Meme Marketing: Towards More Virality on Social Media

1. ⁠What are memes?
2. When does something become a meme? 
3. Memes in marketing: What does meme marketing mean? Definition
4. The advantages of meme marketing for brands
5. What makes a good meme for marketing?
6. Best Practice: Agency Boomer shows how successful meme marketing works
7. 3 tools that can help you create memes
8. 3 examples of successful meme marketing campaigns
9. Conclusion: How authentic is meme marketing

Authors such as Berthold Brecht, Immanuel Kant, or Johann Wolfgang von Goethe shape the culture and intellectual history in Germany. Few achieved worldwide fame with their works in the past. Today, every creator can make their mark in their respective fields: Memes are part of the internet, just as books belong to libraries. In a certain sense, even a meme is art: it is contemporary folk literature that encapsulates social, political, and cultural vibrations in an amusing and witty picture. The pop-cultural phenomenon is simply relatable in the words of Gen Z.

It's no wonder that meme marketing has become a serious component of marketing strategies in hip agencies. Memes, like no other medium, allow many people to identify with something in seconds. If used correctly, a meme goes viral and along with it, the brand.
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⁠What are memes?

Technically, memes are pictures, gifs or very short videos, often adorned with a piece of text. They are satirical to humorous and always have a hint of criticism.

The term 'meme' derives from the Greek word 'mimene', which means imitation. This hits the nail on the head in terms of its meaning. A meme describes ideas and behaviors through imitation. Memes as we know them have been around on the internet since Web 2.0, initially shared on platforms like Tumblr, but now shared on social platforms like Instagram. A high degree of distribution is characteristic for memes.

Source: Canva

When does something become a meme? 

A picture only becomes a meme when it is shared multiple times, in different versions. The community picks up the image and alters the text multiple times. This results in hundreds of versions of the same image with different punchlines.

Since memes are created through dissemination and adaptation, it is challenging to pinpoint the moment something becomes a meme. Correspondingly, it is difficult to identify the first meme in the digital age. The internet generally agrees on the 'Dancing Baby', a video clip of a dancing baby. Easy as it gets.

Behind memes, there is no science. Rather, it is the sensitivity to pick up on current phenomena that the broad mass, or a specific group, can identify with. This holds enormous value for your marketing strategy:

Memes generate reach, creates touchpoints and spreads automatically through high adaptation – exactly what marketing should create. Meme marketing is the cash cow for community building, branding, and authenticity.

Memes in marketing: What does meme marketing mean? Definition

Meme marketing falls under content marketing. Memes are like blog posts, social posts, or press releases, a piece of content. As a part of the content marketing strategy companies show their humorous side with a content meme and reflect their company values to the outside world. However, it must stay authentic.

A conservative tax law firm better not rely on meme marketing. There is always a certain form of self-irony associated with memes. In this case, it would harm the brand. If, on the other hand, it is a tax law firm with a modern approach, meme marketing portrays their unique characteristics. Everyone can see that it is not a classic tax law firm with rigid structures.

Using memes, companies convey their own message, their values, and establish a stance on certain topics. Although memes are most often part of the social media content, their use extends far beyond: In newsletter marketing, presentations, or blog posts, memes are frequently part of the content. Memes are also used in sales marketing. For example, a order confirmation could contain a meme, enhancing the anticipation for the delivered product. At OMR Reviews, we give you a good overview of social media tools.

 Source: Canva

Memes always set a punchline within a small frame. Following the motto 'It's not what you say, it's how you say it', a meme decides the emotions recipients feel after interacting with the company.

The advantages of meme marketing for brands

Successful memes go with the trends and create entertaining added value. They are particularly aimed at a younger audience.

⁠Social media memes are especially short-lived. Referencing current events is a fitting strategy here. In comparison, memes in blog articles should be more timeless. Then they still work even after several months.

It is clear: Memes can pick up on current events and set short impulses, but they can also be true evergreens in content marketing. Brands should be familiar with internet culture and storytelling if they want to incorporate memes into their marketing. This creates many advantages for brands:

• Audiences identify with memes because they are relatable .
• Companies appear more authentic and strengthen their closeness to the community
• High reach opens up new target and buyer groups for companies
• Memes are inexpensive to create, massively increasing the ROI.
• Memes are easily shareable content that increases interaction rates
• Companies prove their high sense of trend with memes. They put their expertise in the spotlight

What makes a good meme for marketing?

Before you create your own memes, you can ask yourself: Which memes do you remember? The intersection shows what makes a good meme in marketing. A look at Instagram will give you numerous content ideas. Spoiler: Humor and wit are always present.

Don't lose yourself in the humor though: The goal of meme marketing is to use the meme, and thus the pop culture phenomenon as a tool. Memes need to be catchy. The message of a meme is recognizable for everyone at first glance. Memes rely on recognition effects for this. These can be internet personalities, but also quotes and expressions that are well-known. This makes the entry into humor low-threshold.

Important: Copyrights also apply to memes – for text and image excerpts. Brands have to check these before use. This also applies to organic marketing.

Best Practice: Agency Boomer shows how successful meme marketing works

The social media strategy of agency Boomer is a best practice example of how effective meme marketing works. The company regularly posts memes about 'the real agency life'. The social media creatives are specifically prepared for the target group agencies. Each meme is instantly relatable to this group.

This brings us to a new point of what makes good meme marketing: The memes shine with situational humor. The focus is on situations that are characteristic of working in an agency. Ergo: The recognition factor runs through the entire communication. With agency memes, the target group now always associates the agency Boomer – even though the agency has never put itself in the center of a meme.

3 tools that can help you create memes

There are as many tools to help you create memes as there are grains of sand on the beach. Both apps and browser-based tools are available. In theory, you could even create memes for your social media posts using traditional tools like PowerPoint. But there's an easier way:

Chances are, you can create memes using the tools you already use for other marketing creatives. After all, in social media marketing, it's either your company uses Canva or Adobe products. Plus: For 9:16 formats, CapCut with direct connection to TikTok is a popular tool. All three have one thing in common: You can create memes within seconds.

Canva Meme Maker

Next time you create an Instagram post or a LinkedIn post, ask yourself: Could a meme replace this post? Canva provides you with all the functions you need to create memes and much more: Canva includes numerous templates that can inspire you or serve as a design support. AI generators like Canva Write find suitable texts for you, and the images can also be changed using AI.

In Canva Proyou create every creative individually. The advantage over other meme generators: Canva converts your meme into the format you desire. In principle, you can also download memes in MP4 format or as a gif file.

Adobe Express

is the counterpart to Canva. Here too, you will find numerous templates for memes. With AI, you develop humorous texts that support the creatives. You can individualize texts, elements, dimensions, and background colors with a few clicks.

CapCut Meme Generator

Compared to Adobe Express and Canva, the use of CapCut is entirely free. Known primarily for video editing of TikToks, CapCut however convinces with the same features as the previously presented tools Canva and Adobe Express.

The meme generator from CapCut is also available to you free of charge. Free media, templates, and text generators help you to create your perfect meme in just a few steps.

3 examples of successful meme marketing campaigns

Commercial marketing doesn't have to be dull. Storytelling is the focus here too. And that works through memes. Companies have already recognized the potential of meme advertising and implemented it.

Fielmann – really a lion or rather a wild boar?

In July 2023, a pig in Germany was all over the media. Apart from social media, everyone was talking about the wild boar. Radios and even the television reported about it. The reason: The boar was so well camouflaged that it looked like a roaming lion. For weeks, it was THE amusement of German pop culture. Fielmann seized this confusion and used it for its branding in marketing. A simple maneuver with a significant impact: The best practice shows how easy it is for brands to adapt trends through memes.

Source: LinkedIn

Barkbox: No dogs? Not without me! 

Not only individual social media successes, but whole campaigns can be implemented with memes. Barkbox is a prime example here. The company sells monthly boxes for dogs - filled with toys, treats, and everything dogs love. The meme marketing is precisely aimed at the humor of the dog lover community, and thus at its own target audience. The company initiates both pictures and videos as memes, thereby strengthening its brand presence.

IKEA: Bernie Sanders Chair Meme interpreted

When ideas are short in the content team, it's worth taking a look at the newspapers. What is the world currently interested in? In 2021, the picture of US Senator Bernie Sanders was probably the meme of the year. It shows the US politician during the pandemic on a rickety chair, wearing a mask and warm winter clothing.

IKEA seized this template and created a shopping campaign around it. Want to look like Bernie Sanders? Just shop at IKEA.

Source: Thedrum

Conclusion: How authentic is meme marketing

Memes are a reflection of current trends. For companies, a springboard to virality - but beware: With memes, corporates inevitably make themselves vulnerable. Memes may be humorous and everything is fun and games: But they always contain a dash of opinion. This way, companies position themselves in political debates for instance. Memes offer potentials in implementation. Because in meme marketing you don't reinvent the wheel.

Rather, you look at meme trends. If you find a trend that suits your company, you build a new creative based on the meme. You have three options:

1. You create a new meme
2. You reinterpret an existing meme
3. You repost a meme with a catchy headline

So you can be a meme pioneer and bring new memes to the internet - but you don't have to. Both work for your marketing, as long as you show the brand authentically.