Memes: an innovative business

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The rise of humor on the internet has made it possible to profit from creating memes, by turning your followers into sources of income

Last year, luxury fashion brand Gucci launched an advertising campaign for its new line of watches using memes to promote them. The innovative thing about this campaign was that they worked with real meme account managers, and they paid them to create some specific pieces that would work to advertise the watches.

Leer en español: Memes: un negocio de originalidad

That moment was, perhaps, the key point in which many meme creators, particularly in social networks such as Instagram, realized that what they did could use the memes as a legitimate work and an important source of income.

One of the creators of memes that worked for Gucci on that occasion is Sebastian Tribbie, who publishes on Instagram under the name Youvegotnomale. According to Tribbie, who was interviewed for the HighSnobiety website, he does not sell spaces in his profile, but he is willing to collaborate with brands when the price is right.

"They pay me $2,000 for each meme for one of the largest companies, but if I do it to help a friend or another independent creator I adjust the price to one that they can pay, I have no problem doing that, since I do not take long in create the memes. "

This is just one example among a crowd, Tribbie barely has 77 thousand followers. Some of the larger accounts, such as Elliot Tebele's Fuckjerry, which has more than 14 million, report considerably higher revenues.

According to Adweek, who researched the market for Instagram-sponsored publications, buying a single space in the Tebele account costs brands $ 30,000. At the rate at which Tebele publishes, this can mean that it earns from 1.5 to 3 million dollars in a year, only from its Instagram page.

Read also: Why are there soccer teams with company names?

What do I have to do to start earning money with memes?

Certainly not easy, because accumulating a number of followers that is attractive to brands that can pay for sponsored publications is a big challenge. Therefore, the first goal should not be to earn money, but to get an audience.

For this, the important thing is to start creating. There are probably hundreds of thousands of meme accounts on Instagram, but what separates the biggest ones is that they do not limit themselves to sharing other people's memes, but that they themselves are creators of content. To satisfy your followers you must ensure that an important part of your content is original.

To gather followers, do not be afraid to use all of Instagram's strategies, for example, follow all those who follow similar accounts to yours, and like some of their publications. There are services, like Archie, that help you automate this process, but it's something you can do for yourself if you have the time.

From here, the success of your account depends on the content, if it resonates with the audience you have gathered, however small, it is worth continuing to do so, and with the time and insistence necessary in the accumulation of followers, you could gather a public of good size.

Once you have a considerable number of followers, it is possible that you will begin to receive offers to publish sponsored content, that is where you can convert your effort into money. But be careful, no one likes to follow an account that publishes frequently sponsored content, even if you are making money, it is important that you do not lose sight of the reason why people follow you: memes.

LatinAmerican Post | Pedro Bernal

Translated from "Memes: un negocio de originalidad"