Traditionally, memes have meant an image with texts on the top and bottom. This combination of picture and words gave out a funny message, sometimes so funny that it got shared by billions of people. As meme ideas evolved, we now find memes in videos and gifs, even printed on objects of everyday use, like coffee mugs and t-shirts. As we consume more and more memes daily and find ourselves in comic heaven, genius minds are at work, creating the next Karen meme, for instance.
If you have always been a bit of a class clown or consider yourself a hidden comedic gem, the time is ripe to churn out the next wisecrack idea and post it. With some luck and research, you can end up making good money out of it. Let’s look at some of the ways of doing it.
- Earn from your meme through the Social Media
Meme flourishes in social media like a fish takes to water. It is its natural habitat, the happy hunting ground. 9Gag, a popular place to look for a funny meme, has over 50 million followers on its Instagram page. Imagine the engagement that happens in such a popular page and the ad revenue it generates.
As a meme maker, one of the very first things that you need to do is build your social media presence. Create your meme page on social platforms like Instagram and Pinterest and try to gain followers. By doing so, you will be able to earn from sponsored posts and advertisements on your page. Don’t stop at just images. Videos are a popular social media format nowadays. Video and gif memes are just as popular as images. You can venture into Twitter with video and gif posts. You can also upload a meme compilation or video and gif post compilation on YouTube.
With more followers, your value as an influencer can attract brands to tie up with you. You don’t need to have millions of followers to be able to monetize your following. Brands are getting more and more attached to micro and nano influencers who boast of a few thousand followers only.
However, it is important not to look spammy in your posts. Too many advertisements and product placement posts will irritate your audience, who may soon grow tired of your tactics. You have to make sure that your page quality doesn’t get diluted by the dollar. Remember, it was the high quality of the posts that help you draw a wide audience in the first place. On the technical side, the Invideo meme tutorial is a great place to improve meme-making skills.
- Land a meme making job
Brands are not ignorant of the power of a good meme as a marketing tool. Many established brands like Gucci and Barkbox have used effective meme marketing campaigns and received overwhelming adulation. Meme marketing is an alternate route for small businesses to skyrocket into market relevance, powered by a catchy meme that goes viral. Behind the scene, there are witty minds at work, preparing a new meme campaign.
With credible memes generating legacy behind you, you can land a job in one of the brands looking for a meme creator. This could be your ticket to the meme super league. Freelance meme creating gigs are also coming up in a big way. You can keep track of such openings in freelancer platforms like Fiverr and apply for relevant opportunities. You may get opportunities to join project teams handling brand social media with your niche expertise.
- Third-party platforms
Many websites host user-generated memes and generate revenue for the creator based on the traffic it pulls in. People use high traffic sites like 9Gag to divert traffic to their page, often through memes and videos. Sites like PicturePunches share a portion of advertising revenue with the meme creator. The higher the traffic on your meme, the more you stand to earn.
- Meme on demand
When we mean memes on demand, we are talking about customer demand. Every one of us has seen a meme that made us think, “Hey, wish I could get it on a bumper sticker”. So, why stop at only making memes. Put it on stuff and add profit to your creativity. Depending on the meme you are making, it can be printed on a variety of everyday objects.
Print on Demand, as this business model is called, is another way of monetizing your meme generating skills. You can concentrate on the creative part and outsource the actual printing and shipping task to customized printing shops. You can do this by setting up a dedicated website or through your social media accounts. You can also set up a business page on Etsy, Zazzle, RedBubble etc. Given the competition and the costs involved, it is best to treat it as a side hustle at best.
- Creative use of memes
Apart from the e-commerce opportunities that memes present, you may ponder about the creative use of memes beyond it. It could be anything that appears to you in one ‘light-bulb moment’. Imagine pitching a meme gig to the Human Resource department of a company who is looking for a witty way to make employees familiar with the HR policies. From office stationeries to daily planners, a Pikachu meme jigsaw game to fridge magnets, you can challenge your creativity to come up with the next viral use of memes.
Conclusion:
While creating a meme, it is important to consider the sentiments of the audience. Many a time, meme marketing campaigns of reputed brands have gone awry as it was deemed by the public to be of bad taste. Keep this in mind, particularly if you are freelancing or creating memes for someone else, as it can tarnish your reputation as a meme maker. Also, be updated with the latest happening in the world of memes right here. Big players like Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, StumbleUpon etc. are the fountainheads of viral memes. They are the sources that will give you the brilliant ideas that you need for creating memes. With intelligent use of wit and identifying, trends are important to make sure that your memes are good enough to earn you the cash.
