[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/1″][vc_separator color=”white” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column_text]
Keep calm and meme on
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_separator color=”white” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_separator color=”white” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_single_image image=”1283″ border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” animation=”no-animation” scroll_animation=”disable” delay=”0.1″ img_size=”300×400″ styling=”margin:0 auto; width:452px;”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_raw_html]JTNDYnIlM0U=[/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]In the digital age, sometimes life feels like it’s just a meme.
From Grumpy Cat’s sourpuss views of modern culture to Donald Trump “toupee” puns, memes (pronounced “mēms”) have morphed from an Internet oddity to a major tool of communication.
First coined in 1976 by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in the book “The Selfish Gene,” the word meme literally refers to any idea, behavior or skill that can be transferred from one person to another by imitation. With the rise of social media, the term became synonymous with images and videos that go viral through repeated shares and repurposing.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_separator color=”white” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]These “nuggets of cultural currency” have become a powerful medium for spreading messages to a large audience. Trendy memes, which often make reference to current moments in pop culture, reach a vast audience quickly — but rarely have a long lifespan.
Although memes can stale as quickly as an Instagram snapshot of yesterday’s Cronut, the images, often accompanied with a clever catchphrase, are more than silly distractions invading Facebook feeds around the world.
According to a University of Michigan study of more than 460 million shares of more than 1,000 memes, “Facebook acts as a large Petri dish in which memes can mutate and replicate over the substrate of the network of friendship ties.”
Smart marketers are learning how to take advantage of the cultural phenomenon to help build brands and increase profits. When a documentary about a fierce honey badger became YouTube gold, Wonderful Pistachios purchased rights to the footage to launch an ad campaign “meme-jacking” the craze. The company also appropriated a Keyboard Cat video to help push the product into the mind of consumers.
Although corporations have large budgets to help memes become major marketing successes, the same concept can work for smaller businesses and organizations. In June, Doug Gruse, Shift Key’s director of content, developed a meme campaign for Pink Raven Tattoos, a tattoo salon in upstate New York. Gruse Photoshopped tattoos onto a 1950s illustration of a man in boxer shorts and added the catchphrase “Seeing Dad in his underwear is less traumatic when he is covered in tattoos” as a promotion for the shop’s Father’s Day gift cards. The visual Facebook post reached more than 10 times the typical audience the business measured for a social media post and managed to bring a number of new followers to the salon’s page — resulting in additional sales and new customers.
Gruse is spearheading “The Meme Team,” a Shift Key initiative to bring similar results to your business or organization. The service will create customized memes to help increase branding and enable your messages to go viral through Facebook sharing and likes.
As a special incentive through August, the service will be available at two price points. Businesses can choose four custom-designed memes for $500 or eight at a rate of $800.
“Rush” memes also can be created for customers in a hurry, delivered within 24 hours of ordering, at a price of $250 each.
Let Shift Key create the perfect meme for your enterprise.
The right meme at the right time can spread impressive buzz. The temporary medium is an ideal way to attract savvy consumers to your brand.
Memes may be fleeting. But it’s better to have memed and lost than never to have memed at all.
Visualize business success
• 90 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual. Visuals are processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text.
• 40 percent of people respond better to visual information than plain text.
• Publishers who use infographics grow traffic an average of 12 percent more than those who do not.
• Photos perform better than text, video and links on social media.
• Posts with visuals receive 94 percent more page visits and engagements than those without.
Sources: Wishpond Marketing Software, Zabisco Digital, Facebook and HubSpot[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”white” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column_text][addtoany][/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”white” accent_color=”#ffffff”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][/vc_column][/vc_row]