Research Insight | Memes in Marketing: Act Fast or They'll Backfire
Internet memes are fast becoming part of the marketing toolkit, but they can lose their relevance as the trend represented in the meme fades. This study examines the fad dynamics of internet memes to estimate how quickly a meme’s attractiveness fades. Findings show that highly regarded meme expressions increase the meme’s usage, which persists for about two weeks. However, overuse and inappropriate use of memes in marketing can destroy the brand value.
Marketing managers must act swiftly to leverage the viral nature of trending content. Timeliness is essential, as memes lose relevance and appeal quickly. Managers must understand the audience’s humor and references, ensuring the meme resonates and aligns with the brand’s voice and values.
The meme should also be relevant to the product or service being marketed, creating a natural connection that enhances brand messaging. Too frequent use or use without genuine relevance can make a brand seem out of touch.
With a strategic approach, memes can be an effective and fun way to engage audiences, but they require careful management. Measuring the impact of meme-driven campaigns is essential for success. Managers should track engagement metrics, monitor for any potential backlash, and recognize when a meme’s popularity is growing or waning. Meme marketing agencies—a specialization within digital marketing—can provide expertise in monitoring and quickly leveraging meme popularity and effectiveness.
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What You Need to Know
- Marketing managers must act swiftly to leverage viral trending memes and avoid overuse.
- Using a meme that fails to resonate well with the target audience can backfire. Managers must understand the audience’s humor and references, ensuring the meme aligns with the brand’s voice and values.
- The meme should also be relevant to the product or service being marketed, creating a natural connection that enhances brand messaging.
Abstract
The sharing of internet memes on online social media is an increasingly popular form of expressing opinions and complex sentiments in an easily understood image. Memes have been found to be an effective marketing tool if used appropriately. Marketers need to be aware when a meme’s use has become saturated and its value is depreciating. As with many consumer uses of online social media, meme sharing is described as a market for attention that can display fad cycle dynamics. This analysis models the dynamics of meme attention and estimates these dynamics from a panel of memes scraped from Reddit meme forums and classified using a machine learning algorithm. Empirical analysis reveals patterns consistent with random shocks to meme entertainment value carrying over to the quality and quantity of subsequent expressions of the meme. Estimates indicate that a temporary elevation in attention dissipates within just one to two weeks. However, meme saturation then leads to less spread of the meme. To be effective, meme marketers must remain attentive to where the meme they intend to use is within the fad cycle.
Michael R. Ward, “Internet Meme Marketing over the Fad Cycle,” Journal of Interactive Marketing. doi:10.1177/10949968251320612