MARKETING WITH MEMES: THE SECRET
TO GETTING MORE TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE USING VIRAL JOKES
Using Small Business Memes As A Form Of Online Marketing
In a recent survey we asked if any of our clients knew what a ‘meme’ was. Most of them told us that they had never seen one, however actually most people have seen loads of them and just don’t realise it.
What Is A Meme?
Memes, are (and always were) ideas that spread. Years ago, before the Internet, one of the biggest memes around was wearing your baseball cap backwards, it took a long time, but eventually everybody did it.
Obviously the rise of the Internet has made a huge difference in how quickly these ideas spread. Internet memes tend to be associated with funny images containing captions, short videos or photographs of people doing /copying something trendy (remember all the kids ‘planking’).
Memes Are Infectious- Facebook Is Full Of Them
No matter how useful for running your life the Internet is…. most people use it primarily for entertainment. In a recent article the Daily Mail reported that if you own a smartphone you probably check Facebook 14 times a day. (I bet you don’t perform a Google search 14 times a day).
Memes are ideal for the Internet as they are very quick to consume and share with your friends. They are typically funny in nature and most people love to be the first with the latest joke, so the newer the idea, the quicker it gets shared.. and that’s how content goes viral.
How To Make A Meme?
It’s fair to say that they are pretty easy to make, but a lot of them have been over-done, so having a different take on an old business Meme can be good idea. You need a basic understanding of Photoshop and a good sense of humour. Although if you haven’t got Photoshop there are LOADS of places that will help you make them for free, such as Memegenerator.com
It’s Okay To Steal
We spend a lot of time telling clients not to steal other people’s content as Google will penalise you for this “duplication”, however when it comes to memes, borrowing someone else’s idea and making it your own is really what everybody does. Essentially they are a ready-made recipe for jokes that you can bend to fit your specific audience.
Our Top Tips For Creating Business Memes
– Keep them short, the punchline is lost when you have to explain a joke.
– Make a few versions and then go back to them after a few hours and see which one you like.
– Test them on your friends and business contacts and get feedback… your sense of humour might not be everybody’s.
– Make sure you know your niche-if you’re in marketing, make it about marketing.
Here is another one that relates to something we do a lot of… business networking.
Small Business Meme
Memes Are Infectious- Facebook Is Full Of Them
To help small businesses with others areas of online marketing too, we’ve put together Three in-depth guides packed full of advanced techniques and strategies for SEO, social media and content marketing campaigns.
Shane McEvoy is a seasoned SEO and inbound marketing expert with nearly 30 years of experience in advertising. He established Flycast Media, a specialist B2B digital agency, and is a published author of two well-received guides while contributing to several industry publications - read his complete profile here.
