By Chelsea McCall
Account Coordinator & Junior Copywriter
When you scroll through social media, there’s one thing you’re guaranteed to see. Memes.
A Meme (pronounced mēm) is a snippet or image of pop culture paired with short text that helps relay a reaction or emotion to experiences in everyday life – usually with a sarcastic or humorous tone.
While they grab your attention and are fun to share between friends and family, there’s a time and a place for them, and your Credit Union’s social media account is not one.
I know. I know. It’s a bit of an unpopular opinion, but hear me out.
Memes are great at getting a point across, but it’s easy for them to miss the mark – especially if it’s coming from a company page and not someone’s personal account.
When you post to your CU’s page, you’re no longer an individual, you’re the brand. So ask yourself: Would your CU uphold the values expressed by the pop culture at reference?
Would the demographics of your audience understand the pop culture at reference?
Could someone viewing your page take offense to the meme and start commenting on your posts – causing others to share negative opinions too?
Could you get in trouble for copyright infringement because you posted content you don’t own?
As a brand, it’s important to protect the integrity of your communication, so using Memes as content should be avoided at all costs. But don’t let that discourage you from being active on social media. You can still have fun with your posts!
By defining a purpose and tone for each channel, you can create effective and meaningful content that relates to your target audience while sticking to your CU’s brand standards.
Need help crafting your strategy? We’re here for you. Emails us at bigideas@kearleya21.sg-host.com.
About Chelsea McCall
Chelsea is from Southlake, Texas and joined the Kearley team as an Account Coordinator and Junior Copywriter after graduating from The University of Texas at Arlington in May 2019. Prior to joining Kearley, she held various internships specializing in account services and social media coordination and was recognized as the top student in advertising within her graduating class.
