Ashley D. Su 
The IPL craze in India is nothing new. With an audience of over 400 million users, it certainly brings the subcontinent together, both socially and culturally. However, from a marketer’s perspective, this is nothing less than an exciting carnival, where every ball there is a chance to communicate with your consumers. Brands are relentlessly investing time, research and other resources to better understand their buyers and design successful marketing strategies by using multiple formats across all platforms to reach their audiences.
In the bunch of marketing efforts, a new element called memes marketing has captured the limelight. As the name suggests, it’s a witty technique to use memes as a tool to spread the brand’s message and leave audiences with a smile on their face. With the number of social media users expected to reach 448 million by 2023 and most millennials not being drawn to the idea of conventional techniques, memes marketing seems to be the go-to strategy.
If you’re still wondering why memes are marketing, especially during IPL season, here are a few reasons that will highlight its importance:
What’s the trend? Memes
It doesn’t take more than a few seconds for a meme to go viral. A trending meme has transparent reach, which means you connect with a much larger audience base. In addition to initiating a trend, brands can even participate in existing ones. For example, the “Vibe Alag Hai” campaign talks about the different styles of each team. Brands can take advantage of this and create memes about how their vibe is ‘alag’ or different from that of the competition or how they think the vibe of a particular team coincides with the message that the company tries to broadcast.
Effortless awareness
The main goal of any marketing activity is to educate consumers about the product. However, the modern consumer knows exactly what he wants. Legacy techniques like product-focused posts, video ads, or emails are seen as hard-to-sell options and are often overlooked. This can be derived from a recent study that found traditional practices such as cold calling and direct email show a 1.7% success rate.
A meme, on the other hand, is effortless and the success rate for social media techniques is 14.6%. By using a few words and focusing on the interests of your customer, your brand can create a special place for itself. Memes are not a form of “direct” marketing. It is a subtle way of generating awareness.
Help develop a community
By indulging in IPL focused content, brands can be part of a community of cricket enthusiasts. Consumers tend to see the business from a broader perspective that goes beyond the product / service it offers. Light language plays a crucial role in engaging young audiences. When they see a business communicating through memes, it highlights the sense of community and separates the brand from just being an entity trying to sell its products.
Draws from the new age audience base
A regular social media campaign reaches consumers; however, it is generally limited to those who follow the mark. When it comes to print or video ads, they often go unnoticed. Memes, on the other hand, give the brand access to a plethora of social media users. For example, an IPL-themed meme will allow you to access not only your existing buyers who tend to be cricket fans, but the vast IPL viewer base as well. With memes having a much higher share rate and IPL having a borderless fan base, you can reach the international market as well.
Encourages conversations
Marketing is a way to communicate effectively with the public. The best part about memes is that they allow endless opportunities to do this. For example, an iconic match moment can be captured and users can be asked to caption it. Such interactive messages bear witness to a shower of commitments. With the IPL keeping its viewers excited, several people are taking to social media to express their thoughts on a game. By engaging in such communications and creating memes that resonate with their feelings, brands can connect with audiences on a personal level.
The IPL season arrives every year, allowing brands to connect with their audiences on a whole new level. This season, start using memes to talk about the Iconic Six and the heartbreaking events!
