Internet Trends: Using Memes to Your Advantage

Have you heard of Business Cat? How about the Philosoraptor? These clever memes have taken the internet by storm as people generate clever sayings to go along with these silly photos and pass them on for more web-users to appreciate. A meme (pronounced like beam) is an idea that is quickly passed from person to person virally. Before the internet, a meme could have been a chain letter, funny story, or joke. In the beginning of the internet, those chain emails and stories that your mother still forwards on are technically memes.

However, the latest incarnation of internet memes are pictures with funny captions. Beginning with a few funny pictures with wily captions, the internet meme craze has caught fire. One of the most recent manifestations of the internet meme craze was the “What I Really Do” job-themed meme which featured six panels including “What my friends think I do,” “What my mom thinks I do,” and “What I think I do” with amusing pictures related to the perception of one’s job. We thought these were so clever, we even featured one on our Facebook.

While many people are hesitant to jump headfirst into internet trends, we encourage you to take reasonable internet marketing risks. Reports show that while internet memes were once reserved for very young or older age groups, they now appeal to internet users of all ages. While there are plenty of frivolous uses of internet memes (like your mom’s chain letters), they can be a comical way to connect with your target market and promote your company’s product(s) or services. Who doesn’t love a good joke?

Wondering how to incorporate graphic memes into your marketing? Blogs and social media are the best places because the crowds that use these internet resources will most likely already be familiar with the notion of memes and have seen them circulating the web before now. Try incorporating one as an image in a blog or posting one on Facebook and asking people to comment. You can make your own at MemeGenerator.net.

The best part about these types of memes is that there are endless opportunities, though it’s important to get to know the character of each meme. For example, the aforementioned Business Cat is a tough corporate boss with feline tendencies, while Philosoraptor is a dinosaur who contemplates the trickier things in life.

You could get even further into the meme trend by re-creating your favorite memes with a spin toward your business. Wonderful Pistachios did this recently with the Honey Badger meme that swept the web:

Start your own memes and get your followers involved on social media by finding a funny picture and asking them to caption it like we’ve done with our Stock Photo of the Week. The age of social media marketing allows you a connection with your clients like no other medium has before! We encourage you to make the most of it, and have a little fun in the process.

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