{"id":19596,"date":"2022-04-14T15:49:35","date_gmt":"2022-04-14T19:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?p=19596"},"modified":"2022-04-14T15:49:36","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T19:49:36","slug":"marketing-memes-serious-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/marketing-memes-serious-business\/","title":{"rendered":"For Some Digital Marketers, Memes Are Serious Business"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Type the keyword \u201cmeme\u201d to Indeed or Google Jobs, and you\u2019ll find more than 50 listings. While most people never considered creating memes to be a productive habit (let alone a full-time job<\/a><\/em>), businesses like Jumbo<\/a>, Doing Things Media<\/a>, and The Perfect Jean<\/a> do. And now, they\u2019re looking for \u201cprofessional trolls\u201d who can generate viral tweets for their accounts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These irreverent brands are proof that the traditional social media strategy\u2014share your latest work, promote company news, absolutely don\u2019t rock the boat\u2014isn\u2019t for everyone. In foregoing the well-beaten path to double down on memes, they\u2019re amassing millions of followers and impressions. What can they teach you about the power of memes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slim Jim<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Back in 2018, the Instagram page for Slim Jim was totally stale, boasting fewer than 10,000 followers and publishing sanitized, corporate<\/a> content. But the product still had a loyal audience on the Internet, and a fan took advantage before the brand itself did. Comedian and Slim Jim enthusiast Andy Hines started @SlimJimsDoingThings, an account exclusively dedicated to memes based on the infamous meat sticks, geared towards the fan group that he called the \u201cLong Boi Gang.\u201d Inspired by Hines\u2019 success, Conagra Brands (its parent company) said if you can\u2019t beat \u2018em, join \u2018em, and offered Hines a job to run Slim Jim\u2019s actual IG.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A post shared by Sl1M Jim (@slimjim)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>