Marketing a comic is not just spamming your audience with constant variations of “BUY MY COMIC!” It’s about connecting with the right people and communicating with them in a way that makes them receptive to your message. It is not a demand for compliance. It is a display of value.
But comic book marketing in the United States is also unique because there are additional hurdles that prevent a publisher from attracting prospective readers and transforming them into long-term fans. This post will use the GlobalComix exclusive comic Welcome to Mina’s from Cloudscape Comics to explore both the challenges facing modern comics and offer some suggestions for how to overcome them.
The Challenges to Comic Book Marketing
Barriers to entry: Comics have inherent cultural roadblocks that discourage the uninitiated from reading them. If you have spent years immersed in the subculture, walking into a shop or scanning titles online might be second nature to you because of your comic book literacy, but there are fundamental questions facing a new reader, including
- What types of comics are available besides superhero comics?
- Where can I buy comics?
- Why should I read comics instead of watching comic content on TV?
- How do you even read a comic book page?
The solution here is education. If you can help your potential market gain comic book literacy, they could be more likely to join your target market. You can provide this assistance in several ways. You can become an educational resource, showing them the power and diversity of comics as well as the fundamentals of the medium.
Using Welcome to Mina’s as an example, Cloudscape could show how comics tackle social issues, express culture, and expose stories that can’t be found anywhere else. By sharing titles like Contract with God, Maus and They Called Us Enemy, Cloudscape can introduce new readers to the magic of comic books.
Competition from other media: Your ideal reader potentially consumes stories from several different sources, including television, film, and social media. Because they have a limited amount of time, fighting for their attention becomes a challenge. But the relationship between comics and other media can be complementary instead of combative. A comic positioned in the right way can ride the wave of public consciousness and raise their profile.
For example, Mina’s deals with discrimination against Asians, gentrification, and the struggles of small business. All three of these subjects are regular elements of the news cycle and public awareness. That synergy can be used to Cloudscape’s advantage.
Higher prices for consumption: Your ideal reader can arguably get more entertainment value for a lower cost by choosing other forms of media over comics because economies of scale drive down the cost of a mass-market product.
Let’s think about the ideal reader who might be interested in an urban crime superhero story like Daredevil. In 2021, a premium subscription to Netflix costs $13. With that monthly payment, your ideal reader can currently get thirty-six episodes of Daredevil, plus dozens of hours of related Marvel Netflix shows, plus hundreds of hours of comic-related entertainment, as well as thousands of hours of additional viewing options. By contrast, that same $13 will get your ideal reader 3 single issues of the current Daredevil 22-page comic.
The solution here is to take advantage of the lower costs of digital distribution and the rise of comic book subscriptions. For example, Mina’s is a GlobalComix exclusive and GlobalComix offers unlimited reading of over 5,000 comics for a subscription price of $7.99. This means readers interested in Mina’s can take advantage of the same economies of scale as other subscription services and enjoy a story they can’t get anywhere else.
Isolated distribution: For the past forty years, American comics have been available primarily in comic book shops, or what is referred to as the direct market. There are three modern problems with this historical system. First, there are only about 2,000 shops scattered across the country. Second, each shop caters to a specific local audience and most potential readers will never step foot in a comic shop. Finally, many comic shops only carry books from the major publishers and don’t carry any independent comics like Mina’s.
The solution again lies in embracing modern technology. For example, GlobalComix is a web-based digital distribution system. This means publishers like Cloudscape can place links to the book on social media, in their newsletter, and on their website. Potential readers can click one link and start reading the story without the friction of having to go to a store, download an app or do anything else besides enjoying the story.
Perception stigma: Unlike movies, television, and books, comics suffer from the inaccurate historical image of being a medium primarily for children or losers. Although the success of comic book-related media has reduced this falsehood in recent years, the narrow image of comics is a barrier to growth.
As a comic book publisher, you can help change the image of comics by becoming an advocate for the medium. This goes beyond acting as a spokesperson for your comic and becoming a champion for comics in general. You can engage in discussions with your potential market that comics are not just for children or even for a certain type of adult. You can educate people that comics are simply another way to tell a story, using aspects of their ideal reader profile to capture their attention. You can expand their definition of comics beyond superheroes to all the other types of stories comics have to offer.
This would be a natural strength for a book like Mina’s. Because the book tackles history, society, and relationships in a subtle and thoughtful way, it can be a natural champion for comics as a legitimate form of narrative art, which can go a long way in reducing the stigma of comics overall.
Established patterns of behavior: Most of America does not currently read comics on a regular basis and the people who do read comics already have their favorites. Also, most of America is used to having potential entertainment pushed at them in a dozen different directions. They don’t have to go and hunt for it. They don’t have to order most of their entertainment in advance and then show up at a specific place on Wednesday to get it. When you ask people to change their behavior to consume your story both in terms of buying and consuming, you make it easier for them to just avoid your work completely and stick to their established pattern.
A title like Welcome to Mina’s can leverage modern patterns of behavior by showing up where potential readers already spend time. By appearing in social media groups that they frequent and becoming a part of conversations they are already having, Cloudscape can become a natural part of their potential reader's media consumption, offering a seamless transition from a new idea to a familiar face.
Have fun with your comic.
Gamal