Meme Game on Social MediaThe team needs to be alert 24 x 7 and latch on to the trending topics

Today, people spend more time on social media than watching television. This gives brands an opportunity to stay constantly connected with their audience. But then who wants to see branded content on their feed. That's where meme strategy gives you the power to break the clutter and come across as a people's brand. And, right meme marketing can be an absolute goldmine for a brand. They're trending and are a surefire way to boost engagement without spending big bucks.

Find the right balance

Everything on social media is not appealing. Snarky and satirical content gets picked up by everyone. Also, memes with adult humour perform exceptionally well. However, when a brand is planning a meme it is important to be cautious and play by the rules. No brand wants to offend their audience or associated with a controversial topic. Hence, the challenge is to create memes which are witty, sharp and can be enjoyed by all age groups. And, at the same time also promotes the brand subtly. This is a balancing act that requires a lot of planning, skill and of course creativity.

Add a personal touch

It's not necessary to always follow the trend. Brands can also create their own memes. It's a tough task, but definitely possible. Creating your own meme can outperform all the trending memes and the brand will instantly become the trendsetter. Getting the lingo right is important because if you don't, the audience will instantly see you as a brand that is just trying too hard to be cool and that's not the good news. The audience should relate to your memes and hence timing and topic is also the key here.

Plan your strategy

Memes are known to have a very short life cycle. Still, one wrong step and your brand can go viral for all the wrong reasons. So, it is important you've your strategy in place. You need to be thinking about your brand and the communication you've set with content in the past. Is your brand fun and humorous enough for memes? If you're trying to paint your brand as professional and conservative, memes may not be the best content choice. Pick your topics carefully, riding on every popular meme floating on the internet will make your strategy too obvious. While you do that, keep a track on the audience interactions and feedback.

The main principles for success

1. Build a brand and audience connect - Blend communication from both, brand as well as audience perspective. There are good chances of scoring a goal.
2. Be relatable – A meme should always be created which appeals to your audience and not everyone.
3. Don't force it and overdo it – The communication created should come across as authentic, else it might not add any value to your content strategy. So never try to force fit a meme and try to be different from what has already been communicated before
4. Use memes sparingly – Your content strategy may involve memes, but it should be used as content enhancers and not just because the audience loves it.

The bottom line

Social media is constantly evolving and what works today might not work tomorrow. So, the team needs to be alert 24 x 7 and latch on to a trending topic on time. It's a big hit or a complete miss in the meme game.