Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
Memes generate ten times more reach with 60% organic engagement than regular marketing graphics
Marketing campaigns that include memes have a 14% higher click-through rate than those without
The average CTR for a meme is often viewed as higher than that of standard email marketing which hovers around 6%
71% of consumers are more likely to watch a video or view imagery if it is funny
75% of consumers appreciate humor from brands on social media
Consumers are most willing to buy from brands that are honest and relatable such as those using memes properly
60% of marketers now use viral content and memes in their social media marketing
74% of marketers state that visual assets are used in over 70% of their content
Usage of meme marketing has risen by over 30% among B2C brands in the last five years
People process visual content like memes 60,000 times faster than text
On average users read only 20% of the text on a web page but view every image
Memes are considered low-cost content often requiring $0 in production costs aside from labor
55% of 13-35-year-olds send memes every single week to friends
38% of Gen Z and Millennials follow meme accounts on social media
30% of Gen Z consumers use memes to communicate how they are feeling
Brand Adoption
- 160% of marketers now use viral content and memes in their social media marketing
- 274% of marketers state that visual assets are used in over 70% of their content
- 3Usage of meme marketing has risen by over 30% among B2C brands in the last five years
- 432% of marketers say visual images including memes are the most important form of content for their business
- 5Brands like Netflix have dedicated sub-teams specifically for meme creation and distribution
- 688% of marketers use visuals in more than 50% of their published articles
- 7Gucci’s meme campaign became one of their highest engaged campaigns showing luxury adoption of the medium
- 880% of marketers use social media for brand awareness often leveraging viral trends
- 9Approximately 15% of all digital marketing budget is now allocated to influencer and viral content strategies
- 1051% of B2B marketers prioritize creating visual assets as part of their content marketing strategy
- 11More than 60% of brands interact with customers on Twitter using GIFs and memes
- 12Disney has utilized meme marketing to revitalize interest in classic types of content
- 13Seamless used meme marketing to increase brand buzz by 15% during award season
- 1441% of marketers said original graphics (like custom memes) helped them reach their marketing goals
- 15Fast food chains like Wendy's have seen stock interaction rise alongside viral meme activity
- 1656% of marketers use Instagram as their primary channel for visual and meme content
- 17Brands that use employee-generated memes see 8x more engagement than branded content
- 18Over 45% of marketers plan to increase their budget for funny or entertaining content creation
- 1992% of marketers view video and static memes as an important part of their marketing strategy
- 20BarkBox increased retention by utilizing dog memes in 80% of their social communications
Interpretation
Treat memes as a joke and your competitors will treat your customers to better engagement, because the data shows visual and meme-driven content is now mainstream, budgeted and producing measurable lifts in awareness, engagement and retention across luxury, B2C and B2B brands.
Consumer Sentiment
- 171% of consumers are more likely to watch a video or view imagery if it is funny
- 275% of consumers appreciate humor from brands on social media
- 3Consumers are most willing to buy from brands that are honest and relatable such as those using memes properly
- 433% of consumers follow brands specifically for entertainment and humor
- 540% of consumers want engaging visual content rather than plain promotional messages
- 6People trust user-generated content like memes 50% more than traditional media
- 757% of consumers will unfollow a brand if the content is too promotional and lacks entertainment value
- 8Authenticity is cited by 86% of consumers as a key factor when deciding what brands they like and support
- 991% of people prefer visual content which includes memes over traditional formats
- 10Over 70% of people visit social media specifically to find funny or entertaining content
- 11Consumers perceive brands that use humor as 46% more trustworthy
- 1261% of buyers are more likely to buy from companies that deliver custom content like relatable memes
- 13Relatable humor helps consumers recall a brand name 20% better than functional ads
- 14A lack of personality in posts helps explain why 51% of people unfollow brands
- 1580% of people say they are more likely to share content if it is relatable to their own life experiences
- 16Consumers are 2.5 times more likely to say user-generated visuals are authentic compared to brand-created visuals
- 1744% of consumers say they will post a positive comment if a brand makes them laugh
- 18Audience sentiment toward brands using relevant pop culture memes is 25% higher than generic posts
- 1956% of users feel a stronger connection to brands that speak their language using internet slang
- 20Humor is the single most effective way to lower consumer resistance to marketing messages
Interpretation
Treat your brand like the funny, honest friend: authentic, meme-ready visual humor grabs attention, builds trust and recall, drives shares and purchases, and keeps followers—while bland, overly promotional posts send people straight to the unfollow button.
Content & Efficiency
- 1People process visual content like memes 60,000 times faster than text
- 2On average users read only 20% of the text on a web page but view every image
- 3Memes are considered low-cost content often requiring $0 in production costs aside from labor
- 4Content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without composed images
- 5Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in video/meme form compared to 10% when reading it in text
- 6Using a trending meme template can cut content creation time by 75% compared to original design
- 7Following visual trends increases lead conversion rates by up to 25%
- 860% of consumers are more likely to contact a business that has an image show up in local search results
- 9Visuals decrease the bounce rate on blogs and landing pages by over 46%
- 10Memes help brands avoid ad fatigue as users do not perceive them as traditional advertisements
- 11Color visuals increase willingness to read a piece of content by 80%
- 12Consistent use of visual memes facilitates brand recognition by up to 80%
- 13Memes have a longer shelf life than typical tweets being recycled across platforms for months
- 14Repurposing content into memes creates 7x more touchpoints for the same core message
- 15Infographics and meme-style charts are liked and shared on social media 3x more than any other type of content
- 16Articles containing images every 75-100 words receive double the social media shares
- 17Short-form visual content like memes aligns with the 8-second average attention span of modern users
- 18Funny content is the #2 reason people share content on social media globally
- 19The production time for a meme is generally less than 15 minutes allowing for real-time marketing
- 20Memes reduce the cost per engagement (CPE) by leveraging organic reach algorithms
Interpretation
If you still think memes are frivolous, remember that people process visual content like memes 60,000 times faster than text and tend to view every image while reading only 20% of on-page text, and because meme-style visuals can boost views by 94%, lift retention to 95% versus 10% for text, often cost nothing beyond labor, cut creation time by 75% with trending templates, raise lead conversion by up to 25%, make 60% of consumers more likely to contact a business in local search, reduce bounce rates by over 46%, increase willingness to read and brand recognition by about 80%, extend shelf life and create seven times more touchpoints when repurposed, earn three times the likes and shares as other content and double social shares when images appear every 75 to 100 words, all while fitting an eight-second attention span, taking less than 15 minutes to produce, avoiding ad fatigue, and lowering cost per engagement—so using memes is less a gimmick and more a high‑ROI communications strategy.
Demographics
- 155% of 13-35-year-olds send memes every single week to friends
- 238% of Gen Z and Millennials follow meme accounts on social media
- 330% of Gen Z consumers use memes to communicate how they are feeling
- 4Gen Z makes up 40% of all consumers and they prefer raw unpolished content like memes
- 5Millennials engage with user-generated content 30% more (5.9 hours per day) than older generations
- 672% of Gen Z visits YouTube daily often for meme compilations and viral videos
- 7More than half of Gen Zers (54%) say social media influences them more than any other marketing channel
- 899% of Millennials use social media where memes are the primary currency of humor
- 969% of Gen Z think ads are disruptive but will engage with native content like memes
- 10Nearly 60% of Gen Z audiences prefer brands that stand for something and communicate it via social platforms
- 11Millennials are 247% more likely to be influenced by blogs and social networking sites than non-millennials
- 12Instagram is the most popular app for brand discovery among Gen Z (60%)
- 1379% of Millennials use social media multiple times a day increasing exposure to meme cycles
- 14Gen Z accounts for 75% of the user base on TikTok a platform driven entirely by audio memes
- 15Over 50% of Gen Z consumers create their own content including memes
- 16One in five Gen Z users spends more than five hours a day on video apps like TikTok and YouTube
- 1744% of Millennials check social media specifically to relieve boredom often seeking humor
- 1864% of Gen Z have taken a break from social media because of too much negative news driving them toward lighthearted memes
- 1983% of Millennials connect with brands on social media compared to 48% of Baby Boomers
- 20Gen Z saves memes to their camera rolls 2x more than they bookmark actual web pages
Interpretation
Memes are the lingua franca of Gen Z and Millennials, so brands that ditch polished ads and instead create authentic, shareable, values-driven content that feels like something friends would send will win their attention and influence.
Engagement Metrics
- 1Memes generate ten times more reach with 60% organic engagement than regular marketing graphics
- 2Marketing campaigns that include memes have a 14% higher click-through rate than those without
- 3The average CTR for a meme is often viewed as higher than that of standard email marketing which hovers around 6%
- 4Instagram meme accounts have noticed rapid growth with some gaining 100k followers in a short timeframe due to high shareability
- 5Memes on social media generate significantly more comments per post than standard brand announcements
- 6Posts with visual content like memes produce 650 percent higher engagement than text-only posts
- 7Shared humor is the primary driver for 49% of users sharing content on social media
- 8Video memes can generate 1200% more shares than text and image content combined
- 9Memes are among the most shared content types on Facebook with millions of shares daily
- 10On Twitter tweets with memes receive 150% more retweets than those without visual humor
- 11Users spend 3x more time looking at sponsored visual content like memes than text-only ads
- 12Content that makes people laugh gets shared 2.3 times more than content that makes people feel sad
- 13Visual content is 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content
- 14Including a meme in an email text increases the click-to-open rate significantly for B2C brands
- 15Tumblr users reblog memes at a higher frequency than any other post type
- 16Reddit posts featuring memes consistently rank in the top 10% of most upvoted content
- 17Engagement rates for static memes on Instagram often outperform video content by small margins in terms of likes
- 18Memes elicit a faster emotional response leading to quicker likes than long-form captions
- 19Adding viral humor to Facebook ads lowers Cost Per Click (CPC) due to higher relevance scores
- 20LinkedIn posts with images or memes attract 2x as many comments as text-only posts
Interpretation
Trade your corporate speak for a well-timed meme and you’ll get vastly more reach, clicks, shares, and comments across platforms, higher engagement and lower ad costs, and the quick emotional lift that turns viewers into active sharers.
