Digital Marketing Memes: How To Use Them To Gain Traction?

Content marketing has come a long way since its inception. It has outspread to a plethora of visual content varieties from only text-based missives. Today when it comes to engaging the audience and converting into your customers, nobody can deny the prowess of the recent trends – digital marketing memes.  Memes are elements of culture whose styles, concepts and behavior are imitated and used for entertainment. Not a very new term though, the idea was born in 1976 by British Evolutionary Biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book ”The Selfish Gene”. He analyzed the diffusion of the socio-cultural phenomenon and coined the term.  Brands have been using these humorous forms of communication as a useful marketing tool – to promote a brand or product. Unlike usual images and videos, memes enthrall the target audience as they have particular names and positioning in the minds of the users.  What is Meme Marketing? Memes are a specific piece of communicative materials that spread through social networking websites and have a recall value. They have a definite style and concept that usually go viral on the internet. The style and the concept of the image stay the same, whereas the copy changes. They’re a fun way to reflect on current events, clichés and trends.  Meme marketing, a subset of viral marketing is the practice of using these funny contents having inside jokes to engage the audience and drive traffic. Brands are creating memes to enliven communication and maximize shares on social media.  Digital marketing memes have become a popular form of expression due to two vital reasons: One they can be published in any social media platform, which helps them spread far and wide. Two, people have extremely short attention spans online, so the short and snappy nature of memes makes them a perfect medium for easy consumption.  Needless to say, marketing plan using meme is a viral visual marketing strategy that enhances brand’s visibility amidst fierce competition.  Talking on the significance of meme marketing, famous digital marketer Neil Patel says, “a brand can generate 453 Likes, 57 Comments and 256 Facebook Shares through memes.”  According to him, every business has a suitable goal which is to “engage their audience.” There’s no denying the fact that engagement comes from creating the right content. And when today the world revolves around social media relations, the trend of memes can quickly help marketers to achieve their ambition.