What is a meme? A set of cultural information gets transmitted from one individual to another in the form of images, symbols, or practices. They imitate and iterate with variations on an idea nearly impossible to trace back to the source. And one person can create a very successful meme out of basically any kind of content.
Who does this affect? It affects anyone who deals with customers directly – CEOs, employees, marketers, designers…pretty much everyone. Memes have made their way into our everyday lives, whether it’s creating a culture for your brand or consumer-driven advertising campaigns.
Why do so many people love them? Because something about imperfection makes us feel more like each other. If you want to build a lasting relationship with your customers, you should know that memes are the right place to start and consult Meme Scout for this.
How can you leverage them?
If you look at Neistat Brothers, who produce videos on YouTube, they always feature their friends in their work, making it more authentic and trustworthy to its audience. This strategy has made them one of the top YouTubers because people feel connected to them by putting themselves in the picture. Additionally, these YouTubers have worked ways to make themselves go viral, like Casey Neistat’s video of him buying (and dropping) an iPhone 6 for $850 (which got over 1 million views). Memes are all about authenticity online. To stand out from the crowd, personalize your brand with memes.
What are some other things to keep in mind? Make sure you have an excellent grasp of your audience because choosing the right kind of meme is crucial for success. You also need to decide whether you want to be complex or straightforward. If it’s something that everyone can relate to, then the simpler, the better. Remember that dog with laser eyes? The first one was funny, but after seeing it all over Facebook, people started making their versions of it and sharing them. That’s basically how this works! You go viral if you do it right.
Memes reinforce your product
Something else to keep in mind – memes can reinforce your brand and product name, but they won’t guarantee success (and they’re not a replacement for good design and UX work). If the meme doesn’t make sense or isn’t relevant, you’ll come across as irrelevant and distasteful. Make sure people get the joke. Oh yeah – also make sure there are no legal issues involved like copyright infringement!
And, of course, if you want to use memes to create effective campaigns, read our post on how effective graphic design is integral when creating ads. It will help you avoid wasting time on campaigns that don’t convert well.
Digital Memetics
Digital memetics is an approach to studying and applying memes to create viral marketing. Just as a virus can take over a human system, so does the idea of memetic spread and take over a culture system (Hwang & Lindholm). “Meme” was named by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, though French anthropologist/linguist Lucien Lévy-Bruhl may have coined it first based on his 1910 writings.
A meme is something that spreads from person to person within society or culture. It is an idea, behaviour, or style that one individual transmits to another through learning (“meme”). As with genetics, meme transmission happens on multiple levels, from the highest to the lowest. Memes are not limited to humans or even animals; they can be transmitted in plant societies.
Viruses of the mind are memes that cause people to think and act alike within a culture. As with computer viruses, this mental virus spreads through people who copy-and-paste information into their minds without question. Programming languages such as Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and JavaScript have allowed everyday individuals to write scripts that perform automated tasks on webpages such as Facebook and Twitter (“meme”).
