Memes, they are really funny. I really enjoy them on my spare time, you know that it is always refreshing to laugh. And they are a good way of expression as anybody can post them. Some website like Imgur and 9gag are built on this trend of sharing funny pictures, often related to a situation in real life, and it works pretty well for them. For example, Imgur ranks to a 62nd global position, and ranks 27th in the USA, before Flickr and just after google.ca (source Alexa). This success is due to the viral potential of these images, easily shared on social media. And we've all done that, we all shared with a friend this particular picture that made me think of him or her. But is this new "tool" this new component of the web a safe way to market your brand ?
Let's start by the beginning. The expression Memes comes from "the Selfish Gene", a book written by Richard Dawkins in 1976, way before any online application. He describe the Memes as the action of replicate infinitely style, concept and behaviors, and to spread them to other cultures away from the origin point. He takes as an example the architectural style of the Parthenon, in Athens, which inspired the Forum in Ancient Rome, which inspired the Lincoln Memorial (more info here). So how did we come from architectural mimetic to funny pictures of cats?
The idea is the same, taking something from its original point (movie, TV show, commercial) and to imitate the format and the context, but with a different message. Whether you take the message from a Dos Equis commercial and turn it into something funny , you are replicating something taken outside of its original context and placed somewhere else.
But before, replication and mimetic behaviors were very long to show, and were not easily transferable. Nowadays, with this connected world of ours, sharing content on social media is as easy as two clicks. Memes become viral in seconds, which make them very attractive for any online marketer looking to increase his (her) traffic and his (her) audience. Because truthfully, there is nothing easier than creating a meme. At the beginning you needed some Photoshop skills, but not anymore. Some websites are dedicated to meme creation and in five minutes, your meme could be online, ready to become viral. So easy to create, free and with high viral potential, what are we waiting for?
Beware, marketer, everything is not perfect with funny pictures of cats. Some companies may succeed on this path with actions of guerrilla marketing going viral on memes website, but memes may not bring the expected results to your business. The first danger comes from the funny aspect of these pictures. By using them to promote your business, you may face the same rejection as on regular social media. Nobody like having commercial popping up while having a good time, and the line is very thin between honest message and advertisement. The websites themselves are not really friendly to promotional memes as they work with votes from the users, you ad may never make it to first page.
The second danger comes from the viral potential of these images. it makes any mistake lethal. Once you posted it, it is gone forever and if it goes viral for being a fail, you business will suffer the consequences.
To summarize, it is very tempting to use memes for your business. It is easy, fun, goes viral fast and is linked to all the social media you can dream of, so it is an easy and inexpensive way to increase audience and get better SEO. But it is dangerous for the credibility of your business and has no place for mistakes. Our advice, use them at your own risk. But if you have too, be funny, don't advertise and take it EZ
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