much a part of everyday life and popular culture that it is hard to not encounter a few memes in a day. Your social media feed must be full of different kinds of memes from varied sources. Though they are all-pervasive in nature, the compactness along with the humor and/or sarcasm make it resonate with a wider range of people irrespective of the topic.
Memes appeal to people as it provides a certain human touch. With just a glance at a meme, people can relate to the humor or message with minimal use of the information thus serving the purpose of both entertaining people and saving time. People express their reactions to a meme by liking, commenting, or sharing it or by simply ignoring them by scrolling if it doesn’t resonate with them.
What is Meme Marketing?
Meme marketing refers to the use of memes by businesses to effectively engage with their audience to endorse their brand narrative. It is the viral nature of the meme and the requirement of minimum investment that has attracted marketers towards Meme for engaging their customers.
Memes are the fastest growing digital assets, spreading across all platforms and channels, hence the Meme marketing trend has taken off in a huge manner. Smart marketers are now consistently using memes in their marketing campaigns, which will aid in their brand messaging becoming viral.
Meme marketing is also considered to be an excellent Top of the Funnel Marketing asset that aims at engaging the audience, creating brand awareness, and building trust. At a time when the attention span of viewers is on a decline and they prefer to skip ads, memes can prove to be a very effective tool of marketing.
Customers, especially the younger generation nowadays are averse to the old ways of marketing and advertisements. They don’t like being marketed to as they feel manipulated. Customers today expect brands to engage directly with them, connect with them and make them laugh. Hence customers inadvertently get attracted to brands with which they could relate through fun and entertainment.
As per Forbes, the average millennial sees about 20-30 memes a day and memes have about 10 times more reach with 60% organic engagement than regular marketing graphics.
Consumer brands, that were quick to realize the fact that meme is a global language to which their audience relate to, are constantly using meme marketing to project their brand as cool, young, and bold.
Success of Meme Marketing in India
It’s quite interesting to know that a vast majority of Gen Z and Millennials use social media for about 3hrs on different platforms. If they find something cool or funny they share it on social media. As per a YPulse study, 75% of millennials share memes, and 38% follow meme accounts on social media. Also, most social media users fall in the age bracket of 17 to 24. This is one of the reasons why meme marketing has been successful in India because of its young demography
In recent times, India has also seen a significant rise in the number of internet and social media users. As per Global Statistics, 658 million people in India use the internet and around 476 million people use social media. The primary reason for this growth is attributed to lower smartphone and data charges along with increasing internet penetration across the country.
Global statistics also point out that on average an Indian user spends 3hrs on social media. The most popular social media platform in 2022 is Instagram with 76.50% of social media users enrolled in the photo and video sharing app. Next in line is Facebook with 74.70% penetration and Twitter at 44.90% enrollment.
The prevalence of lively pop culture is another factor for meme marketing’s growing appeal. Many popular memes are based on popular movies and series. Characters from popular culture have become well-known among Indian audiences. Several OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hotstar, have utilized memes to market their shows, leveraging the popularity and cross-cultural appeal of such characters.
Significant credit also goes to the brilliant creativity and sense of humor of Indian social media users who are not only on the lookout for creating memes at every instant but also make memes hugely popular
Meme marketing examples from India
Many Indian brands have aced the art of meme marketing. They have seamlessly incorporated memes into their digital strategy. Let’s take a look at some of the examples.
1. Zomato
This food delivery service platform has been slaying it with its funny memes. They have made memes a part of their daily communication to the audience.
2. Swiggy
Swiggy, another food delivery platform has been equally good as its competitor Zomato when it comes to meme marketing
3. Netflix India
OTTs have been actively involved in meme marketing for some time now and have been hitting the right chords with their humorous takes on various contemporary events and their own content. The video streaming platform has been actively engaging its audience through its witty memes mostly through content that streams on its interface
4. Amazon Prime Video
This OTT platform has also been coming up with some brilliant memes over time to enthrall its audience.
5. Brand Factory
The retail chain has been very active in social media and has consistently engaged with its audience through funny and quirky memes
How to go about meme marketing for your brand?
If a brand is trying to leverage meme marketing as a part of its digital strategy then there are a few things that it needs to take care of, which are as follows:
1. Relevance to the Brand: Sometimes in the frenzy of creating a meme just for the sake of it or following a viral trend, marketers often overlook if a particular meme fits apt with your brand. The meme should have a genuine brand vibe about it.
2. Know your Audience: The meme should be relatable to the brand’s audience. The brands must personalize their meme content as per the taste of their audience and hence as a precursor, brands must involve themselves in proper research about their target audience.
3. Creating Buyer personas: This is a very important step in content marketing which could be replicated in meme marketing as well. Social media listening and monitoring could help in tracking details related to buyers like age, interests, hobbies, etc, using which the brands could create an appropriate buyer persona and corresponding memes as per their likings.
4. Using a pop-culture Reference: Using memes based on popular pop-culture references can significantly increase the chances of memes going viral. The more popular the reference is, the more relatable it will be to the audience.
5. Timing: Brands should share memes when interest in memes and pop culture references is at its peak, rather than after interest has waned. This also gives the message to the audience that the brand is trendy.
What not to do in meme marketing?
A few pointers regarding things to avoid while going ahead with meme marketing are as follows:
1. Keeping it simple: Memes should be short, crisp easily readable, and to the point. Memes should not be full of texts defeating the whole purpose of their existence.
2. Don’t go Overboard: Meme making is tricky and sometimes brands are walking on a tightrope. Brands must ensure that their content doesn’t offend or alienate their audiences.
3. Avoid Call to Action: As previously mentioned, Memes are meant for top-of-the-funnel marketing and brands must avoid including CTA in their memes as consumers might feel that brands are pushing their product.
Future of Meme Marketing
In the realm of digital marketing, meme sharing has become a crucial driver. The bottom line is that memes may help your company gain a competitive advantage in terms of brand awareness, visibility, and customer engagement.
Any brand should not overlook this marketing tactic. Creating memes not only increases the trust and popularity of the brand but also draws new consumers.
The majority of the younger generation relies on the internet rather than offline sources. They spend a significant amount of time on social media. Therefore, Brands must change their marketing techniques in order to acquire this large client base online. Incorporating meme marketing is one of the most profitable and productive methods.
Considering the advantages offered by Meme marketing it seems only logical to incorporate meme marketing as a part of the brand’s digital marketing efforts.
