There was a time when social media felt like the Wild West; a lawless land of opportunity brimming with unlimited possibilities. Going viral felt like striking gold and came with it the accolades and clout that could launch a brand to the proverbial moon. Now, those Buffalo Bill days feel more like Buffalo Wild Wings nights: stale, depressing, and unpredictable – but not in the fun way.
For brands that’ve spent the last few decades trying to “master” the social media game, the stress lines on the face of every social media intern should shed some light on how difficult it can be to build your brand in a ‘pay to play’ world ruled by bots and algorithms.
As the siren call of shitposting prompts brands to jump on memes that offend their base and alienate potential customers, now is the time to examine your approach to social media marketing while asking yourself: “Am I building a brand or farming memes?”
Why do we Meme?
Meme culture has made significant strides since the days of Kilroy and rage faces. What used to be a static image macro is now a dance trend, a shared soundbite, or reaction clip remixed across millions of feeds. When done right, sharing memes can drive up to 30% higher engagement and 10 times the reach compared to traditional marketing visuals.
Memes also make brands appear more human by being “in” on the joke. Back in 2019, Slim Jim leveraged the last scraps of internet humor with their absurdly wonderful “Long Boi Gang”, growing its follower count from around 5,000 to well over a million. When done well, brands can appear more approachable and in line with their audience’s sense of humor.
What’s the Goal Here?
Whether you’re a start-up, entrepreneur, or billion-dollar legacy brand, joining the conversation needs to be a whole conversation in itself. Ask yourself if this particular meme reflects your values and highlights your unique offerings.
Not every brand needs to showcase the real people behind their company, nor post the content that happens to make the 25-year-old intern laugh. This could be a good starting point for some more community-minded accounts, but it’s when brands start hitting every trend that they begin losing sight of what differentiates them from the hundreds of thousands of accounts posting the same content.
The “mommy/mama/mamacita” clip from Love Island USA went viral earlier this summer, prompting brands like TurboTax, Supergoop, and Panera to get in on the action. The result? Inauthentic content posted without strategy or reason. Brands must be prepared to ask themselves if the content they’re about to post is for the algorithm or the people.
Do it right or don’t do it at all.
The temptation to join every trending conversation is real.
Meme farming can make a brand seem tone-deaf, disconnected, or just plain cringe, as seen by the recent Taylor Swift X Travis Kelce proposal (have you guys heard about this?), which was immediately co-opted by Whataburger, Pillsbury, Cheesecake Factory, Southwest Airlines, Scrub Daddy, and Invisalign, in a corporate feeding frenzy. Some managed to contribute to the conversation in an original way, like Tajin, who took hold of the conversation with a cheeky callback to their signature color.
Jumping on every trend doesn’t make you relevant, but it relegates you to the role of background noisemaker. Doing it right means slowing down enough to ask:
- Does this meme align with who we are?
- Does it add value for our audience?
- Will it make people feel something other than second-hand embarrassment?
The brands that nail meme culture aren’t the ones posting the most, but the ones that post with purpose. They pick their moments, inject their personality, and make their audience feel like they’re part of the joke rather than the punchline.
You don’t need to “win” the internet every day to build a strong brand. The social media landscape is, was, and always shall be an omnipresent trash hole of profound influence. Your job is to sift through that molten garbage and know when to let the algorithm pass you by.