What faster way to grow than with humor?

Early on in 2019, a picture of an egg uploaded on January 4th surpassed a record previously held by Kylie Jenner for the most likes on Instagram. Now at over 54 million red hearts strong, world_record_egg has tripled the amount of likes as when it originally surpassed Kylie’s post (then at 18 million for those of us who suck at math), and boasts 3 million #EggGang comments to boot.

While you can certainly claim this Internet buzz was nothing more than short-lived commotion, the occurrence itself is indicative of a rising online trend. There is nothing inherently special about this egg, yet quite humorously, the post circled the internet and received massive attention and engagement.

“Did you know that millennials spend over 200 minutes online every day? Memes are so prolific that there’s a good chance millennials and Gen Zers are laughing at and sharing memes while online. This gives brands plenty of opportunities to engage with their audience.”

Aidan Cole, More Than a Trend: Meme Marketing is Here to Stay

Although the egg page was made by an anonymous individual, many real brands are making use of memes across various social media platforms to reach younger, more connected audiences ready to share the memes that resonate with them.

Meme marketing might seem like a laughable matter — and it is — though the return on investment is no joke. Whereas an ad campaign or a tv commercial could run you anywhere from several hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars, meme marketing is free (if you do it yourself) and can generate even more engagement.

Still, there is an inherent danger to meme marketing: as with all forms of marketing, making mistakes makes your brand look disconnected from the world, and the internet of all places is known for showing no mercy.

Getting memes wrong can be as dangerous to a brand’s reputation as getting them right is uplifting — despite their low production and distribution costs, they should still be treated with the creativity, focus and care that you would put into any other ad.

But First, Wtf is a Meme?

Read on here.