For those who think that internet memes are the creation of Millennials, you would be mistaken. The word and concept of the meme was created in 1976 by a man named Richard Dawkins. Companies have been using forms of memes in their marketing strategies for a long time. From Wendy’s “Where’s the beef?” campaign to Alka-Seltzer’s “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing”, marketers have used humor and repetition to deliver their message. Harvard Business Review points out that these characters were well known and loved. However, many didn’t recognize memes until the eruption of the internet memes such as grumpy cat, the world’s most interesting man, and success kid. Today, memes are racing around the web, especially on social media sites and are some of the most widely recognized posts.

It makes sense that marketers want to get in on that recognition by using these easily spotted, humorous pictures. Quality Logo Products suggests that using memes for your inbound marketing can have its benefits. It can help you see better results on your social media networks. Photos are more eye catching that words on social media feeds, but memes can gather you more likes, shares, and keep people coming back to your posts. Memes also share humorous, thought-provoking ideas that help brand recognition in a way that many people have gotten use to seeing.

But it is important also to know how and when to use memes in your marketing. When choosing a meme, you need to find your target audience. Not all memes are created equal. Memes can be very specific to a group or sub-culture. So, when selecting a meme to use, it is best to Know Your Meme. Once you have an idea of what kind of meme you want to use, you can try creating your own by going to Memecrunch or the Memegenerator to create your meme. These two sites can help you create the perfect meme for your business.

One thing you may want to watch out for when deciding to use a meme in your inbound marketing is the legal aspect. The Association of Corporate Counsel warns that there can be copyright issues if you aren’t careful. Warner Brothers learned the hard way buy using the internet meme Nyan Cat and getting sued. And they aren’t the only ones. Apple faced off with Sweet Brown over the use of her Youtube videos. But there are many safe and available memes out there that your business can use.

If you are interested in creating an inbound marketing strategy that is cutting edge, successful, and creative, contact us. We specialize in providing you with an entire team to help you with your marketing and ensure the best results.