From LOLs to Leads: Meme Marketing for Beginners

Today I decided to write about one of my (and Jo’s) favourite marketing topics – memes! Not to be dramatic, but memes are a staple of today’s society. Why? Because they’re entertaining, relatable, easy to make/consume, and if they’re good, they’re super shareable. 

It’s got better recently, but memes are still heavily underutilised by a lot of businesses and brands… So buckle up, as I’ve written a whole blog about them (and they said it couldn’t be done!). 

Meme Marketing 101 

Five reasons why your brand or business needs to jump aboard the meme-train:

1. Memes evoke an emotional response 

Really good marketing brings out an emotion in your audience, and nine times out of ten, memes inspire happiness… Memes can make you laugh, smile, and entertain you, and they’re a great way to connect with your audience.  

1. Low effort, high rewards 

The most popular memes already exist, so all you have to do is think of a way to relate those to your products/services/business, and repost them!  

1. People share memes  

Take a look at the last couple of messages you sent to your pals on Instagram. I bet some of them were memes… If you create a meme that connects your audience and makes them laugh, they will share the meme with their friends. 

Think about it – no one is going to share your new product announcement with friends, but do you know what they would share? A meme.  

1. Memes help you stay relevant  

Things move so quickly in social media that it can be difficult to stay on top of things and relevant – and that’s where memes come in. Memes are a quick-fire way to make your brand feel current. 

1. Memes are a language  

That sounds a bit ridiculous, I know, but hear me out: memes are a form of communication. They start conversations. They tell stories. In the wild west of the Internet, you have to talk the talk and walk the walk of online culture – and memes let you do that! 

BUT… Before you scurry off to Meme Generator or Canva, it is VITAL you read my advice first. Before you create a meme, you need to know these four things: 

1. Firstly, make sure you ACTUALLY understand the meme 

If you don’t understand the context of the meme, then the message you are trying to convey to your audience may be way off. This is where we see brands get into deep trouble. Do your research. Know if the meme is from a film or TV show so you know what’s going on. 

1. Understand your audience 

We’ve talked about this before, but it’s important to know your audience. Understand their unique interests – do they watch The Office? Do they know who Taylor Swift is?  

A great meme will have your audience hitting share and telling their friends “IT’S ME!”.  

1. Make them relevant to your brand  

Memes should connect your audience and brand in some way. A viral meme for virality’s sake is not what you should be pursuing (and never should be with any social post tbh). 

1. Keep it light 

Remember that memes are jokes at the end of the day. Not everyone will find them funny and not everyone will get them. Just as with humour, memes are subjective. 

As with all social media, there may still be some negative reactions mixed in with the positive engagement. So long as the joke you are telling shows a sense of self awareness and that you’re not taking your brand too seriously, it should hit home and you’ll have a successful meme on your hands. 

Okay, now it’s time for the good sh*t  

I know, I know, you’re all probably reading this thinking “HURRY UP NICOLE! GIVE US THE MEMES!” so without further ado, here are some of my favourite memes by some big brands, and why I think they work so well…  

First up, Netflix.  

They do memes soooo well, and it works so well with their audience. They’re relevant, they’re funny, and they’re definitely shareable. They also hype up their product, in a non salesy way. Genius!  

Here are a couple of my personal favourites:  

Next up is good old McDonalds.  

I don’t know if you’ve noticed recently, but McDonalds marketing team is KILLING IT.  

They’re chaotic – and I’m here for it. I could probably write four more blogs about my favourite McDonalds marketing campaigns, but let me just share some of their best memes instead: 

So, there we have it. Memes are not only funny, but they can actually be an important part of your marketing strategy.  

And here’s your final one: 

If you don’t even know where to start with marketing your business online (memes or otherwise), get in touch! We might be able to help (and if we can’t, we can definitely send you some good memes). 

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