Who’s Your Comic’s Target Audience?

[Tieback]

When writing my comic’s story, I didn’t have a specific audience in mind, I just created a story I found interesting. When I looked at the finished plot, it reminded me of a Disney film (based on a fairytale, but lighthearted with a little comedy) When I think of who Disney’s audience is, I picture mostly kids, some teens, and a few young women. (I could be totally wrong, but that’s what comes to mind.) So naturally, I assumed most of my readers would also be kids/teens/woman. However, I just checked out the Demographics breakdown for my comic’s website, curtesy of Google Analytics, and to my surprise most of my followers are men ages 25 - 34. Mind Blown….!

If anyone reading this falls in this demographic (Male, age 25-34) would you be so kind to take a peak at my comic, and briefly let me know if you like it and why? I’m just surprised, and I’d like to understand why guys age 25-34 like or don’t like it. Thanks so much!

www.archerandthesquirrelcomic.com

In regards to your own comic:
Who do you think your comic’s target audience is? This can be supper specific (Age, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Class, Race, Religion….) or more vague. Also did you start your comic with a specific target audience in mind, or maybe you figured out as you went? When you figured out who was following your comic, were you surprised?

[J.Lovelace]

Due to my comics having mostly bold themes, I often mention they're meant for mature audience. Some of my works work well for any age range though. But I guess my final statement will be: anyone who isn't an aggressive homophobe and legal enough to view the mature content is pretty much my main target audience :'D

[AnnaLandin]

I created Grassblades because that's the story I wanted to tell. I didn't particulary worry about target audience when I started out.

As it shook out, though, I believe my target audience, age-wise, would be somewhere around 15 and up. It's not inappropriate for younger audiences, but there is a fair amount of violence and blood in it, and the story it tells is.... mature? That makes it sound like it's all blood and guts and sex, and it isn't - it's just... It's a story about a man living with the consequences of an old trauma, and being haunted by mistakes he's made, and how the world around him reacts to that. Its central mechanic also hinges on a parent-child relationship.

It asks a bit more of a grown-up approach by the readers, I suppose.

... as it is, though, it seems my readers have a fairly wide age-range, and spans all genders and races and (assume) various sexual orientations and religious affiliations.

[hushicho]

It's always kind of funny to see more of a real demographic, whether through the audience making itself known, or through statistics; the latter may not be entirely accurate, due to reliance on volunteering honest information, but it's still kind of fascinating either way.

When I started Incubus Tales, I had a specific demographic in mind that I thought I would get from the comic. That was not at all the demographic I ended up reaching. Nowadays, I really don't give too much thought to a demographic. I am basically just grateful for the audience I get from my work. It's honestly almost never the audience you think you'll be reaching or getting from your work that is the audience you end up cultivating, according to both my own experience and the experience of several other creators I know. It's always a surprise, and that can be kind of a thrill and a joy!

[joannekwan]

Target demographic = me

But really, I never produce anything with a target audience in mind, like I think certain groups would be interested, but you never really know. So I mostly write/draw for myself, and anyone else who wants to join me for the ride is welcome.

As far as I know, I have mid-late teens to late 30-somethings reading my stuff.

[ChipGod]

Dammitt! That's what I was gonna say!

[indagold]

I'd think teens to adults would be interested in my work? Though my last few comics had been designed to be odd and surreal that attracted a lot of weirdos haha....

[Down_the_Rabbithole]

I don't really see my target audience as an age group, rather an interest group. Ergo, people who like whimsical fantasy mixed with horror. I don't put in any swearing, overly-sexual stuff, or intense gore to make it as accessible to as many people as possible. So long as they can stomach creepy stuff, that is.

[shaneoid77]

I'm in the same boat as @Down_the_Rabbithole, I think of my comic as aimed at general Superhero fans. Maybe 16+ due to suggestive content. Night Twink may also have an appeal to the LGBT audience, or people looking for something different from the BL scene. Maybe it's a thing with Webcomics, as you're best off doing something you love yourself, and see who it works for beyond that, demographics aren't going to be such a big thing. Just a thought.

[agentfink]

Not really a target audience in mind, I'm writing what interests me. As far as audience, I have no idea how young it starts, but I know the range of mid 20's to 30's and up like what I'm doing.

[Doubtcent]

Just as you've noticed, being lighthearted and comedic has a place for everyone, not just kids and young women.

For my own comic, I just hope to hit anyone willing to read it. I really don't know who would like it, because I certainly do, and that's really all that matters in creating anything. If anyone wants to join in with me, go ahead! I'm all for it.

The only thing though that I tend to shoot for is "could I show my kids this"? I try not to be vulgar or use profanity, so that I can be experienced by all ages. I really don't know what group I'm specifically shooting for.

[spadesart]

i write stories i would want to read tbh

[R.n.P]

My target audience are action comic and shonen manga fans but when it comes to age I guess I'm targeting audiences from about13 years old and above
But people that like comics about adventure would probably like my comic too I guess since its featured in a fictional earth with different n unique societies and environments
THE LAST SAMURAI

[dojo]

Mine are 100% just created for me. When I worried about what the audience might think I found I wasn't getting anywhere with it. But when I started using it to cope with stuff and found it was actually helping, I dove in headfirst. Knowing that there's others out there who might be able to relate on some level is just a bonus. (So I guess in a way mine are geared at people who have also gone through similar heavy things that I don't see often get addressed in the media world)

[VermillionWorks]

Daniel is for whomever can tolerate gore, horror, and vampires. XD It's pretty clear it's not for kiddies, but other than that I don't really care.

I created Grassblades because that's the story I wanted to tell. I didn't particulary worry about target audience when I started out.

This. I knew it would be for a adults though. XP With horror I kind of...don't consider holding back an option, so making it for teens or something didn't even cross my mind.

[shazzbaa]

I guess I'd say "it's created for me" but not in the sense that I don't care about audience; more in the sense that I tend to imagine the audience as just, a whole bunch of me's, and that's who I'm writing for. So, I do think of a hypothetical audience and imagine whether or not they'd enjoy it while I'm writing, but the question essentially turns out to be "would I enjoy this if I were reading it?"

A few years ago, I was trying to figure out why I had sold way more books at this big anime con than I had at a big indie con that same year (weird, since my comic is not remotely manga), and the best explanation I could think of was the age of the audience -- indie cons tend to attract a slightly older crowd, while anime cons have a lot more teenagers. I thought about it and realised Runewriters probably is targeted at people a bit younger than I am now; like I'm writing a story to my highschool self.

[respheal]

I'm also in the camp of "I wrote this story because I want to read it." I came up with this story when I was 18-ish, and at that time I was mostly interested in seinen manga (still am). So it makes sense that, when I check out Google Analytics, it breaks down like:
73% male
53% 18-24 years old
27% 25-34
Unintentionally, I wound up creating a "target audience" that consists of bunch of people with similar interests.
So yeah, even if you're creating something for yourself, there's still an audience that's more than just you, because there's gonna be tons of people with similar interests who might not have the time or patience to create a story themselves.

[RueCalintz]

I'm in your reading demographic, not target one. I like the colouring and art, feels natural. Most comics colouring now are just done through photoshop.

And as to why your comic skews toward that demographic as opposed to female or kids, not sure. Your comic spends quite a bit of time establishing atmosphere, thus possibly pushing away the kids, I would hazard a guess on the female demographic based on what I've seen elsewhere around the net, but nah.

[phen]

I love seeing that a lot of solid indie webcomic creators are spurred on to create in order to appease themselves. THAT IS SO CRUCIAL and probably just the way things swing when you're an indie creator. It helps to be genuine, to present your work as if you've gotta win over your toughest audience (invariably yourself)!

So yeah, of course my work is mainly created to challenge and give introspect to myself. However, I think outside of that my target demographic would be late teens/early adulthood. There's No Such Thing as Jason revolves around issues of apprehension in placing your footing as you cross the "real world" threshold. This as a target came about from the first story, as I was writing on prompt to siphon things through a different perspective.

So getting at different perspectives has been so awesome as the comic reaches different people in different ways. I MUST get a proper website dedicated to it, I really wanna experiment with Google Analytics~!

[Greg_Dickson]

Don't Be A Hero is made for an audience with more wild, fantastical imaginations. My work is pretty bizarre, while still having a good emphasis on writing/dialogue/character development/plot. Basically, it's for the action fans who want to see over-the-top fights and situations, sprinkled with humour. I mean, where else are you going to see fights involving a guitar-playing necromancer, a Canadian robot werewolf, a man that's a bottle of beer, and so forth? I really do create the series for myself, because I want to write/draw what I'm personally really invested in. I realize that a large percentage of people want more grounded, serious stories, but I'm happy to appease the people who do want something nutter butters.