When it comes to social media, the phrase “15 minutes of fame” rings true.
The virtual world of the Internet moves so fast that one day, you’re the biggest thing, the next day you’re a has been. Just think of the ill-fated “Balloon Boy” stunt; the family had their 15 minutes of fame, which was only prolonged once it became known it was all a staged hoax. Their “fame” got extended in the form of balloon boy memes and references on Jay Leno. Heck, someone even created a Balloon Boy app to the disgrace of the parents involved.
It seems, therefore, that the only way you can last on social media is if it happens to be humorous, or downright embarrassing.
Since no social media marketer wants to be known in the market for doing something shameful, here are ways you can attract attention without resorting your own Balloon Boy stunt.
Ride on memes
Unlike trending videos of the moment, such as Rebecca Black or Chuck Testa, memes have a way of staying around, long enough to build their own following and even pop in TV or movie references.
Use a meme that you can connect to your product or brand. There are lots of websites with meme generators, which allow you to create your own meme poster for use on your website… a very handy marketing tool. Just remove the watermark on the image so the attention is focused on your brand, not the website where you generated the image.
Rage comics
A subgenre of the meme is the rage comics series, which seems to be enduring. It’s been around long enough to have its own “cast” of characters.
If your branding style is to appear hip and in-tune with the times, rather than professional, you can use this to appeal to the younger generation. You don’t necessarily have to create a whole comic strip that takes up entire video walls to be read. You can use just one character, such as “Me Gusta!” to promote your brand or product.
Tweets
When it comes to Tweeter, shorter is better. If you come up with something that you think is amusing is witty, then by all means use it as part of your marketing or branding. Just be sure that the marketing part is subtle enough so that people will re-tweet it after having a chuckle or two.
Images
Finally, one of the easiest tools you can use to propagate your marketing efforts are images. Pictures that show humorous situations, such as epic fail moments, tend to be reposted on Facebook and other social media sites. So grab one that’s matches your tagline, build your marketing message around it, and watch the magic happen.