This post is part of our series about the Future of Work, culminating in next month’s event in Tamworth on 13 September (more here)– we’ll be talking to students, researchers and teachers, graduates and alumni over the next month. Join us via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Grumpy Cat, Philosiraptor, Doge, Evil Kermit, Sarcastic Willy Wonka… the list goes on. Memes and their many recreations go absolutely viral as people share, tag their friends and comment things like “OMG THIS IS ME!” (come on, we’ve all done it). But why are memes so popular? Why do they get so much engagement and what does any of this have to do with the future of social media marketing?

Okay, so we like memes because they’re funny and they make us laugh. Laughing releases endorphins in the body, which make us feel good – it makes us feel happy. Happiness is valuable to us as humans and we seek out things that make us feel this way. That’s the key – VALUE. If memes didn’t resonate with us on an emotional level like this, why would we bother sharing them and tagging our mates? We’d be getting nothing out of it.

We like memes because we value the way they make us feel.

I’m sure you’ve all seen ads for different products pop up in your social media feeds before, notably on Facebook and Instagram. Whether they’re trying to sell homewares, clothing, skincare, technology – they’re often just a picture of the product with a caption telling you why you should buy it, maybe an over-acted testimonial video and some pretty colours. Some of these are pretty enticing, but it’s blantantly obvious that they’re just trying to make a sale. It’s all about the business, and not about the customer.

Working in communications and digital marketing, I often engage with the content of marketing businesses on social media, and as I’ve done so, I see more and more sponsored ads from these businesses (they’ve captured me in their re-targeting audience!). But these ads don’t try and sell me the business’s service straight up. They give me value! Don’t freak out, they’re not posting memes everywhere!

There are lots of other types of content that can provide value and this is where we start to see the future of digital marketing for more and more businesses. 

So what it this value that the marketing businesses I’m seeing are starting to provide? Free social media checklists, downloadable e-books on setting up Facebook Ads, links to podcasts on how to interpret your Instagram insights, just to name a few. Any time I’ve seen sponsored ads like this, I lap it up. I’m getting free education on digital marketing and I value this because I can implement the strategies and tips I learn in my own work, to make my job easier and my digital marketing strategies more effective. Like we value the laughter memes bring, we can value educational content that solves problems for us and helps us achieve our goals.

As for the future of marketing for product-based businesses, I can see this going in the same direction. Instead of a Facebook ad for an ethically made t-shirt, perhaps we’ll see a post that links to an article with tips about shopping ethically. Instead of a pet food brand advertising their new tinned meals, we’ll see a video about how to teach your dog to high-five. What does this mean for the future of working in digital marketing?

We’ll need to start being more creative in terms of connecting with target audiences on an emotive level, such as offering them content that helps them with their struggles, or answers questions they might have. 

As the target audience starts to see this valuable content more (if it’s done consistently), and engage with it more, they will likely develop a trust for the brand as the business their showing their expertise and giving the audience value other than through a sale. They’re getting value without spending a cent. As consumers have become more and more aware of traditional marketing and its pure sales focus, I think valuable content marketing will be a welcomed change for the future, not just for businesses, but for their buyers as well.

Knowing what sort of content will be valuable to audiences will mean more time needs to be spent on target market research, to find out what the target audience is struggling with, what their aspirations are, and therefore what your business might be able to provide to assist them. Knowledge of analytics tools and interpretation will likely become even more important as social media ad targeting becomes crucial to successful paid posts, and constant education on new features and how to use them will be essential. On that note, lifelong learning is also the #FutureofWork (I’m sure it won’t hurt if there’s a few memes in there too!).

Becky Amon has just completed her Bachelor of Media and Communications at UNE, with her graduation coming up in October. Earlier this year she founded her own digital marketing, precision admin and events service, Evolve Admin, Comms & Events, and has a passion for learning more in the content marketing space.

Email: bamon2@une.edu.au