Alternative ways to promote your webcomic?

[Zak]

I've been trying to get out of my comfort zone and try to engage more on social media and generally try to open up from my "shy" side when it comes to creatively posting/discussing art. I have also recently been looking into different methods of sneakily promoting my webcomic as well on different social platforms.

I've seen a bunch where people talk about their original characters online. (Although most of them are slice of life genres, BL, and romance.) Others are just making gifs of whatever. And Im trying to think what could work for me, rather than just general. As Id like to open up more, be more social as such.

I know there's already posts asking the same thing. But it mostly just devolves into "Man if only I can do this" and "Marketting and social media makes me depressed." Understandable of course. But I wanted to know what others do that are fun.

Pretty much, I want to know if anyone just draws their characters doing things and posting it and getting hits, or something where they're not trying to promote but just generally enjoying drawing their own characters or stuff relating to their story so I can get some different ideas for me to try out if that makes sense in the way?

I also guess too that Im thinking of the ulterior motive of getting followers too this way, because I hear on the grapevine having fun will draw in people as well. Sorry if Im rambling, pretty much I just want to discuss with other creative minds about this topic and I got so many ideas that my mouth can't keep up with my brain haha. ^^;

Been thinking of mixing it up too with my own so if I can pick other's brains. Well maybe that might be useful!

Thanks!

[darthmongoose]

The trick really is to look for where your audience are. First thing to do, look at what other comics your subscribers have in their libraries, and take note of the most commonly occurring popular ones. Then follow the links through their profiles where possible and see how they market themselves, and where they seem to have the biggest following. Then try to do something similar, using similar platforms, styles of ad and hashtags etc.

The thing is, looking at how a BL creator who makes sexy Omegaverse stuff does it isn't going to help you because they're going to be promoting to a completely different audience from you. My partner, who makes a sexy LGBTQ+ romance novel tried advertising on Instagram and it worked amazingly, getting them hundreds of subs, but when I tried with my wholesome LGBTQ+ action comic, it was almost useless! Not all platforms are equally good for all series.

A useful thing to try though is banner swaps. Find some friends with similar audiences, ideally around your own level so it's a fair exchange, and make some nice banners advertising your comics, then take it in turns to advertise each other using a banner below the comic, a clickable link and then a description of why you think your readers will like it. It really does work, especially for more niche comics, because chances are, your readers want more stuff like yours and struggle to find it.

[Zak]

I might try the banner swap. Although mines animated so Idk if it would work? So Id have to try it out;

Finding people similar to mine might be a bit difficult since some close friends of mine that I network with and generally have a good time with are doing stories WAY WAY different to mine. Its hard to find folks of being similar and being the "same level" is difficult too. ^^;

I will actually use your advice of seeing about audience/readers and seeing what they like and have a look see though!

I've just been on a binge today of learning to promote better, like videos and such. Again, I feel like my story in terms of readers/subs has hit its peak and feeling pretty. Whats the word... I guess stuck?

Also, alotta advice say "When people are awake" which is hard to figure out too lol.

Thanks for commenting!

[AmazementComics]

This advice is phenomenal. I’ve been on tapas for 6 years and I’ve been struggling to find those creators who have similar action stories like mine. Since it’s clear to me that my brand of comics are on the fringes compared to the more popular stories on the platform.

I hope these methods work for me. Thanks.

[Zak]

Welp. Came back from taking a gander. Most of the popular ones are paid Tapas comics which I cannot view in my country for some reason. I guess Korea stuff. Most libraries are hidden. Alot of Witches Throne seems WAY outta my league to copy. Busty women in other ones. Or NSFW.

So that was eventful. lol

And I dont know what to do about it. Haha.

[wispysing]

As someone whose stuff is (I feel) quite niche, I get what you're feeling. An advice I've often received was to post consistently on social media, and as a shy person, social media stresses me out a lot, so I usually just drop a couple of posts every now and then and run. I'll admit, it's helped gained a little more exposure, though.

Collabs, art trades, and events help a lot with networking and finding people who are interested in the same niche. It doesn't have to be genre-based, though–as some people may have multiple other interests besides the genre they publish their works in. I find RPing sometimes helps too, as your characters can establish connections with others and you're having fun while doing it.

Speaking of which, Artfight is starting in a month, so that's also something to go for.

[thepenmonster]

banner swaps

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

[Zak]

I could try Artfight but last one I was in didn't land me any readers. Friends for sure though which is always a plus for me.

Ive been thinking about art trades and someone also suggested collabs but I dont know the specifics of those, if its story cross overs or something.

RPing is fun, but timezones are a bane for me on that regard and hasn't gotten passed much on that.

I post weekly updates on socials when my comics scheduled, but I do want to try and go further than that if I can, I just hope I can do the things other are doing and not seem weird that I am doing it. ^^;

Thanks for the comment!

[TheLemmaLlama]

Here's some stuff I wrote elsewhere on the internet about alternate promotion methods:

I haven't exactly got to a point in my comic where I'd want to put these into action yet^, so I've got no proof it works, but here's some stuff I can't help but feel is overlooked:

• Posting snippets of your comic in relevant communities. For instance, got a nice-looking panel of your characters doing something chill? Remove the dialogue and post it on r/ImaginarySliceOfLife! Character went on a monologue about why they have a problem with work? Post it on r/antiwork!

• Incentivise fannish activities. For instance, I see a lot of Q&As and fanart contests for milestone events, but what about an essay/analysis writing contest** or an event where your readers add stuff to your TvTropes page?

---

^ These tips kind of rely on already having got the ball rolling to some extent; having enough comic published, for instance, or having at least one or two readers dedicated enough to participate in moderately high-effort events

** I feel this is more helpful for building your fanbase just based on my personal experience of having gotten into a few shows/games/etc from watching discussion/analysis videos about them, but I've rarely if ever gotten into something by seeing fanart of the thing that I don't know about (I plan to do this once I finish by 3rd arc, when there's enough material to analyse; everyone who writes an essay/analysis gets entered into a draw (50% chance of winning) for a coloured sketch sketch by me)

Also this, though it's a joke answer (unless it's just what I want you to think ... )

What Were Your Craziest Promotion Ideas?

1. Offer my services to a small cult and be their propaganda officer
2. The cultists would probably read my main comic
3. ???
4. Profit

---

I want to know if anyone just draws their characters doing things and posting it and getting hits

Again, I don't really have personal experience to back this up, but I feel like you're more likely to get hits from original content if it's in an uncommon medium (e.g. songs, animations, short games? just drawings are quite common though and unlikely to get attention). Though those mediums are uncommon for a reason, most likely being very labour intensive and/or an uncommon skillset among webcomic artists ^^;

[Zak]

Thanks for replying!

I understand most of it; And Id really like to try them out. But as you said in some of those points, You really need people active on it to incentivise people doing it. Which I don't unfortunately. Nearly 200 subs and they're quiet or non existant. So Im unsure if those will work for me? My story appears to be one of those, "Ah yeah, thats cool - Like" and then move onto something else. Or not even that most days.

Yeah, I suppose thats the case too. Just I see alot of people liking other creators original content (research, following friends and so on.) And they get so much praise and admiration; It just feels like people know the characters because they geniunely like it or they're just really good friends with those people.

I wouldn't say I am not jealous; But when I try something it just...doesn't work? Idk. Might be me I suppose. ^^;

Thanks for the comment though! I appretiate you taking the time out of your day to say your opinions!