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In 2025, memes have become a part of marketing funnels as organically as Facebook targeting or push notifications. In arbitrage chats, communities, and TikTok, they don’t just make you laugh, they warm up the audience, break down the brand-customer barrier, and make people like things they would never click “Buy.”
Why is this? Because memes are a universal language of trust. They are not perceived as advertising, they create a sense of “one of their own” and disperse content across communities faster than any selling banner. And most importantly, it’s the cheapest way to warm up a cold audience before you pitch them a commercial offer.
Let’s see how memes fit into the funnel, why they sometimes sell better than offers, and how to measure their effectiveness so that you don’t end up being just “the same brand that makes funny jokes.”
Memes are like a funny phrase in a bar that breaks the ice. They quickly relieve tension, open the door to trust, and turn a “cold” contact into a “warm” one. And all this without aggressive CTAs and banners with red buttons.
The meme signals immediately: “We’re on the same page”. This is a code that only your own people understand. If a brand makes jokes in the same language as its audience, it becomes part of its environment.
An example in Ukraine: Saint Javelin is a meme image that grew from a Facebook post into a whole international campaign with merchandise. It is bought not because it is a “t-shirt with a print”, but because it is a symbol that is understandable to those who are “in the know”, from Ukrainian volunteers to foreign donors.
Sales posts often cause an internal “oh, advertising again”. Memes, on the other hand, are easy to engage with, they don’t require anything more than a smile or a reaction from the user. A person likes, shares, or comments without resistance, and this is the first step to engaging in brand communication.
Example: Yasno published memes about light and charged power banks during blackouts. The light presentation reduced the tension in the audience and kept their attention even when the brand spoke about complex topics.
Memes “live” longer than any paid advertising because they are shared voluntarily. When a meme fits perfectly into the context, it goes beyond the followers and starts to spread to other communities and media.
Memes are not just funny content. It’s a tool that works to build trust, recognizability, and keep in touch with your audience before you even start selling anything.
Memes are not chaotic fun spam in the feed, but a completely strategic tool that can be integrated into every stage of the marketing funnel. The main thing is to understand when and which meme to use.
At the top level of the funnel, the main goal is to make a person stop scrolling and become interested for at least a second. This is where memes work like a fishing rod: they don’t sell, they don’t impose, but they catch emotions and make you look up from the feed.
The middle of the funnel is the moment when the audience already knows you or has at least seen a few of your posts. This is where memes stop being “pure humor” and start building brand awareness and explaining how you are useful.
Leadpanda Tip: To prevent MOFU memes from looking like “advertising, but with a picture,” always test whether the joke will be funny without mentioning the brand. If so, the integration looks natural.
The final stage of the funnel is the moment when a person is ready to buy… but there is always a risk that they will change their mind. This is where humor becomes a tool that relieves tension, defuses the situation, and pushes you to act without aggressive pressure.
Tip: It’s easy to “over-salt” BOFU humor, if you go overboard, the CTA can get lost or look frivolous. Therefore, the rule is: a joke enhances the action, not distracts from it.
It is important not to turn your communication into a circus. If memes are the only thing the audience sees, they will start to perceive the brand as a source of entertainment rather than value. Therefore, alternate memes with guides, cases, and analytics to balance emotions and expertise.
Memes can make a brand closer, increase awareness, and even reduce the cost of a lead. But if you approach them without a strategy, the effect can be the opposite – from complete failure to a reputational crisis or a ban in advertising. Here are three common mistakes to avoid.
Why it’s a problem:
How to avoid: Before publishing a meme, test it with a focus group or at least with colleagues from the target segment. If 70% do not “get it” or do not understand the meaning, look for another format.
Why this is a problem:
How to avoid: Maintain a balance: memes for warming up and emotional contact, and useful content and cases to demonstrate expertise. The optimal ratio: 20-30% of memes in the content plan.
Why this is a problem:
Leadpanda’s Tip: Memes are like spices: they make a dish more delicious, but if you overpour them, you can ruin the whole flavor. Skillful meme marketing is about the accuracy of hitting the audience, the right moment, and the balance with other content formats.
Memes are fun, but for business, they should work like any other marketing tool: they should bring results. To prove their value to a funder or customer, you need specific metrics. Here’s what to look for.
What it measures: The percentage of people who responded to a post (likes, comments, shares) out of the total number who saw it.
Why it’s important: A meme without a reaction is just a picture. ER shows whether the content has touched emotionally.
What it measures:The number of clicks on a link or CTA from a meme compared to impressions.
Why it matters: This is a direct indicator that the meme not only entertained, but also prompted action.
What it measures:How many times a meme has been shared and quoted outside your official channel.
Why it matters: It shows the content’s fidelity and ability to take on a life of its own.</span
What it measures:How many new people subscribed to the page/channel after the meme was published.
Why it matters: If a meme attracts the attention of the right audience, it stays with the brand further.
What it measures:The share of those who interacted with the meme and then performed the target action (purchase, registration, app download).
Why it’s important: Proves that memes affect not only reach but also money.
Leadpanda’s tip:Collect all this data in one dashboard (Google Data Studio, Notion, Looker Studio). This will allow you to see which meme formats really bring results and which ones are just entertaining.
Memes are not childish jokes in the feed, but a working warm-up tool that builds trust, breaks down barriers, and pushes the audience to buy. They work because they speak the language of your customers, and they do it easily, without pushy sales pitches.
But meme marketing is a strategy, not chaotic posting. On TOFU, it catches attention, on MOFU, it shows your value, on BOFU, it helps you click the “Order” button without feeling like you’re being sold. And if done right, memes bring not only likes and shares, but also leads, sales, and loyalty.
The main thing:
A meme is a small emotional investment that can bring a big commercial dividend at the right time. And the sooner you add it to your funnel, the sooner the audience will start seeing you not just as a brand, but as “one of their own.”</span