Advertising Help

Kariharan

I want to know the best places to advertise my new webcomic. It's a manga style comic, updates twice a week, and has (at time of typing) 21 pages up. So can anyone suggest to me some good sites and forums for me to advertise in. This is my comic: http://chaoschronicles.tk/

chrcontagious

I don't know if you've tried all the various webcomic listings/vote sites, but here are some for starters:

http://topwebcomics.com/
https://www.comic-rocket.com/
http://belfrycomics.net/
http://www.thewebcomiclist.com/

I also actually started a thread here on Ink for more creative advertising ideas, here it is:
http://inkoutbreak.com/forum/discussion/67/creative-advertising#Item_18

Kariharan

Thanks, big help :D

Keeeng

I would suggest the banner exchange on here, it does really well for some comics.

unclerobot

I'd also suggest http://www.projectwonderful.com if you have at least ten posts.

You can also get $100 in free advertising from Google and Bing just for starting accounts with them. Limit your ad budget to $5-$10 per day and obviously it's not going to last long, but it's free.

For a few bucks you can also run a limited Facebook ad campaign.

You might also try posting on reddit in the comics subreddit.

observetoexist

Yeah projectwonderful is the best way to go, but like @unclerobot said, you should really make sure you have at least ten or twenty posts in the archive before running a campaign.

Honestly I think Twitter and Facebook are still really good for reader outreach and retention (in that order). If you can really work the social media angle, theres a good chance you'll find that the majority of your referrals come from those two sites.

unclerobot

How do you use Twitter? I had always been told/heard that you shouldn't use Twitter to just post your strip announcements. That it should be more conversational and viral almost?

observetoexist

@unclerobot See, the thing about Twitter is that EVERYONE is using it for their own selfish reasons. Its hard for us webcomic creators to adopt that as our own mantra, because I've found that most of us tend to be genuinely nice people. But if you want to use twitter effectively, you have to accept that or you'll spend too much time feeling bad about its self-serving nature. So, yes, I think its appropriate and indeed necessary to post your strip announcements on Twitter. I mean, honestly, everyone else is doing it.

There are many ways to use any service like twitter, but I think if you're new to the game and aren't ALREADY famous, its a little silly to have a twitter account in the hopes that your work will go viral, because, in the end, you don't NEED an account for your webcomic to go viral on twitter. If it does go viral it will be because of OTHER people tweeting your work.

But this is assuming you want to actively put your comic out there. For me, Twitter has two purposes, free advertising and meaningful networking. For you it could just be the latter, and thats fine too.

AlienShoresBand

For me Twitter has been great for networking - I've met a lot of friendly & helpful webcomickers there. I think I have or will gain a few readers just from my new friends retweeting me when I post. I don't expect to get a ton of new readers, but it's been worth joining for the networking for sure.

AnarchicQ

Never heard of Comic-rocket before. Thanks for that.

rawr

Strategic advertising on Project Wonderful might be worth a shot (as unclerobot suggested above).

Needn't break a the bank either. Put away $5-10 and run a special one-day campaign. Sometimes can bring surprisingly good results.

I'm kind of on the wall about Reddit. It does bring traffic, but not always for the right reasons, and I sometimes feel that only certain types of content will do well there. Free to try out though, so no harm in trying.

Would also suggest Scribol.

prydonian

Yeah, reddit works only for comics like Oatmeal or the like. The more offensive, insensitive and a crass, the better. That's what they love. And, of course, you don't have to draw, either. Just copy/paste lots of rage-faces and other internet memes, and you'll be a HUGE winner.
They used to LOVE anime and manga on reddit, but it's moved towards offensive stuff, and has a major Brony subculture. Reddit is just a little more matured version of 4chan.

Stumbleupon used to be okay, but this past year or so, it's become useless for promoting webcomics. It's also a nightmare to navigate. Digg is even worse. Don't even waste your time with the new myspace.

Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook are the main social media outlets to push your webcomic. I agree with what some of you are saying about how self-centered Twitter is, but that is what is is there for. Believe me, I'd rather see thousands of links for webcomics on it, rather than the insipid and mind-rotting stupidity that most pseudo-celebrities crap out of their minds every waking second of their existences.

On a more physical level, get some business cards banged out, and take them with you to conventions. Don't throw them around. Hand them out when you meet other webcomic readers, and other artists, but do it only after chatting with them, and hand the card over before you move on. Also give some to your local comicbook stores, but only if you know them well enough. Don't go into stores you don't regularly visit and leave any, as they'll wind up going straight into the bin.

Other than that, let word of mouth from your readers be your strongest advert. Your readers will be your strongest evangelists and promoters. Treat them with kindness and care, and they will be your greatest asset.

Howdy, Stranger!

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