What is a Meme? The term ‘internet meme’ derives its origin from memes, which are collections of ideas and cultural phenomena spread through written, oral or other forms of media. Internet memes, in essence, follows the original concept. However, the ones on the Internet are more like trends and fads and nothing quite so permanent as a culture or an idea.

Still, Internet marketers see Internet memes as useful marketing tools. Take a couple of films, for example, that rode on huge online viral marketing campaigns that involved memes and viral marketing to assure box office success. The Blair Witch Project, a 1999 horror film, and Snakes on a Plane, a 2006 horror feature film, both relied extensively on viral video and word of mouth marketing.

As a testament to the incredible buzz generated on the Web, one reviewer from the UK even called Snakes on a Plane “perhaps the most internet-hyped film of all time.” Snakes even had a lot of memes associated with it prior (and even after) its eventual theatrical release.

Of course, there are many memes that apparently seem to be borne out of people having too much free time. You’ve got your 4chan memes as prime examples of this. Still, that’s not to say that they don’t have exploitability in terms of marketing purposes.

Creating and capitalizing on memes depend heavily on a thorough knowledge of crowd psychology and awareness of the netizen group dynamic. Memes allow extremely fast proliferation of content, especially if you can drive it enough to become a hot trend.

The Internet is really the prime prospect for many marketers because of its immense potential to generate publicity. The only problem is that there are so many avenues, so many things that internet users do and see in on the web, that it seems so hard to pinpoint which one would be the most effective to focus on.

When it comes to rapidly spreading the news about a product, memes are the way to go. It will be a difficult task and requires a lot of hard work, research, and perseverance. But if you get it right, surely the buzz will be enough to guarantee a big payoff. This is why companies will continue to make campaigns that are aimed toward capitalizing on memes and viral marketing.

By now, it is obvious we regard many artists as class acts, even though they were of a different generation. We upload the hits of the Beatles and the Police into our IPods. Michael Jackson was remembered in a moving tribute that is sold as a CD or on DVD. Real or pirated, the great musical talents from our parent’s generation are available on any street corner bazaar or even a CD bar. But as we are the most well-connected generation, we have an extra advantage. What are they? Youtube, Newgrounds, MegaVideo and Veoh; sites where anyone with a digital camera and access to the internet can upload music or videos to share with the whole world. The general aim; to strut their stuff and let the world know it!

We are a generation connected by the world-wide web. And as people of many ages and nationalities are wont to do, we like to show off to our friends, families, even complete strangers. The recent boom of talent show on TV like American Idol and America’s Got Talent are evidence of that. But because of the heavy completion and strict judging processes, not everyone can get their shot at the limelight (or the multimillion music contract and makeovers from well-paid make-up artists and dressers and trainers to keep bodies nicely toned and fit).

People are also persistent, time and time again that has been proven. With the same drive that shot Neil Armstrong to the moon and split the atom, people take their video cameras and do just about anything to get attention. There are comedians, amateur documentary crews, film makers and, surprise surprise, musicians. Justin Beiber stands out as an example for the moment, whether he is talented or a flash in the pan debated very furiously (but not rationally, given the internet’s gift of anonymity has given some people unwarranted arrogance and aggression) in forums and chat rooms. Even the established stars acknowledge the power of the internet with a resurgent Neil Patrick Harris in a starring role in Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

Then, there are the less-savory characters with internet access. Amateur pornography is very much available for viewing. It stands to reason that the participants are aware that they’re taping themselves or have no idea that the video meant for private viewing has been uploaded onto any number of video-viewing sites. There are those that have vicious and hateful rants of any topic under the sun that are there just for the sake of being there. There are those that record themselves engaging g any manner of stupid activities, like immature pranks that could seriously hurt the participants. There are even those who post videos or blogs just to let the world know that they exist and, by reason of apparent talent and wit, must be worshipped and paid attention to. And those are only the penguins at the tip of the iceberg.

The road to stardom has come a long way from agents waiting in the wings of talent shows and gigs. With the resource pool of the almost the whole world at their disposal, agents need not do much than log into Youtube and stumble upon the next big thing in music or skateboarding. But the question to ask is; how long will those stars shine?

The first question is why join the bandwagon? Because it’s still a fairly new market. As we all know, it is the pioneers that more often than not strikes it big. If you look at the success of Iphone and Google phone in mobile applications, you know that there’s a large market out there. And when you consider the advances in technology, it is not far off when every mobile phone user would use their phones to access the internet in a regular basis.

But back at present. There are several successful campaigns that show the rewards to be reaped in doing mobile internet marketing. For example, Subway’s campaign in giving out coupons via messages to mobile phone showed a good conversion. Another case is in Japan, where about 25% of mobile owners make their purchase decisions from ads and messages sent through their mobile internet connection. These cases make it worthwhile to look at the mobile market and develop a strategy that market these users.

The trend is certainly catching up. Now you can see mobile apps for your favorite social media like Facebook or Multiply. Though the trend may be more prevalent with social media sites, this is still a good venue for you to launch your social media marketing. Even if you don’t get conversions outright, you can still benefit by building familiarity with your site and your reach in mobile internet.

How do you start? You can look at your existing data from your analytics tool. You can look through the data to check how many users are visiting your site via mobile browsers. If you have a considerable amount of visitors, you can start e-mailing or sending out coupons to these potential customers and see their reaction. Another thing that you can explore is creating a mobile site of your own so that people would have easier access your products. It would all begin from there.

Of course, one can still be skeptical about trends since some of them come and go. But in the case of mobile internet, it’s like the internet all over again. With the advances in mobile technology and how companies are developing this new media as an alternative to the personal computer, it’s not far-fetched to imagine that internet access would be standard with all mobile phones. That day is approaching soon. As such, it would be smart to invest on mobile internet marketing and find ways to reach that market for your product or business. Though there may be risks involved, the rewards to be gained outweigh those risks in terms being among the early prospectors in the area.

In essence, word of mouth is accomplished by creating content or making a product that is worthy of positive praise and that users or viewers will be more than happy to pass on to their friends and peers. Of course, with internet marketing, there is less “mouth” used. Instead, word of mouth materializes through social media status messages, blog posts, reviews, and other forms of widely accessible user-generated content.

One big part of word of mouth marketing is social media. With the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, many businesses have utilized them to boost their marketing efforts. Social media also provides companies and organizations with an excellent (not to mention low-cost) opportunity to interact directly with their clients.

Viral marketing in general works on this principle, as does buzz marketing. The latter aims to directly infuse interactions with the buzz that will help drive a product’s sales. The aim of buzz marketing, after all, is to avoid the usually automated or scripted marketing pitches and inject more creativity and uniqueness (not to mention spontaneity) into the experience of each unique user or customer.

When you think about it, doing marketing by way of word of mouth isn’t even all that difficult. As long as one has an excellent product or really interesting content, then the spreading of the news will take care of itself. This is why positioning and proper identification of the target audience is important, to ensure the success of the internet marketing campaign.

In a way, one can say that word of mouth is easy because it practically takes care of the marketing. There would be no need to spin the product or market the service after the initial effort, as people will be doing the spinning for you. Then again, this puts much more pressure to make sure that the product or service really will elicit positive or favorable reactions.

Internet marketing is a burgeoning industry, tapping the practically limitless potential of the World Wide Web to market products and services straight to the screens of consumers. In this effort, word of mouth indeed plays a big role—albeit one that transcends its traditional definition. This is where people really play the biggest part of marketing, and that is also the main reason why it is so effective.

You know how much the internet has come to influence our lives when a lolcat makes an appearance in a commercial. Alright, that has not happened yet, but many other memes have become known to the general public due to more mainstream media like television, particularly cartoons.

According to Wikipedia, an internet meme “is simply the propagation of a digital file or hyperlink from one person to others using methods available through the Internet”. It usually contains, but is not limited to, a joke, a saying or a rumor. In short, it’s an inside joke shared by a community that spans the globe. And thanks to the comedy-based writing and animation of cartoons, the rest of us have begun to get the punchline.

The most common medium would be television, particularly cartoons like South Park, Family Guy and American Dad. It is one of the most established and popular mediums.  Many memes and viral internet stars have made appearances on the aforementioned shows due to many things, least of which was the popularity of the memes. Some memes were used for the comedic results, some would highlight and break down new social issues that pop out during the year. One of which was the Star Wars kid, a Canadian student who’d been secretly videotaped while he swung a golf club around in an impression of the Jedi of the Star Wars franchise. He made an appearance on American Dad, doing the moves that him popular to a group of costumed convention-goers.

There was also the instance in Family Guy, where Brian, who was an anthropomorphic dog,, dressed up in a banana suit and shook a pair of maracas while singing the viral hit “Peanut Butter and Jelly Time” in order to cheer up his best friend, the protagonist Peter Griffin (the attempt was unsuccessful).

Not to be outdone, South Park, whose makers were never known for pulling any punches, laid the jokes on very thick with a wide cast of internet stars like Chris Crocker (a rabid Britney Spears fan known for his impassioned and tearful outburst in defense of his idol), the Numa Numa Guy Gary Brolsma and others lined up in front of a fictional department in order to reap the profits they earned from their stardom in the episode “Canada on Strike”. The lot of them then proceeded to brawl amongst one another, leaving each other very much dead. The show would do it again in the episode “Make Love, Not Warcraft” when the boys would play World of Warcraft, the most popular MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) as of yet, with our gang of protagonists facing an opponent named Jenkins, after the person who famously rushed into action, only to get himself and his group killed.

Now, cartoons are more well-known as shows the younger demographics watch a great deal of the time, thus leading people to underestimate the persuasive potential hidden in the cel-shaded antics.

There are several reasons why you should include social media sites in a marketing campaign. One is already mentioned: traffic generation. You can use social media sites to get your product or service out there. Aside from that, increased traffic is good for any internet marketing strategy. When more people know and get to your site, you increase your chance of selling your product or service.

Another reason is that internet marketing through social media is cost-effective. You don’t need to hire someone else to do it since you can do it yourself. The only investment that you’ll make is the time that you spent building and managing your network. Additionally, the return for your investment in terms of traffic makes it worth the effort.

Using social media also works well with your current internet marketing campaign. You don’t have to do much to make it work with your current strategy. Using social media as a marketing tool is also low-maintenance. You don’t need to keep tabs on it every hour just to make sure it’s working.

You would also notice that as you build your network, you’re also getting supporters and people that share the same interest. It would be easier for you then to work on your niche market through other internet marketing strategies. Also, your network can also serve as promoters for your site or business.

You’d have to note that using social media is more for promotion and build up than anything. Conversion is not the goal in using these sites. Though that maybe the case, what you’re betting on in this strategy is increasing traffic and awareness of your product. Once you have those, conversions and revenue would not be lagging behind.

To make your social media campaign to work, you should tone down on the marketing and focus more on building interest and giving value. A helpful article, a linkbait, or any interesting fact will be more appreciated and followed by people in social media sites. Your goal is to build interest and a community about your product and its niche. The best way to do that is to build hype about your niche first before marketing your product. You shouldn’t worry much about it since once you get people interested in your niche to visit your site, sales should come in naturally.

All these reasons should compel one to look at social media as an avenue for internet marketing. When properly done, targeting social media sites can bring an increase in site traffic, more regular visitors, and an increased bottom line: added conversions and the monetization of your site.

If you’ve seen an email or message with a link directing you to a video in YouTube or some other site, then you know how viral videos work. If you clicked on it and distributed it to other people that you know, then you should appreciate how it spreads almost automatically by making use of people’s social networks. Aside from sharing the fun, what you’re doing is also spreading the word about the site or product that started that viral video.

The neat thing about this is when your viral video is successful, a lot of people would be exposed to your site in a quick and cost-effective manner. Since the spreading of the video happens almost naturally, you don’t have to pay people to build links to your site. Aside from that, your viral video might get posted on high-ranking sites, which would also help your site’s rankings and traffic. In short, having a successful viral video is a winning situation.

What are the characteristics of a good viral video? First is the video should be interesting. You can’t have people spread them for you if they’d be just bored with it. Ways to make your video interesting is to include humor, give tips or advice, messages with “shock” value, and themes that ride on popular trends of the season. If you’re able to create a video with one or more of these characteristics, them more likely than not, people are going to spread your videos around.

Presentation is also a key factor. Flash format is ideal for compatibility with almost any browser. You would also consider the video length. The shorter the better. People are more likely to enjoy a three-minute video that gives them the message immediately rather than a video that’s seven minutes long. You also need to consider that not all people viewing your videos would have the time or bandwidth to spare to watch your videos.

It would also help if you have some widgets that entice people to share your video through social networking sites or email. Another strategy is to set gadget where people can copy a code and paste it on their own sites or blogs.

The key thing about viral videos is that when done properly, they spread like wildfire without you even lifting any additional finger. And once they do, you can expect higher recognition of your site, and increased site traffic. These would then place your site in a better position to get potential buyers and conversions.

It has been proven that viral marketing is one of the most highly-effective means of advertising products for this generation of high information. But given the realism that viral marketing tries to accomplish, there are times when the world proves how it is not ready for a marketing campaign that uses such an interactive approach.

There are notable instances wherein the campaign was taken too seriously. In 2007, a Boston transit passenger saw a sign created for the movie adaption of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”, a popular midnight cartoon show, and pointed it out to a police officer. Unlike a poster, it was a box with wires and electronic paraphernalia on its back while its front had a person “showing you the bird” or flashing his middle finger. The natural assumption for such a strange-looking item was that it was some sort of improvised bomb.

The public reaction was fairly stupendous. A fleet of emergency vehicles and a bomb squad were called in, the intersection cordoned off and the placard detonated. Later on, two bridges were closed off for the removal of a second sign, with the Coast Guard closing off part of the Charles River. Quick-thinking bloggers spread the word out that the placards were part of a viral marketing campaign, but by then city officials took the whole incident out of context by arresting the two guys who put up those signs on the charge of “placing a hoax device with the intent to panic the public.”

Turner Broadcasting, the company that owns the show, had to pay one million dollars each to the Boston Police and the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, the incident made headlines around the world, earning the show and movie roughly 10 times that amount in free publicity.

Need I also forget that incident in New Zealand where a heavily-bandaged man waved a gun around in a bar? Part of a stunt to market the popular video game “Splinter Cell”. The second actor who was supposed to subdue the first actor could not make it due to the police being called in to apprehend him.

There was also that fake meteor crash by a Latvian phone company that was supposed to draw attention away from their failing economy and to presumably subscribe to a new phone line which instead drew representatives from the scientific community who immediately smelled a fake.

Now, one would think it was the fault of the marketers for not warning the populace about the method of advertisement. But that is not how viral marketing works. Viral marketing’s strength is to pull the consumer into the interactive side of the product, adding a level of interactivity the conventional methods cannot achieve. Therein is the risk. To those unaware of the method involved, it looks like you are being drawn into a confusing and dangerous incident. Naturally, given the easily alarmed nature of regular people, this would prompt unwanted attention to be drawn towards actors or the company itself who did not include a disclaimer towards their campaign. It just goes to show that in today’s day and age, one must be very very careful.

1. The Numa Numa Dance: here, you can see Gary Brolsma dancing and lip-syncing to the tune of Dragostea din tei, a Romanian song that hits back in 2002. With his funny facial expressions and frantic hand movements, the numa numa video has entertained over 700 million people worldwide, and boosted Brolsma to internet fame. Brolsma appeared in several newspapers, radio and TV shows, and was even voted as the number 1 internet icon in VH1’s top 40 Internet Superstars.

2. The “Hitler” Meme: Have you ever seen Adolf Hitler bashing Hannah Montana, or complaining about his friend’s absence in his birthday party? Several of Hitler’s complaints are found in Youtube.com, and as the time passes, he tends to make more complaints. This video is actually a parody of a scene in the German movie Der Untergang, a movie about the final days of World War 2 in Berlin. Irrelevant subtitles are added to the scene, making it seem like Hitler is ranting. As a result, Der Untergang became famous worldwide. However, it is ironic that Youtube pulled out all Hitler parody videos because of copyright.

3. The Annoying Orange: This is a video of an orange in a regular kitchen, annoying the hell out of every other fruit and vegetable he sees. Created by Dane Boedigheimer, the first video entitled “Hey Apple!” that was uploaded in October 2009 has reached over 18 million views in Youtube. There are currently around 10 million views and over 600 thousand subscribers of the Annoying Orange’s Youtube page that began in January 2010.

And of course,

4. Rickroll: Your friend is telling you about a movie you’ve always wanted to see. You’d get all excited, psyched up about the movie! Your friend then gives you a link of the trailer. Then you click the video—

“We’re no strangers to love,

You know the rules, and so do I

A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of

You wouldn’t get this from any other guy”

Oh no… you’ve been Rickrolled. It is a practical joke using Rick Astley’s song “Never Gonna Give You Up” back in the late 80’s. The prankster will give the victim a link, claiming that it is a relevant video. To the victim’s surprise, it is a link to the “Never Gonna Give You Up” music video! As of today, there are nearly 35 million people who were rickrolled.

There are actually a lot of viral videos. Love them or hate them, they have caught the attention of web surfers worldwide.

Then, we have Gary Brolsma.

To the unfamiliar, Mr. Brolsma looks like the stereotypical internet geek; bespectactled, fat and probably a loser. He was also the creator of the “Numa Numa” video, released in 2004. The video’s contents showed him lip-synching to a Romanian Eurodance song, “Dragostea din tei”, complete with animated gestures of his hands, head and shoulders and the song pumping through his headphones. Not the best model of conventional success, but it has been proven that unconventionality wins the hearts of the so-called “net-izens”.

Three months later, the video had been viewed more than 2 million times at Newgrounds.com, the site where Mr. Brolsma originally uploaded it. By November 2006, impression figures had calculated that “Numa Numa” was the most second-watched video of all time at 700 million views, being beaten only by “Star Wars Kid”, the video of a teen waving around a golf club like the Jedi from “Star Wars”.

At first, Gary Brolsma was described by the New York Times as an “unwilling and embarrassed Web celebrity”, cancelling any media appearances. But by then, he had been covered by mainstream media, shows like Tonight with Jay Leno and Good Morning America.

His reluctance did not last. Since his video became popular he had been uploading new versions of the video, adding puns based on the lyrics and pictures. By September 2006, he, along with a band, reappeared with a professionally produced video “New Numa” which was hosted by Youtube. There was even a contest to see who could make a video just as good as Brolsma’s new video, with cash prizes up to $25000 going to the winner.

The video was reaching phenomenal heights. The controversial hit TV show “South Park” even featured a cameo by him and several other Web celebrities in one of their episodes. Granted, they were killed a few moments later but both fans and pundits loved their appearances. The video was also featured in the sixth season of the TV show “NCIS” and was even used for a popular variety show in Japan.

So where is this all going? It is true that the internet can seem to be a playground for those with no self-esteem to trash and badmouth one another. It is also the target of satire and alarmist journalism. But every now and again, there will be the one pure innocent person who will submit a funny video, just for the fun of it and then in an instant we’ll have the next Numa Numa phenomenon.