Memes are a serious thing, indeed, very serious. They are fun, viral, easy to "digest". And marketing with memes is probably an underestimated strategy but one that is gaining momentum.
So much so that we are starting to talk about “meme marketing”. And you know, when it comes to marketing, timing is key. You certainly don't want to let your competitors outrun you when it comes to virality.
Think about it, who doesn't love a successful meme?
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What are memes?
What does meme mean? In practice, this is a funny image, generally taken from more or less famous movie or TV series scenes, which spreads quickly online thanks to captions or dialogues that make it easy for people to identify with that image.
There are two main types of memes:
The image macro , that is the meme format that presents an image framed by a short text.
Dank memes - memes that contain puns, paradoxes, and other types of nonsense . The latter are often mostly understandable within a particular niche.
Curiosity: have you ever wondered what is the first meme in history? Apparently, this is a cartoon that dates back to none other than the early twentieth century, published in the satirical magazine Winsconsin Octopus , of Iowa University.
first meme in history
Viral marketing: what it is
Viral marketing, or viral marketing, is nothing more than a more modern and digitized version of good old word of mouth. It is therefore a question of being able to create content that can spread extremely quickly, even better if within a niche.
Therefore, a viral marketing campaign will aim to make your brand known to as many people as possible, thanks to a series of contents highly designed to engage people in a word of mouth process. Ultimately, your potential customers themselves will be advertising your brand and company.
The best part is, if the content is truly viral, they won't even realize it, and they'll be happy to share it with their circle of friends.
Think about it, how many times have you received or seen memes on Whatsapp, Instagram and company? Probably so many that you wouldn't even be able to quantify them. What if you were the one creating this viral content to promote your business?
meme marketing
Credits: spformazione.it
Mememarketing and memevertising: why it works
Leveraging memes for your marketing isn't a Photo Editing Services new strategy, or better. It is based on well-tested and ingrained marketing concepts and principles. It's all about creating a high level of audience engagement, through viral content or, as Jonah Berger calls it, contagious .
In his book Contagious , in fact, Berger identifies the 6 fundamental elements to create viral content:
Social currency: the ability to impress the audience by sharing something interesting.
Stimuli: elements that remind people of a certain brand, product or concept.
Emotional reactions: a content capable of generating emotions will be much more shareable than a more “cold” content.
Public visibility: the more public a piece of content is, the easier it will be to share it.
Practical value: the relevance and usefulness of a given content.
Stories: the ability to tell a story, be it about a product, a content or a brand, is necessary for the sharing of the contents.
Think about the conversations you have with your friends. How many times have you happened to mention a piece of content you've seen on social media? Maybe it was a particularly interesting image, a phrase that caught your attention, a situation in which you identified yourself. Chances are, after creating an emotional association with that content, you felt compelled to share it and talk about it with people in your circle.