Every Shopify Merchant should explore posting content on social media. Standing out and getting engagement on social media can get difficult. As a Shopify Merchant, the goal isn’t only engagement. But for people to see the content and go make a purchase. An extra layer of difficulty. Memes stand out in a sea of everyday discussions.
Why Make Memes?
Here are a few reasons to post memes.
Memes Make People Laugh
People remember how you made them feel. If a Shopify Merchant’s content makes them feel mad or bad, they are unlikely to make a purchase. The end goal is to get a sale. If the “ragebait” is getting views but not sales. It is unsuccessful.
But if they laugh at the content, they will remember it. They will keep engaging with the account’s content and might end up buying something. They might even become repeat customers.
Ragebait is a one-hit wonder, joy is evergreen.
Sonia Baschez wrote a great article comparing marketing to Monsters Inc. In the article, she writes, “Screams spike and fade, but positive experiences hold more influence over time. Positivity compounds, and that’s the energy source marketers keep leaving on the table.”
If people can’t have a positive interaction with a store’s marketing, why would they buy its product?
This is where memes come in.
Memes are More Eye-Catching
In the Shopify industry, people have the same discussions. “How to increase AOV” or “How to Improve your Store’s design.” When scrolling through social media, a SpongeBob meme will stand out more than content on AOV. By standing out on their feed, people will engage with you and your content more.
In my previous life, I was a media buyer spending $10,000 a day selling different products. When I first started everyone on the team would do the same headlines. “Hot Tubs May Be Cheaper Than You Think” or “The Cost of A Vacation in Mexico May Surprise You!”
Then, LinkedIn came out and I started using it to write headlines. I would use the prompt, “write a 90-character LinkedIn headline about hot tubs in the style of a Bill Burr joke.” It came up with “Invest in a Hot Tub, Because Self-Care or Something Like That” and “Luxury Hotel: Because You’re Too Good for a Motel 6.”
As soon as I started using these headlines, people started clicking on my ads more and I made more money. I essentially turned my ads into memes.
Cross-Posting Memes
Every social media platform has its preferred style of content. Twitter has images, Instagram has short-form content, and LinkedIn has carousels. Written content needs to get turn into extra content to gain favor with platforms. The original piece of content would need to get turned into an infographic for Twitter. Then, a carousel for LinkedIn.
For memes, a Shopify Merchant can start on Twitter. Screenshot the tweet and put a few more into a PDF for LinkedIn. Then, those same screenshots can get posted on Instagram. The effort to cross-post memes is minimal.
Not an Obvious Ad
The purpose of a Shopify Merchant posting on social media is to promote their store. The issue is people do not like people selling them products. Memes can attract the attention of the right person while not feeling like an ad.
There are platforms, like Reddit, that will ban users for promoting themselves. But memes are not seen as self-promotion. They can’t ban a Shopify Merchant for posting a meme. Then, having an optimized profile that promotes their store.
How to Come up with Meme Ideas
Some people might have trouble figuring out what to post. Here are some ways to come up with ideas.
Common Occurrences
A Shopify Merchant should think of situations they run into often. Then, make a joke about the situation. What is an overexaggerated reaction to the situation?
For example, in the Shopify App space, every developer can relate to reviews. A developer can get a good review or a bad review. What is an overexaggerated reaction to a review? Create a meme about it.
Trends
Current events can be a great source for memes. Every year memes get created from the Superbowl halftime show. Recently, the McDonald’s CEO created a video and it became a meme.
For current events, view how other people are using the meme. Then, a Shopify Merchant can put their twist on the format. The McDonald’s CEO meme format is about a CEO that doesn’t use the company’s product. Like, “Nike CEO that wears Adidas.” If I was selling a product, my meme would have been, “ {Big Brand} CEO that uses {My Product}”
Theme
Another option is to create a theme or style. Leigha Henderson is a great example of someone with their own style. Her memes have lots of wizards and whimsy. She does a great job of standing out.
A theme does not need to get created from scratch. A theme can revolve around pop culture or a tv show. A Shopify Merchant can post SpongeBob memes. Anyone who likes SpongeBob with a reason to engage with the memes.
How to Create Memes
Memelord.com is a great resource to create memes.
Dashboard
On the dashboard the first thing is trending memes. Clicking a meme will show different examples of how the meme got used.
AI Memes
Someone could use AI to create an image from scratch.
Shopify Merchants can make up to 10 memes at once, and it’s actually funny. You can also edit it after it’s generated. Even if some of them aren’t too funny, you can use it as an inspiration.
Classic Memes
The classic tab shows memes that have gotten used for years around the internet. For example, the Always Sunny conspiracy meme.
Search Function
The dashboard has a search function to find memes related to a topic. A few that show up are sports, movies, crypto.” If you search “Mad Men” the software will show every meme related to the topic in its database. If the keyword is generic, some unrelated memes might show up in the search.
Editor
Once a meme gets picked, go to the editor. In the editor, the caption can get added to the top or on the image.
AI Edits
Before adding the caption, an image can get edited by AI. The prompts do not need to be too detailed to get the right image, in my experience.I like to make cyberpunk versions of memes. The prompt I use is “make it cyberpunk.” On another platform, I would have to add details to the prompt to get what I want. Not on Memelord.
Additional Edits
Other edits can get made to the images. Anyone can add shapes and draw on the image. There is a feature to create and add stickers to a meme too.
Conclusion
To be clear, I am not saying to only post memes. Post memes to get people to click on the other content. Memes are a tool.
Digital Standard LLC 