I’ve been on a kick lately making Parenting memes. It’s funny to me since about a year ago, I was still iffy on how to even pronounce the dang word. But, now I’m hooked. And, lately, I’ve been thinking in memes. Mostly because I’ve seen the power of the meme and what it can do if it goes viral.
Now, I don’t know what constitutes “viral” status in technical terms, but I’ll claim I had a meme go semi-viral at least. It was shared over six thousand times from my Facebook page. Then, Scary Mommy shared it, and from there it was shared over 10 thousand times from their page! Then, Momastery shared it, and her shares were around five thousand or so, but the followers that came in from that share were huge. Maybe 500 new followers in just a few hours!
Who knew a little meme had so much power?
And, I love this meme because it’s funny, my own thoughts, and was actually just a funny Facebook status that I shared months ago that I turned into a meme on a whim. Creating a meme is simple. Anyone can do it. And, you SHOULD be doing it if you want to grow your social media following.
Here are a few more I’ve made:
Can you tell I’ve been thinking in memes?
Here are some tips if you’re going to use memes to grow your social media following:
Clear text that is easy to read. You don’t want to be trying to figure out a meme. It’s supposed to be a quick and easy thing someone can relate to if you want it shared.
Use content you’ve used before. My “viral” meme went crazy but it wasn’t new content. It was an old FB status of mine. Recycle your good stuff. Turn it into a meme. Even simple text and no image can be relatable.
Stick With What You Know. Funny is great, but maybe you’re not in that niche. Then try sharing a poignant quote from one of your posts. Those get shared too!
Get familiar with designing stuff. Honestly, if you’re a blogger, you need to figure out how to create good images. It can seem overwhelming at first, but the more you do it, the easier it gets. My viral meme I whipped out in under 5 minutes. I use Picmonkey which is super easy. I also use Canva for some blog posts, and while I find it not as user friendly you can purchase amazing images for $1. So worth it.
So, what do you think? Are you going to try to make a meme?
Feel free to share one of mine on social media, but you must link back to my FB page or this post. You know, be kind….don’t steal stuff.
megan says
Hi! I saw Momastery shared your Meme and I thought “Yay Meredith!!’. I used to submit to your manic Mondays…It was great to see your blog show up on the big time 🙂 XO, Megan
Meredith says
I miss those manic Mondays! Thanks Megan!! It was pretty exciting
I loove PicMonkey.
I also just realized that I could probably have made some pretty good memes over the last 4 years. Or longer. I think I have some pretty deep / silly / awesome Facebook posts, and every now and then I see a meme that was pretty much what I said only slightly different, but for some reason I’ve never thought to actually make my own. Just too time consuming and not enough recognition, I guess. Haha
It does take time. But, it sure is fun once you get the hang of it. People are just so much more likely to share if it’s an image versus a status.
Meredith, I love your memes! So funny and relatable (even tho my boys are now teens). I have a question…do you just post your memes on your Facebook page and hope that someone shares them, or put them as a post on your blog, or post/share them on other people’s Facebook pages, etc.? Just trying to figure out if you (as the meme creator) can initiate any of the sharing or you just cross your fingers and hope for the best? For example, I just created one and posted it on my Facebook fan page for my blog, Tweenior Moments. But I didn’t post/share it anywhere else, not even my own blog. What say you, meme master?
Hi Lisa! Glad you liked the memes! 🙂 They’re a lot of fun. To answer your question, I am still figuring it out a little bit. I’m in a few groups that share memes, so that helps, and I have submitted a couple of them to websites to share on their pages. For example, the Scary Mommy share was a submission, but then momastery must have seen it on scary mommy because she just shared it on her own. I am going to make a page full of my memes that stays on my blog too.
Thanks for the info, Meredith. Much appreciated!