With over 2 billion users worldwide, WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging platforms. One fun way to enhance chats on WhatsApp is by using stickers – animated images that express emotions or ideas. As more people use stickers, some creative folks have started wondering if they can actually make money by creating and selling sticker packs on WhatsApp.
What are WhatsApp Stickers?
WhatsApp stickers are like large emoji or animated gifs. You can send them in chats to express emotions and ideas visually.
Some examples of popular sticker categories include:
- Emoticons like smiling, crying, laughing faces
- Memes and pop culture references
- Celebrities
- Animals and pets
- Food and drinks
- Sports
- Occupations
- Events and activities
- Text and letters
Unlike plain text, stickers help convey tone and feeling more vividly. They add fun and personality to conversations on WhatsApp.
How Do WhatsApp Stickers Work?
To use stickers on WhatsApp:
- First you need to download sticker packs from the Play Store (Android) or App Store (iOS).
- Once installed, the sticker pack will appear in the chat window next to the text box.
- Simply tap on a sticker to send it to your friends or groups.
Some popular sticker apps like Sticker Maker and Stickerly make it easy to create your own sticker packs right within their app. You can then publish your own sticker pack to their sticker store for others to download.
Can You Make Money Selling WhatsApp Stickers?
The short answer is yes – it is possible to earn money by creating and selling WhatsApp sticker packs. However, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- WhatsApp does not allow direct monetization – you cannot sell stickers directly within WhatsApp. However, you can sell them through third-party apps and sticker stores.
- The most popular sticker maker apps like Sticker Maker, Stickerly, and Giphy take a cut (around 30%) of revenue from sticker sales through their platform. So you don’t take home 100% of the sales proceeds.
- Competition is high – with tens of thousands of sticker packs already on the app stores, standing out requires creating high quality, unique, and entertaining stickers that people love.
- Marketing efforts are key to driving visibility – getting people to notice your sticker pack among the sea of options requires active marketing on social media, messaging forums, and other platforms. This takes significant time and effort.
- Paid sticker packs see more downloads – offering free sticker packs means very few downloads. Adding a paid component (even as low as $1) drives more active downloads and revenue.
What Does it Take to Earn Money from Stickers?
Based on the experiences of successful sticker creators, here are some tips on how to maximize earnings:
| Tips | Details |
|---|---|
| Create high quality stickers | Invest time into creating high quality, fun, relatable stickers using vector software like Adobe Illustrator. Avoid low resolution stickers. |
| Focus on emotions and reactions | Simple emotive stickers and reactions tend to be more popular than complex storylines or niche memes. |
| Localize appropriately | Stickers based on local pop culture, celebs, and trends tend to sell better in that region compared to generic stickers. |
| Make sticker packs paid | Paid stickers, even if nominal pricing of $1, tend to get more active downloads. Free packs get downloaded but not used much. |
| Create bundles and combos | Offer bundles like 5 sticker packs for $3. Gives more value to users. |
| Marketing and promotions | Actively promote your stickers through social media, messaging forums, cross-promotions with other creators, and contests. |
| Build a creator brand | Develop an identity as a sticker artist that fans recognize and follow. |
The top sticker creators put in a lot of effort into constantly creating fresh sticker ideas, improving artwork quality, and growing their fanbase. They make sticker creation a full-time gig rather than just a side hobby.
What Kind of Income is Realistic?
Very few sticker artists can actually replace a full-time income with WhatsApp stickers alone. However, as a side hustle, some sticker creators manage to earn upto $3,000 a month.
On average, income from stickers may range from:
- $100 – $500 per month for hobbyists who do it sporadically.
- $500 – $2,000 per month for regular creators who put in effort.
- $2,000 – $5,000+ per month for the top creators who treat it as a business.
These amounts are before the 30% revenue share taken by the sticker app platforms. So the actual take-home will be around 60-70% of sales proceeds.
Only a very tiny fraction of creators are able to generate over $10,000 per month consistently. They have invested heavily into building a brand around their sticker artwork over years of effort.
For most people, sticker creation will not replace full-time income but can be a fun side hobby that brings in a bit of extra beer money every month!
Top Earning Sticker Packs
Here are some examples of top-grossing WhatsApp sticker packs that have managed to generate over $10,000 in revenue each:
| Sticker Pack | Creator | Estimated Earnings |
|---|---|---|
| Crying Laughing emoji stickers | Mojo | $15,000 |
| Nicholas Cage Memes | Sweltering Cheese | $12,000 |
| uomji Summertime bundle | uomji | $11,000 |
| Office Life Doodles | Doodle Factory | $13,500 |
| Cat Reaction Faces | Simple Cat | $10,500 |
As you can see, meme trends, funny reactions, emojis, and pop culture references tend to do very well when executed effectively. But the creators have invested a lot into building consistent artwork quality and branding.
Getting Started with Sticker Creation
If you want to try your hand at creating and selling WhatsApp stickers, here are some steps to get started:
- Download a sticker maker app like Sticker Maker, Stickerly, Giphy Stickers etc.
- Use graphic design software like Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop to create your sticker artboards.
- Import your artboards into the sticker app and add effects like cropping, zooming, trimming.
- Publish your sticker pack in the app store and add a clear title, description, tags etc.
- Consider a freemium pricing model – offer 10-20 stickers for free and charge for full bundle purchase.
- Market your stickers actively on messaging forums, social media, and WhatsApp groups. Run contests.
- Reinvest earnings into creating more packs and expanding distribution.
It takes time and consistent effort to build a revenue-generating sticker business. Very few manage to go full-time. But as a side hustle it can be a fun creative outlet that also earns you a bit of extra income.
Pros of Making WhatsApp Stickers
Some of the pros of trying to earn from WhatsApp stickers include:
- Wide reach – Over 2 billion monthly active WhatsApp users is a huge market.
- Low entry barriers – Easy to create and upload stickers, no major investment needed.
- Income adds up over time – Small amounts per sale but recurring passive income that builds up.
- Creatively rewarding – Express yourself through fun artwork and get feedback.
- Potential to go viral – Creating the next big meme sticker can blow up suddenly.
Cons of Making WhatsApp Stickers
Some of the cons to keep in mind are:
- No direct monetization – WhatsApp does not allow selling stickers directly on its platform.
- Revenue splits – Sticker apps take ~30% cut so creators don’t get all the money.
- Very competitive space – Hard to stand out amongst tens of thousands of sticker packs.
- Marketing costs and effort – Need to spend significant time and money on marketing & promotions.
- Low conversion rates – Many people unwilling to pay for stickers, or only collect free ones.
Wrapping Up
Selling custom WhatsApp stickers offers the opportunity for creative individuals to monetize their artwork while engaging with a community of users. However, becoming a full-time sticker artist is difficult – it requires tremendous persistence, marketing effort, and luck. For most people, sticker creation works better as a hobby or side hustle rather than a sole source of income. But with the right blend of stickers that resonate with users, clever promotion, and persistence, it’s possible for truly passionate creators to earn respectable amounts of secondary income.