Meme Marketing for Brands: When Memes Work and How to Make Them
By Tayyab, Founder · Published
Updated .
Meme marketing is posting memes, a known picture format with your own caption, to say something about your product or your customers’ day in a way people share. It works when the joke is about a problem your audience really has and the format’s meaning matches the message; it fails when the brand is the punchline or the meme is old news.
When a meme is the right post
- A frustration every customer in your industry knowsMeme itPeople share what they recognise. The tag-a-friend reflex is the whole point.
- The old way versus your wayMeme itComparison formats were made for it, and the reader gets it in one look.
- Behind the scenes of your workMeme itAn honest joke about the job makes a business feel run by people.
- A price, a date or an offer with termsSkip itDetails get lost in a joke. Post the offer plainly and let a meme warm people up before it.
- A complaint, an outage or bad newsSkip itA joke reads as not taking it seriously. Say what happened and what you are doing.
- Politics, tragedy or a real personSkip itThe risk is out of all proportion to the reach. Leave these alone entirely.
Which format carries which message
Readers know what each format means before they read a word, so the format has to agree with the caption. These are formats from our meme templates library, grouped by the message they carry.
Seven rules for brand memes
- 01
Joke about the customer’s day, not your features
Nobody shares a meme about a feature. They share one about the Monday inbox, the client who wants it yesterday, the leg day they skipped. Your product can be the relief in the last panel.
- 02
Match the message to the format
Every format has a fixed meaning, and readers know it. Put a comparison in a comparison format and an escalation in an escalation format, or the joke does not land.
- 03
Keep each caption to a few words
A meme is read in a second. If a panel needs a sentence, the idea needs a different post.
- 04
Let the audience be in on it
The best brand memes are written from inside the industry. If an outsider would need it explained, your customers will love it.
- 05
Never make a customer the punchline
Laugh with the people you sell to, at the situation. A meme that mocks a type of customer is one screenshot away from a complaint.
- 06
Use pictures you are allowed to use
The original photo in most memes belongs to someone else. Use the format with your own picture, a text-only format or a recreation.
- 07
Mix memes in, do not switch to them
A feed of only memes trains people to expect jokes, not offers. One in every few posts keeps the account human without drowning what you sell.
Rule six is the one with legal weight. Our guide to whether you can use memes for business covers the court cases and the safer options.
Meme examples for your industry
Each page below has finished memes written for one industry, on our own pictures, and which formats suit that audience.
How to make a brand meme in a minute
- Write the message in one plain sentence: what is the customer feeling, and what is the turn?
- Pick the format whose meaning matches it from the table above.
- Fill each panel with a few words. Read it in one second; cut until you can.
- Make it in the free meme generator and download it, or let Content Drifter write three versions in your brand’s voice.
- Post it between your regular posts, and see whether it earns more saves and shares than they do.
Frequently asked questions
What is meme marketing?
Meme marketing is posting memes, a picture format people already know with your own caption, to say something about your product or your customers’ day in a way they want to share. It sits beside your regular posts, not in place of them.
Do memes work for small businesses?
They can, when the joke is about something your local or niche audience lives with every week. A dentist joking about flossing the night before a check-up is more shareable than a general meme, because the patients see themselves in it.
How often should a brand post memes?
As one part of the mix, not the whole feed. We suggest one meme among every few posts, and more only if your own numbers show memes earning more saves and shares than your other posts.
Which meme formats work best for business?
Formats with a clear, fixed meaning: comparison formats for the old way versus the new way, before-and-after formats for results, escalation formats for levels of skill. The table on this page matches common messages to formats, and the meme templates library lists every format we have with when to use it.
Is it legal for a business to post memes?
Using a format is fine; using someone else’s picture without permission is the risk. A business post is commercial use, and a US court found a commercial meme was not fair use in the Success Kid case. Our guide to using memes for business covers the cases and the safer options.
How do I make a meme for my brand?
Pick a format whose meaning matches your message, write a few words per panel about your customers’ world, and check it reads in a second. The free meme generator does this on our own pictures in the browser, and Content Drifter can write three memes for your brand from a topic you type.
Three memes for your brand from one topic
Type what the joke is about. Content Drifter picks three formats, writes the captions in your brand’s voice on our own pictures, and schedules the one you like.
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