2021 SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS: MEME MARKETING
Last year has shown to rock the social media landscape. 2021 has brought unexpected changes that your business can use to its advantage. Over the next few weeks, we are going to dive into social media trends that your business should consider implementing. Some of the trends we will share with you may be foreign, while others you may have seen but with a new twist. Follow along with us as we make recommendations for your business digital strategy that will make your brand relevant this year.
While last week we covered remixing, this week we are going to focus on memetic media. The new way to communicate is through memes, surpassing emojis and GIFs, because of its fun way to encourage engagement. The most successful memes are typically funny, timely, and relatable. With a reference to a relevant pop culture moment, make a connection to your brand, and bam! You have yourself a branded meme.
Meme Trend Analysis
According to Hubspot, “memes are big amongst younger generations, with 55% of 13-35-year olds sending memes every week. Over the last year, that number has grown. Mentions of memes increased over the last 13 months, from 19.8M mentions in August 2019, to 24.9M in July 2020 (+26%), with a peak of 28M during April 2020. Users turned to them for engagement and escapism while under lockdown.”
Monitor Your Brand Logo
Hubspot suggests you use image recognition to monitor and see if your brand is in a meme. This is a great way to monitor memes since they typically appear with little to no text mentions. You want to make sure you keep track of memes being created with your brand and keep track of your memes that are being shared.
Connecting to Relevant Memes
As previously mentioned, connecting your content to popular memes can help encourage engagement, while creating more virality for your business. Find memes that are relevant to your business and adjust them to fit your brand.
Sharing User-Generated Memes
When you find a user-generated meme that is relevant to your business, try to share it on the channels they’re effective on. Be sure to credit the creator. Hubspot advises it’ll build a stronger brand connection while encouraging others to create branded content too.
Challenges With Meme Marketing
Memes can be difficult to get right since culture moves fast. The last thing you want to do is jump on the trend too late. Be careful with what your business posts. Before creating or sharing a meme, make sure you are certain of what it means and how it can be taken. Humor can be tricky and your business needs to make sure it doesn’t offend or alienate customers.
Future of Meme Marketing
Meme marketing took off last year, but it has morphed into something larger in 2021. According to Komal Gupta, Head Content Marketing and Storyteller at Ferns N Petals, memes have evolved from simple stickers to GIFs and now video memes. The old school style of Satire is the new-age catalyst in marketing. Hubspot suggests that memes are sure to appear across social media in the coming years, even filtering into mainstream media. “As they arise, expect to see an increase in monitoring the format, for brands, and to minimize the propaganda potential of the medium. We may even see new regulations appearing as platforms attempt to mitigate the risk of challenging memes.”
Bottom Line
According to eMarketer, when done right, memes can help your brand achieve upper-funnel marketing goals, such as brand awareness, and deepen customer engagement. Memes are a fast and easy way for consumers to respond to your brand and business as a whole. If fitting to your business, implementing meme marketing into your business social media strategy is a wise move for 2021.
