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Richard Dawkins, the noted evolutionary biologist, coined the term memes way back in 1976 to describe how ideas are replicated and, in the process, mutate and evolve to carry forward and engage the target audience. It has been observed that memes, over time, can take a life of their own as different groups adapt memes to carry forward their ideas. The potential of memes to create engagement and communicate a central message to develop a sense of belonging has been acknowledged by brands. Today, many of the world’s top brands are using memes to engage their audiences, for developing brand loyalty, and to tap new markets. Some of the most compelling reasons why brands use memes in their content marketing:

Increases Engagement 

Memes are intrinsically funny and help people to bond through humor. Because often the humor in a meme is oblique, only people in the know will get it and this creates a special feeling of being on the inside of things that other people may not be privy to. Of course, it means that you need to get the humor right, especially in the cultural context because your purpose would be defeated if most of your target audience does not get the joke. Marketers have discovered that users on social media engage the most with entertaining content. However, it is not mandatory to always create memes that are brand-related. Often, by simply making entertaining memes that relate well with your target audience, you can communicate better than by forcibly introducing your brand in a meme. According to Forbes, entertaining content increases the affinity of brands to their target audiences.

Easy to Design

The good thing about using memes is that they are easy to design, especially if you are using one of the many meme generators available online. There is no need to buy and master the use of fancy software for editing images. All you need to do is search for images of your choice on the generator, add your text, and then download it for sharing on social media. If you are too busy to do even this, you can use a website like Meme Scout to search for memes that you can use right away.

Allows Your Creativity to Shine Through

Even though it a good idea to ride on the back of trending memes for instant popularity, it can be quite tough to keep up-to-date with all that is happening in the world of memes. Once you can figure out what your target audience likes and responds to the most, you can create original memes. Though admittedly, it does take more time and effort to create your memes, the advantage is that you get to use something that is truly original and has a better chance of catching the eyes of your target audience.

Conclusion 

Memes are an exciting concept for brands since they allow them to either create a new brand personality or reinforce the existing ones. They have not only been used by new businesses to make a mark on their audiences but also by many traditional businesses that want to make their brand images more in tune with the preferences of younger customers.