Last week, we analyzed the Cloudscape anthology Welcome to Mina’s to build a story synopsis, define an ideal reader and identify the competition for the comic.
This week, I’ll suggest some tactics for how a book like Mina’s can find the right audience and build a strong following without spending a lot of marketing dollars.
Keywords: Any words used to classify or organize digital content or to facilitate an online search for information are referred to as keywords. Because people gravitate towards groups and communities online that reflect their interests, you can use keywords to find the specific group you are trying to reach. And because every comic appeals to a distinct demographic, psychographic, and other factors, the goal here is to use the keywords of your comic to find the right group of potential readers.
When we look at an anthology like Mina’s there are several keywords we can pick out based on the synopsis and ideal reader analysis from last week.
- Demographic: Canadian, API (Asian & Pacific Islander)
- Psychographic: progressive, small business, struggling artist, gentrification, racism, relationships
- Genre: Canadian history and literature
Social Media Groups: There are dozens of social media platforms and each one has millions of users that a comic book publisher can connect to for little or no money. Creative use of the keywords from your story can lead you to a relatively large and untapped source of potential readers. As an example, I used Facebook to find ten groups related to Mina’s keywords and found more than 168,000 potential readers, but this exercise can be replicated on any social media platform.
- Canadians against Asian Racism (104 members)
- Supporting Canadian Literature (419 members)
- Canadian Content in Speculative Art and Literature (617 members)
- Story of Life (Slice of Life stories) (3,400 members)
- Asians Now (13,000 members)
- Canadian History (11,000 members)
- Art in Canada (15,000 members)
- Women Small Business Support (19,000 members)
- Artists Against Racism (21,000 members)
- Small Business Owners United (85,000 members)
Notice that there is a spectrum in the number of members for each group. This is by design. It is easier to get the attention and engage a smaller group, but there is a finite number of people who can be reached. On the other end of the spectrum, a large group can reach more people, but it is harder to be noticed amid all the competing voices. We’ve found that a balance between small and large groups is the best compromise.
The major benefit of this target market is that they represent new potential readers of comics. This list doesn’t attempt to lure existing comic readers away from their favorite superhero book or manga. It engages an audience that identifies with the message contained in the comic and not just the medium.
Of course, you can’t expect 100% of this market to like, read or even notice Mina’s. No marketing push is 100% effective. But even if only 2-5% of this potential audience became exposed to the artists and stories in Mina’s, that would still mean around five thousand new readers without spending any marketing dollars.
You also can’t expect to join each one of these groups and just start demanding people read your comic. Next week, we’ll explore engagement techniques and tactics for overcoming barriers to acceptance.
Until then, have fun with your comic.
Gamal