How Do Meme Accounts Make Money

Synopsis

Memes have emerged as a lucrative profession for its creators. Last week, when Zomato acquired UberEats, competitors took no time to engage with users through this newage content-marketing tool, which had become an instant hit when it began life on social media a few years ago.

BENGALURU: "I started with SMS jokes when I was in school, back in 2010. We used to post them as status messages on our Facebook pages. Then, in 2012, we began our meme page The BACK Benchers," says Muhammed Aqib TP who runs a Facebook page that has over 4 million followers.

Memes have emerged as a lucrative profession for its creators. Last week, when Zomato acquired UberEats, competitors took no time to engage with users through this newage content-marketing tool, which had become an instant hit when it began life on social media a few years ago. However, generating memes on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook is now starting to become an integral part of marketing budgets for brands that want to stay relevant and topical online. "We started our meme page in 2010 from Mumbai. Even in 2015, companies were not ready to pay for branded memes, but things have changed today," says Harpreet Singh, cofounder of RVCJ Media.

A consumer brand spends Rs 1,000-50,000 on a meme. A page with a million likes charges Rs 1,000-1,500 for visibility on Facebook and around Rs 3,000 for Instagram, creators said. And, depending on the category of influencers, TikTok charges between Rs 5,000 and Rs 3 lakh.

Earlier, meme pages used to make money mainly through Google advertisements, videos or cross promotions. Today, they rack up anywhere between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 4-6 crore in yearly turnover. Some brands that have been active with meme marketing include OnePlus, Truecaller, Dream11, LG and Big Bazaar, apart from big players in the ecommerce and soft-drinks space. Brands use memes for promotions, taking a dig at competition, and for product launches. The demand for memes as a marketing tool increases ahead of festive seasons and occasions like the Cricket World Cup or Indian Premier League matches. Usually, a brand engages with meme creators for two-three memes a week.

Political parties, too, have significantly increased their spending on memes. During elections, a party engages meme pages for about 30 days and spends Rs 60,000-80,000. Experts, however, said popular meme pages are reluctant to engage with paid political memes.

MAKING OF A MEME

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It takes around two hours, on average, for creators to generate memes, but costs depend on how popular they are online. Broadly, meme content differs from one Facebook or Instagram page to another. The memes are made based on the age group and the audience the page caters to. "The market in India is still nascent and there is abundant scope... as brands are increasingly spending on memes," said Ashutosh Harbola, cofounder of influencer marketing BORA firm Buzzoka.

( Originally published on Jan 30, 2020 )