Memes have developed from web jokes into a strong type of cultural forex. For manufacturers, memes are not fringe content material. As an alternative, they’ve developed into strategic belongings that faucet into social media tradition and sign a model’s consciousness and flexibility to fulfill their viewers the place they’re.
Tapping into meme tradition isn’t nearly being humorous, although—it’s extra about collaborating in a digital dialogue that feels natural, well timed and quintessentially human. When executed properly, memes develop into a shorthand for model id. And this permits entrepreneurs to embed themselves into cultural moments that may speed up their model’s efficiency via relatability.
On this article, we deep dive into why memes matter in social media advertising and the way manufacturers can use them to spice up engagement.
Tips on how to use memes on social media
Memes have develop into a strong software to interact audiences with humor and cultural relevance. They will increase shareability, humanize a model and drive natural attain throughout social platforms. However how does a model make sure that it’s doing it proper?
We spoke with web tradition researcher Aidan Walker on the subject. Particularly provided that Walker wrote his thesis on the Distracted Boyfriend meme in 2017 and lectures at establishments like Princeton and the College of Amsterdam on meme historical past and community tradition, and the way they intertwine with social advertising and technique.
Based on Walker, when utilizing memes of their social media technique, manufacturers have to do not forget that memes usually are not actually in regards to the model—they’re in regards to the viewers. And this implies a change in mindset when creating content material primarily based on memes.
“Memes can actually assist a model, however they’re basically not about you,” he says. “They’re invaluable as a result of they join you with an natural neighborhood and its creativity. You need to see it not as “messaging” however fairly as an invite to play,” he explains.
With this audience-centric strategy because the north star, listed here are some examples that present you methods to use memes on social media.
Picture memes
These are basic memes. They’ve daring texts in a picture and could be on quite a lot of matters. They’re one of the vital generally used memes, owing to their versatility, which makes them relevant to any business or state of affairs. Right here’s a Distracted Boyfriend meme in regards to the rivalry between competing firms, Nikon and Canon.
Video or GIF memes
These memes are created with brief clips with overlaid captions or reactions. They’re highly regarded on TikTok and Instagram. Right here’s one among ours selling the Sprout Social Influencer Advertising and marketing platform.
Relatable screenshots
These might be X posts, texts or remark threads that you should use in your social posts whereas being loyal to your model voice and viewers. As the instance under reveals, RyanAir does it properly.
Response memes
These are memes that categorical feelings or responses and wish cleverly crafted textual content to be humorous and relatable. Right here’s an instance of a meme we posted that any worker can relate to.
Expectations vs. actuality memes
These memes are a humorous distinction that may tie right into a model’s product messaging. For instance, this meme speaks to all organizations making an attempt to maintain up with information safety compliance.
Branded memes
These are customized memes made in a model’s tone, usually utilizing any format that’s trending. These are sometimes utilized by content material creators.
Humorous social media memes driving conversations
Humorous social media memes spark conversations by turning on a regular basis moments into relatable humor that compels folks to share them with others. Their fast wit and cultural relevance make them nice for engagement and model visibility, and a enjoyable solution to share invaluable model data.
As Walker places it, “Social media memes are a dialog with the web, not a monologue. When executed accurately, it each permits you to attain your audiences and is usually a invaluable supply of information about what they need, who they’re and how one can assist them.”
One model doing nice work on its social media advertising meme technique is NutterButter. “Nutter Butter’s current marketing campaign was sensible, partly as a result of it was so participatory: it created a thriller and included many user-generated jokes,” he notes.
And he’s not mistaken. Their posts have develop into so broadly fashionable, they commonly drive greater than half one million engagements and have gotten Bitter Patch Youngsters to cease by.
Bitter Patch Youngsters
There’s a baby in all of us. And no different model brings out the child in an grownup like Bitter Patch Youngsters has executed with its social media meme technique. Its newest publish, proven under, drove 3.5 million views and hosted conversations the place adults felt compelled to remark, pushed by a way of real, shared connection to the model.
Steak-umm
Processed meats firm, Steak-Umm is “the OG in terms of utilizing social media memes in its model technique”, Walker stated. One solely has to crawl via their X account to see the enjoyable the corporate has with its account and the excessive engagement it invitations from audiences.
Steak-Umm has discovered the key to utilizing memes even when not utilizing them in posts straight. For instance, within the publish under, the model encourages creating communities past social media and asks followers to print a meme and share a Steak-umm product with their neighbors.
Nuuly
Nuuly does an amazing job of incorporating social media memes into its model technique, combined with a mix of cute self-deprecating humor and social media tradition. It’s publish, proven in Sprout’s Social Second of the Week under, received greater than 10 million views, reflecting how a lot it resonated not solely with its viewers but in addition with the social media advertising neighborhood.
Wendy’s
Wendy’s has at all times been nice at driving social media engagement. Right here’s a social publish from Wendy’s Watch Contemporary Filter marketing campaign selling its Chrome extension to freeze movies.
How Sprout makes use of social media supervisor memes for connection
B2B doesn’t should be boring. And positively not, while you’re speaking to a neighborhood of social media professionals, creators and entrepreneurs.
Social media intelligence supervisor at Sprout, Olivia Jepson, says, “Utilizing memes in your B2B social technique isn’t about trendjacking. To be efficient, you want to know your viewers on a deeper stage. You’ll want to perceive their aspirations, frustrations and pursuits. It additionally means being in tune with the web tradition and popular culture that they care about. When you possibly can align your content material with their world, your memes received’t simply seize their consideration, they’ll drive connection.”
To this impact, Sprout’s social workforce usually makes use of memes that faucet into the day-to-day realities of social media managers and social groups whereas remaining true to Sprout’s model voice. The secret’s relatability, business in-jokes and validation. Listed here are a couple of examples of matters our social workforce faucets into with memes.
Social media ROI
Social ROI is a sizzling matter for all social entrepreneurs, particularly with the rising stress to justify budgets, headcount and technique. So when Sprout launched its 2025 Whole Financial Impression™ of Sprout Social examine and we wished to advertise a webinar devoted to the important thing factors, our social workforce got here up with a social media advertising meme that instantly resonated with our viewers.
Rising social search
Reddit has emerged as a platform that serves as a cultural pulse level and various to conventional serps saturated with promotional content material. We wished to attract consideration to how, for manufacturers, Reddit developments are a window into uncooked client sentiment and evolving cultural conversations. What higher approach to make use of a cat meme than this?
Social buyer care
It’s no secret that social buyer care groups in all places may do with some assist. So once we wished to speak about Social Buyer Care by Sprout Social, we wished to drive residence the purpose that our platform was meant to assist groups work smarter, not tougher. With a centralized social inbox that removes the necessity to change between social accounts, and a extra streamlined solution to monitor and reply to buyer inquiries, plus analytics, social buyer care simply obtained approach cooler.
How memes can improve social media engagement
Memes could be humorous, cool or nonchalant. The frequent theme, although, is that probably the most impactful social media memes hinge on insider data or community-specific jokes. As an example, in case you’re not working in social media, a meme just like the one under, may not land the identical approach.
That’s why memes are such a incredible software for social media entrepreneurs. With the best format and punchline, you possibly can generate extra model consciousness about your services or products and increase natural social engagement together with your viewers.
Listed here are some tips about how to make sure your memes improve your social media engagement.
Join emotionally together with your viewers
When memes replicate lived experiences or inside jokes, they resonate extra deeply and invite engagement. That’s why understanding your viewers’s tone, references and humorousness helps you create extra genuine content material.
Based on Walker, “In the event you see what you’re doing as “advertising” you’re viewing it too narrowly. Your posting itself is a product, and it’ll have an effect on how folks really feel and suppose—so assist them really feel good and suppose fascinating, helpful ideas.”
Understanding your viewers’s demographics, shopping for habits and social media utilization is all good. Nonetheless, it’s equally vital to know their subcultures, language and commonalities to make your content material relatable.
Keep true to your model
Shakepear’s well-known line in Hamlet, “To thine personal self be true”, very a lot applies to manufacturers as properly—particularly in a digital world the place your model voice can get muffled in social media noise. Regardless of the compulsion to affix each social pattern and the worry of lacking out, remind your self to stay true to your model voice and character. Based on information from The 2025 Sprout Social Index ™, 33% of customers discover it embarrassing when a model jumps on each social pattern. So, decide memes that really resonate together with your model and your viewers, and study from how your viewers reacts.
Encourage sharing
Use memes that invite tagging, resharing or feedback to extend engagement and attain organically. Walker explains why.
“The web will not be one other content material channel or line-item for an advert purchase, the best way radio, TV, or print could be. That’s as a result of on-line audiences usually are not actually “audiences” in the identical sense: they’re members and producers. Manufacturers that see social media primarily as an opportunity to show folks to their product by making a very good, humorous or fantastic piece of content material are doing it mistaken. It’s about inviting others to play with you and make content material with you,” he says.
Goal area of interest communities
Goal for a smaller, stronger viewers. Like area of interest advertising, area of interest meme codecs allow you to attach with particular subcultures or curiosity teams in a significant approach. When a model faucets into a distinct segment neighborhood’s distinctive humor or shared experiences, it reveals they really perceive their viewers. This relevance fosters deeper engagement and encourages sharing inside these tight-knit circles.
Evolve your social media hiring
This one’s an outlier. Nevertheless it’s vital recommendation for manufacturers. You’ll want to evolve your social media workforce hiring technique to for optimum influence.
Between maintaining with algorithm modifications in social networks and the subsequent rising social pattern, social media professionals have demanding roles. Fortunately, in line with The 2025 Sprout Social Index™, practically 86% of promoting leaders plan to rent for at the very least two new social roles this yr. In the event you’re a kind of planning new hires, be aware that they’re not going to be a jack of all trades.
“If I have been a model, I’d concentrate on recruiting folks with nice style to run my socials, inviting in the perfect meme-makers, communities and artists on-line, and letting them lead. Now could be the time to be bold,” Walker advises.
Briefly, rent artistic individuals who love all issues social media, and make sure you’re offering them with the perfect social media administration instruments to work with.
Tips on how to incorporate memes into your social media technique
In a crowded feed, memes provide a shortcut to consideration and connection, and a humorous respite. Nonetheless, as each social media marketer is aware of, there’s loads of severe work that goes into not simply ideating and creating the meme, but in addition getting it accepted and printed.
Listed here are some methods to streamline the method.
Step 1: Select a visible editor
Some trending social media meme codecs would require some gentle graphic design efforts. For instance, this meme from SparkNotes doesn’t imply a lot with out a few textual content additions. Equally, you should use different free picture meme turbines to create memes from any picture or graphic.
If you wish to soar on a well timed social media second, having a most popular graphic design software on the prepared can streamline your creation course of. You don’t want something fancy—a software that helps on-brand fonts, colours and social media picture sizes will do exactly superb.
Listed here are some choices to contemplate:
- Instagram Tales editor: If a lo-fi strategy is aligned together with your model, then it is a nice choice. Add the photograph into your Story, choose the “add textual content” icon and write your textual content. Modify or place the textual content the place you need it to be, and also you’re executed. Your meme is able to share in your model account’s Instagram Story.
- Canva: For a bit extra refined strategy, you possibly can strive instruments like Canva. Use the Canva software to create extra advanced memes in addition to meme templates that work on all of your most popular social media channels.
- Adobe Photoshop: In case your model voice requires a extra subtle design, Adobe photoshop could be your selection. Use any picture you wish to create your memes. Nonetheless, guarantee they’re all meme-centered social posts are according to one another.
Professional tip: Social media memes don’t should be good and polished. Preserve it scrappy and concentrate on the content material of the visible.
Step 2: Simplify your approval course of
Who in your workforce must be notified earlier than you publish a social media meme? Relying in your social media governance coverage, it could be fairly a couple of.
To simplify the method, define who must be looped in on well timed posts, what their position is within the approval course of and the way rapidly you count on their suggestions. Dealing with this forward of time can forestall approval purgatory from making you miss a well timed meme alternative.
Professional tip: In the event you’re utilizing Sprout, ditch the prolonged e-mail forwards and backwards and use the Message Approval Workflow as an alternative.
Sprout’s Message Approval Workflows provide help to collaborate successfully by creating multiple-step and multiple-user workflows. This makes submitting, reviewing and approving or rejecting outgoing messages straightforward. Plus, it ensures your content material is devoid of grammatical errors or off-brand messaging.
All it’s a must to do is submit your outgoing publish to the suitable approvers in Compose. Sprout will routinely ship a notification letting message approvers know {that a} publish wants their consideration. From there, they’ll approve or reject the message. They will additionally request modifications utilizing Inside Feedback.
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Step 3: Use social listening
You’re scrolling via Instagram and all of a sudden it’s taking place. A brand new meme format is gaining traction on area of interest accounts. You recognize it’s going to be in all places by the top of the day. That’s when it’s time to ask the massive query: To publish or to not publish?
When going through this conundrum, fast analysis utilizing social listening can do wonders. Social listening might help you see which memes are trending inside your target market and related communities. By analyzing real-time conversations and their sentiment, you possibly can determine memes and meme codecs that resonate—and use them to not solely be a part of the dialogue authentically but in addition create memes on your model technique.
Step 4: Assessment your outcomes
As you experiment with new codecs and punchlines, be aware of which messages drive probably the most engagement. This can provide help to fine-tune your trendspotting expertise over time. Ultimately, you’ll be capable of spot an audience-approved meme format earlier than it has its personal Know Your Meme web page.
If you wish to take the guide effort out of your meme efficiency evaluation, use Sprout Social to create an Outbound Message Tag for posts that point out well timed developments and memes. Over time, you’ll be capable of seize insights on which codecs, channels and themes work greatest together with your viewers.
Don’t be discouraged in case you don’t instantly see the sort of engagement you have been anticipating. Mastering memes is an artwork so don’t be afraid to experiment. As Walker places it. “See your self as a patron of the humanities: you’re the Michelangelos and Donatellos of meme-making.”
By observing what works and what doesn’t, over time, you’ll quickly discover the candy spot.
Strengthen your social media meme technique
Hear carefully to your viewers and keep true to your model voice, and you’ll flip social media memes right into a dynamic software on your model’s cultural relevance and tangible social media efficiency. That is extra related right this moment because the social panorama is being upended with new platforms rising seemingly each day.
Discover the rising social media panorama, see how different manufacturers chart new paths and take your social technique to the subsequent stage.
