How to Create a Meme for Social Media

Visuals are an essential component of social media posts, whether a photograph, an illustration, or even better, an animation or video. One type of visual that can attract attention for your brand is a meme.

A meme in social media is an image, video, text, or audio that is usually humorous and that is copied, often modified, and then shared multiple times online by others. Popular memes are considered "viral" when they are replicated and posted quickly across the Internet.

According to some marketing reports, over 60% of people say they would buy from a company that uses memes, and the click-through rate for posts with memes is 14% higher than email marketing. Clearly, a well-produced meme can be a powerful marketing tool.

Some memes, like "Grumpy Cat," spawn entire businesses including merchandise and events. Some memes use stock photography such as "Distracted Boyfriend" or images from popular commercials such as "The Most Interesting Man in the World." Others feature celebrities like Keanu Reeves and Will Ferrell, scenes from movies or television shows, or even images of historical fine art like the Mona Lisa.

Why Use a Meme?

Because of their potential for garnering attention, especially Likes and Shares, memes are often incorporated into a social media calendar to reach a wider audience. Not every image you create will automatically be a meme, but if executed well, it can be effective in making an impact.

If you’re thinking of using a meme, keep in mind your brand’s image. Humor may not fit the image you’re trying to convey. Memes can also carry inspirational, poignant, or instructional messages. Memes can also be modified to fit the message you’re trying to convey.

Successful memes strike an emotional chord of some kind. They also tend to share a universal truth or sentiment that is relatable. Popular memes can be about life, relationships, health, or any topic that touches on a shared experience.

Incorporating memes into your social media messaging can be an occasional occurrence or used to commemorate specific events such as holidays. A search of "Christmas memes" online, for example, will deliver a seemingly endless supply of holiday-themed memes, many using the same images but with different captions.

Memes can also be built into your social media calendar on a regular basis. You can choose to publish them on the same day every week such as #MemeMonday. No matter how often you decide to publish memes, make sure they fit in with the rest of your messaging and your overall business goals.

How to Make a Meme

Once you’ve determined that publishing one or more memes fits your social media marketing goals and your brand image, do your homework. Search the web for popular memes to get a feel for the way they are constructed and the types of messages they use.

One way to get started quickly building memes is to use popular meme images and modifying the messaging. You can also use popular memes for inspiration then build your own using photographs you’ve taken. Expressive cat photos do well as memes. Search "cat memes" to see how popular they can be.

Because most memes typically consist of a still image and a message overlayed across the image, almost any image editing tools can be used to build a meme from scratch. You can also use an online software tool specifically for building memes or that offer a meme-generating feature such as Canva with their customizable meme templates.

What makes a meme potentially more powerful than an image alone or a graphic with a quote on it is the combination of the image and words. Most meme messages are short and concise with a quick and easy to understand point or punchline. The image should speak for itself, however, the words overlayed should be surprising or ironic or immediately identifiable.

For example, a coffee shop could use a photo of a cat that looks like it is scowling and use the caption, "You, before coffee." To make the meme even more humorous, another cat photo could be placed beside it. This time, the image is of a cat with eyes and mouth wide open, with the caption, "You, after our coffee."

Memes are not magic bullets and not every image with a caption you create will become viral. However, if you hit on a trend or a timely message, your meme could see far more engagement than any of your other posts. If that happens, you may be tempted to increase the frequency of posting memes. Understand that creating memes can be time consuming, and if you are not leveraging them effectively, could be a waste of time.

No matter how often you create and publish memes, make sure you capture the attention the meme might bring to your online presence. Make it easy for people to click a link to connect to something where they can act, whether it be to sign up for your email newsletter, peruse your online store, or to entice them to visit your location. Make sure to capitalize on the momentum a meme can bring to your social media marketing.