Building an Audience for Your Webcomic – It is All About the Tribe!

The landscape of webcomics is rapidly changing. With each passing day, there are more and more webcomic creators competing for readers’ eyeballs, which makes is it even harder to standout. Which makes it harder to monetize an online comic. The few platforms (like Webtoon and Tapas) that do try to help creators earn a living, are targeted at a very specific genre and demographic. If your comic is not a romance story drawn in manga style, good luck getting any traction on those platforms. So, what is a webcomic creator to do? It is all about the tribe!

In his bestselling book, “Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us”, Seth Godin gives maybe one of the best inspirational insights into what it takes to gain a market for whatever you hope to sell. What his argument comes down to, is that if you are hoping to build any successful business, you have to think in terms of building long-term connections with people who will end up being your loyal “tribe”.  A tribe that will go through thick and thin in supporting all their leader’s endeavors. He defines a tribe as “any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader and an idea.” For webcomics, the tribe is built around the comics, the readers and the cartoonist (who is the leader).

So, how does a webcomic creator go about building their tribe?

1. Posting Comic Updates on Social Media Platforms

A creator should make the effort to find a social media platform which will be perfectly suited for their webcomics. Starting out, they should post on as many platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Tik-tok, Twitter, Tumblr etc.) as possible, and see where they gain a loyal fan base. As soon as they gain positive traction with one platform, stick with that platform.

2. Engage. Engage. Engage!

The creator should not only post their work on those platforms, they should also engage with their readers. Today’s webcomic readers want to feel a personal connection with the creators. They want to know that their leader (the cartoonist) shares their passions, understands them, empathizes with them and can share the occasional laugh with them. Readers will have no interest in building a community around a leader that looks down her nose at them.

3. Regularity

As an online comic creator, there is an unspoken contract with the reader. That you will make it your priority to post comic updates on a regular schedule. If you break that contract, chances are next to none that you will build any kind of a tribe. Long hiatuses will simply not cut it. Miss an update, and your readers will give up on you as a leader on move on to the next one. The only path to a loyal tribe is a regular, frequent posting schedule.

4. Be weird and authentically you.

Online readers can very easily tell if you are not being authentic. They will not like a leader whose personality is just an act, without a true passion for the comic’s art style, characters, genre or subject matter. If your sole goal as creator is the unlikely ‘riches, fame and glory’ that your hope to gain, your readers will suss that out real quick! So, don’t pick out a comic genre simply because it is popular. Choose something that you genuinely feel passionate about. If you are true to who you are, your followers will effortlessly be drawn to your passion and will view you as an endearing leader they can identify with and be loyal to. They will forever be your tribe!

Happy tooning!