For my first webcomic, it was the first webcomic for many of my long-time readers. I hung out in places related to my interests which of course were reflected in my comic. So while yes, the addictive webcomic reader is valuable, so are the ones that you bring into webcomics in general. So looking in non-comic places to promote your comic is a good idea.
People that tend to like my comics or art come from a heavy fantasy, anime, and roleplaying background, so those are good places for me to start when my fantasy-parody finally gets a decent buffer and web design. I'm already an active member in several such communities, and planning on joining some more. This is the kind of promotion I enjoy the most--put an banner in my sig and just talk away about the stuff I like. It gives more of a connection between me and my potential reader, and it's fun as well and gives me something to read while drawing.
Of course, I'll also be keeping an eye out for advertising spots in such communities as well. ;D
Sometimes it feels like a bit of a gamble to target an audience that would not normally read webcomics, but it can pay off.
Agreed, it is a gamble, but it certainly can work if you find the right place!
A good amount of my readers (who comment, at least) seem to be non- or infrequent webcomic readers, which is great and something I'd like to foster, but I've never been entirely sure how to go about doing it on purpose. The nature of most of my work is that it doesn't have any kind of niche theme, it's all about people getting drunk and making goofy faces, so my niche audience isn't just a non-webcomic readers but non-comic readers in general and I run into the problem of "Ew, comics? On the internet? No thanks!"
I keep on the lookout for music-related sites and resources, and I suppose a more targeted banner would be a good idea too. Other than that, I would love suggestions or ideas.
One idea I've thought about is targeting locations that would be comfortable to your demographic. If your audience usually goes to coffee houses or pubs, get some branded coasters for the tables and maybe work out an arrangement with the management.
*edit*Especially if the coffee house has free wifi.
You dont have to target comic people, just people who are interested in stuff your comic is about.
For example, a comic about fantasy could well gain reading advertising on a dungeons and dragons related site.
I've posted my comic on quite a few none comic related furry fandom sites for this purpose.
(I'm bracing myself for being mocked for that admition though!)
*mock mock mock*
Nah, I read Harkovast, as you know - and I've mentioned before that I don't even think of it as being "furry." I usually don't register that they're animal species really, other than just to tell different cultures apart.
Though I can see you getting a lot of traffic initally from furry sites ^.^
You have to take it where you can get it in this game!
Well, furry and D&D sites and the like might not be comic communities per se, but they're still part of fandom and not that far removed from comics. Advertising to them is kind of like advertising a book in a magazine...maybe not common, but not really outside the box. That kind of thing works less with comics about music or college life, the correlation of interests isn't that high.
I find Twitter's a really useful marketing vehicle for my target audience.
I have a number of quite well respected and followed geek-esque friends that kindly retweet my comic's twitter account posts, which tends to get the word out to some in the IT pro crowd that may not necessarily be webcomic readers.
I've also got a long-term plan to try and get some kind of unrelated single-panel comic going in our monthly organisational newsletter. Just a one-panel unrelated but topically relevant (to work) thing once a month that could potentially foster a bit of new local interest in my nebulous comic... stuff.
Don't know for sure if I will yet but I reckon I'll give it a go. You've got to make use of every potential advertising vector, eh?
Advertising to non-comic readers is a but of a mixed bag -- like introducing someone to booze for the first time, you'll get a new reader, but you also run the risk of them looking at other comics.
You really have two options for finding relatively loyal "virgin" comic readers:
- Find readers related to the content of your comic -- this reduces the odds they'll just start reading someone else's inane comic on a whim.
- Go to conventions. Most congoing folk are reasonably savvy, and you have a chance to impress them with more than "just" your comic, but also you as a person -- and if you're anywhere near personable, you'll be surprised how well this works.
Why would it be a bad thing if they started reading other comics?
And how is a convention a good place to find non-comic readers?
I think the idea is at many conventions have groups of people who wouldn't be in your "target" audience but who might still be receptive to your webcomic. For example, I don't write a furry comic but furries might still be interested in reading my comic and might respond well if I set up a table there.
Or, maybe the idea is to go to the Salvation Army's annual convention...
Quote from: Gibson on May 10, 2010, 05:20:47 AM
Why would it be a bad thing if they started reading other comics?
Mostly from a distraction-related point of view.
Most of these new readers may only be able to keep up with a few sites at a time, so at least initially you want them to focus on yours so they have half a chance of reading the dang thing.
Forgive me, but that seems like a particularly craven way of looking at your audience. That logic leads to other webcomic creators doing their best to keep readers away from you and all of us resenting any others of us. I'd rather have as much cross-promotion going on as possible, share as much of my audience with other creators as I can and trust that they'll stick with me as long as what I do isn't total crap.
The internet is hugemongous. There is more than enough audience to go around I think and with convention attendance booming so far this year it seems that the audience is only growing. Competing for eyeballs on the internet is like competing for sand grains on the beach. There are so many and just because you ;eft a footprint doesn't mean I can't walk on the same path.
I think the day Webcomics are competing for ratings is going to be a sad day indeed. And I'm not talking about those voting things for Topwebcomics like sites. That stuff is for fun for the most part. I'm talking about really competing... watching the other guys and trying to steal as much of their audience as possible. To be honest, considering it takes about ten seconds to read the average comic I cannot even see a real competition happening. But I do think it would be a bad thing.
I like to think of webcomics as an a la carte menu. People sample many different things and fill their plate with what they like. The trick is to get as many people to the buffet as possible; and then let the feeding frenzy begin.
;)
Quote from: Gibson on May 14, 2010, 11:23:41 AM
Forgive me, but that seems like a particularly craven way of looking at your audience. That logic leads to other webcomic creators doing their best to keep readers away from you and all of us resenting any others of us. I'd rather have as much cross-promotion going on as possible, share as much of my audience with other creators as I can and trust that they'll stick with me as long as what I do isn't total crap.
I'll gladly cross-promote you, Gibson.
This thread is actually reminding me that the links I have on PoY to other comics are horribly out of date...one or two of them no longer update, and others update so infrequently that it's almost shameful. I was going to wait until the redesign, but now I'm thinking I should throw something together quickly.
Concerning cross-promotion: it kind of has its ups and downs. On one hand, if you've got a big comic with tons of ad revenue, it might help keep the 'supply' of links low and their value high. There aren't *too* many comics like this, though - sore thumbs, sinfest, and QC, I suppose, make enough money to actually care about this.
However, if you aren't horribly concerned about a potential difference in ad income, cross-promoting is the way to go. Cross-promotion, by getting the names of many comics out to many readers, is more likely to cause people to read the comics of the highest quality that interest them most. If you are confident in your comic, cross-promoting is the way to go. I've gotten only positive results so far from linking to and being linked from my peers in my news posts.
I haven't really ventured much into the realm of cross-promotion in many years. It's something I've been wanting to try.
As for "vote for me" webcomics lists, I haven't seen the point (for me) to be honest. I'd rather focus on organically growing my audience through a combination of fun content, a smidge of paid-for advertising, word of mouth and maybe a lucky break. We'll see ;D
From what I've heard from other members the "vote for me stuff" actually works really well if you put the effort into it. ;)
Topwebcomcs.com has been one of my top referers. Its like advertising. Plus, it builds interest. If someone votes for your comic they're more likely to remember and return to it.
I am WAY low on the TWC list and I get traffic from it all the time. I've been and I guess continue to be high on the WebcomicZ list and I get mad traffic from that. Lately, I've started tracking a lot from Belfry Comics too. People definitely look through those lists, so even if you don't really want to put in a lot of effort with them (I haven't yet) it's worth it to join them and throw the link on your page.