How businesses use viral memes to grow on social media

What goes viral rapidly, turns ordinary people into internet sensations, grew a cat’s social media following to over a million strong and is often sparked totally accidentally? You’ve guessed it - the mighty, yet unassuming, meme. In this article, we’re exploring memes: what they are, why brands use them and how you can leverage them to spread your brand and strengthen your social media strategy.

What is a meme?

An internet meme is typically a still image (although it can be a video clip) accompanied by a static text caption which is usually witty or humorous in nature. A key characteristic of a meme is its ability to be transformed through unique text. Memes are meant to be enjoyed, changed and shared onwards, which is the basis of why so many memes become viral sensations. Even if you don’t yet fully understand what the word ‘meme’ means, I bet you’ll recognise a meme if you see one.

Meme images can be taken from moments in pop culture, films, music videos, TV shows etc. that are already popular.

However, memes can also be created out of any kind of image that is relatable and shareable. The image can become popular as a meme in its own right.

Some brands create their own branded memes by putting their branding or products at the centre of a funny image with text. This is another perfectly acceptable form of a meme. Although the reach is unlikely to be as big as something with a broader theme or focus, these types of memes can be a solid content creation idea.

Why do brands share memes?

While it might be easy to understand why friends and playful accounts share silly memes left, right and centre, memes can also play a significant role in social media strategies for brands and businesses. Memes are easy to engage with and share with friends because they are relatable, humanising and funny. The virality of memes makes many of them highly recognisable, while new takes added to the text makes their evolution a treasure trove of entertainment to be discovered. 

As for businesses and brands, adding to and sharing memes is an opportunity to expand and experiment with a brand voice, humanise a stuffy corporate image and ride waves of popular trends. This helps get fresh eyes on a brand while perhaps sharing in a fresh way also.

Many memes appeal to a broad audience and cross more than one interest or fandom. The perfect example of this is the women yelling at cat meme which featured a screenshot taken from the TV show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alongside a picture of a cat at a table, which swept across the internet in 2019.

The cat, Smudge, was unknown before but now has 1.5 million Instagram followers and an agent. If that doesn’t show the power of a meme, I’m not sure what does.

How to add memes to your social media strategy

If you’re ready to get creative with the next wave of viral memes on social media, we’ve put together a few tips to make sure your memes hit the right mark.

Get the timing right

Get onto fresh memes fast. The internet moves quickly; the relevance of a meme doesn’t last forever and no-one wants to be late to the party. Often memes feel boring and overdone the moment too many businesses get involved and make the movement too corporate and stuffy, so make sure you jump on a trending meme the moment you get wind of it. Having a fast turnaround time is crucial if you want to make the most of meme culture.

Add your own take

One of the most important things about sharing memes is that you need to change the text. You shouldn’t lift someone else’s funny take without crediting them - it’s tacky - but it’s far better to add your brand’s voice, some witty copy or humour to elevate a meme and push its lifespan further. Besides, the funnier, cleverer or more relatable your evolved meme, the more likely people are to interact with it and share it with others.

Don’t be vanilla

There’s nothing less inspiring than a corporation getting in on a trend purely because it looks like a good idea on paper. It’s way too easy to simply slap your branding across a meme, but that can feel stale or inauthentic if it’s not done well. Memes are supposed to be fun and funny. They’re supposed to bring communities together and get people talking, laughing and sharing. If your memes don’t pull a spark out of people’s minds and hearts, think twice about what you’re sharing and why you’re sharing it. Instead, share memes with flare. Add a unique take, a relatable quip or some next level humour. That’s what will set your brand apart and make your memes worth looking out for. Let’s get connecting with content, not simply sharing for the sake of it.

Choose the right memes

Not every meme will be the right fit for your brand - and that’s ok! There will always be another wave of memes ready to ride when the time is right. At the end of the day, it’s important that the content you share aligns with your company values, regardless of whether it’s likely to get lots of interaction and shares.

As long as a technique aligns with your brand’s values, it’s worth experimenting with it on social media. Track how well different types of content perform with your audience by using Minter.io - the social media analytics tool for businesses online. Use this handy tool to see content, profile, audience, optimisation and competitor data (and so much more!) across your major social media channels. Try it here!