10 Tips to Create Effective Memes for Social Media Marketing

Digital marketing is more interactive and personal now, thanks to the social media. Varieties of content types are deployed by brands across the internet for bringing the audience into the sales funnel. Memes have been at the forefront of social media since their advent and are more prone to go viral.

The concept was born in 1976 when British Evolutionary Biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book ‘The Selfish Gene’ examined the diffusion of ideas/socio-cultural phenomenon and coined the same as meme. Though discussed in a biological sense, the internet meme is not different from the former as in a way, it’s just a content which is spreading online and getting evolved in the process from country to country.

A Meme is to internet subculture what psychedelic art was to the acid heads.

With the rise of digital marketing, brands are creating brand memes to encourage communication and shares on social media. It is important for a viral visual marketing strategy and enhances your brand’s visibility.

The internet offers tons of free images and with a wide variety of tools available online, it is easier and less complicated to develop memes now.

Here are 10 tips for effective use of memes for social media marketing.

Research

Conduct a well-organized research of the social media and carefully study trends and rules of engagements. Decide your area of interest and try to do something that reflects the voice of your brand. Don’t forget to include a branded logo or text, which is a great way to spread the word.

Innovate

Be as innovative and creative as possible to build your brand. If we analyze the whole business of meme then we see:

Images are unchanged.

The message text depends on the story.

The essence remains unchanged. For example, Liam Neeson’s Taken dialogue is quite popular and is widely used to depict sheer anger/frustration.

Virality

Finding the right image is the first important step towards successful social media marketing. It can be,

A picture you clicked/an image of a product/service you offer.

Find popular memes by looking for old viral ones or the current trending.

The image you choose must resonate with your brand voice.

Social customs

Every culture follows its own social mores and customs. Many brands get trolled and become an internet laughing stock if they don’t research before posting memes demographically. Such post shows that the brand is insensitive and careless towards their audience. So, do your homework properly or be ready for free-of-cost negative publicity.

Customize the Size

Every social media uses different image dimensions. For example, Facebook uses image dimensions at 1200 x 1200 pixels, while Instagram allows 640 x 640 pixels, so make sure to check the requirements before uploading your image.

Tags and Hashtags

The end goal of any post on the social media is to increase communication and visibility. Here is what you should do,

Tag users and invite others to share your images.

Do a research on terms which are currently popular online.

Create your own unique phrase or question to generate a response.

Free resource

Take advantage of all the resources which are available for free online, including copyright free images.

Relevancy

Share memes that are relevant to your audience and your brand. Memes too require a sharp content to engage with your audience.

Distribution

Always prepare a distribution plan to reach out to your consumers quickly. Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+ are fantastic for sharing, as people can instantaneously see the image or video screenshot on their feeds.

Other platforms

Bookmarking sites like Reddit, Digg, Delicious, and Stumbleupon can also help in getting the word out. Make sure that you include social share buttons around the content for maximum visibility.

Try various syndication sites.

The content can also be added to your blog and newsletter.