Meme Marketing: A Secret Weapon For Your Startup's Social Media Strategy
- DeJuan Wright
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Regardless of what results may reveal whenever analyzing any of your go-to metrics used to determine whether or not your startup’s marketing campaigns were successful, the ultimate measure of success for any marketing campaign should always be for the campaign to bring consumers a few steps closer to your brand in one way or another.
Because at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done—marketing simply comes down to creating concepts to connect with consumers.
And no matter how we may feel about it personally, today’s consumers are absolutely addicted to social media! So much so, that studies show 73% of the US population are now active on a social media platform.
With that number growing daily, it would be nearly impossible for a startup to build an emotional connection with today’s consumers without having a social media presence.
In acknowledgement that your startup being present on social media is now a no-brainer, since you have to be on social media—why not entertain your audience?
If used the right way, memes could help do just that if meticulously added to your startup’s social media marketing strategy.
Why use memes?
Amuse, engage, inform, inspire, or entice. If the purpose of your brand’s social media posts isn’t to accomplish any of those five things amongst its audience, then what’s the point?
Yes, as crazy as it may sound, besides providing them quality products or services—consumers actually do look for brands to stimulate them both mentally and emotionally by doing all of the above.
Memes (which are humorous images, videos, or GIFs) are a clever way that your brand could perform all of the aforementioned actions on social media—while also building a rapport amongst consumers with the only cost to your company being creativity (and whatever you may pay your social media manager).
An example of how your startup could use a meme on social media
Picture this, you’re aimlessly scrolling down your Instagram timeline when suddenly, an image appears on your smartphone screen of an actor from your all-time favorite television series.
You know, the actor whose character on the show who just seems to always have the absolute worst of luck because nothing ever seems to go his way (if you’re a millennial, think Al Bundy from the classic television show Married With Children).
Taking a few seconds to pause from scrolling to examine the photo, you notice a caption at the bottom of the image that reads, Our Vraylar antidepressant capsules could even make this guy have a happy day.
As a huge fan of the show, the meme from Vraylar would have instantaneously amused, engaged, informed, and if you happened to suffer from depression—also potentially enticed you just enough to convince you to purchase their antidepressant capsules.
Which would be an absolute grand slam social media post.
Potential downsides of using memes
Contrary to what most marketing professionals would like for you to believe, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to social media marketing. What’ll work wonders for one brand could do the opposite for others.
Which is why understanding your target audience is absolutely paramount when it comes to your brand’s social media strategy.
If you aspire for your brand to fit into the sophisticated brand personality archetype, it would probably be best to err on the side of caution by avoiding posting memes on your startup’s social media pages.
As doing so would likely hurt your brand’s image by conveying a message that isn’t congruent with how you’d like for your brand to be perceived by the public.
Nonetheless, if your startup’s brand personality falls under the excitement characteristic; using memes on your social media pages could be a very effective marketing weapon that’ll help your brand emotionally connect with consumers.
Which to re-emphasize, should always be the ultimate objective for a marketing campaign.
Closing thoughts
During the Gilded Age (from around 1870-1900), political cartoonists were extremely popular around the world because their comics played a pivotal role in conveying visual messages that helped form public sentiment on political issues in a way that was very easy for people to understand.
Similar to those comics of the Gilded Age, memes are cultural items used to easily express messages through humor.
Whether it’s through the form of an image or video—the thing to keep in mind is that the effectiveness of your memes will be contingent upon your knowledge of what kind of imagery and humor would resonate best with your target audience.
If you’re unsure of which type of memes would actually resonate most with your audience and how often you should post them on your startup’s social media pages, schedule a complimentary client consultation with us today and we’ll devise a social media strategy that’ll help build brand affinity amongst your target customers.