Webcomics Marketing Strategies : Forums

Discussion Forums
Part of a 13 part series: Exploring Webcomics Marketing Strategies

Webcomics are successful because they have an army of patrons who want to see it become successful. Community is a successful webcomics life blood. Fostering that community should be priority one for the creator. One of the best ways to foster that sense of community is to have a forum on your website...

• They allow the patrons to share their common experience with your webcomic
• It also allows you to interact with them
• It gives them a sense of belonging and contributing in a positive way
• Adds credibility to your website
• You get to know the people who enjoy your site
• Adds usable, sellable advertising space

Here are some great articles on the benefits of forums:

Pros and Cons of Forums
Forum "Sticky" Factor

Hosting and free forums are all over the place. The most common one is phpBB, a forum built on open source php technology that you can download to your server. They also offer hosting.

If you don't have a server but you have an online comic you can also get a free forum service over at TalkAboutComics.com. Here are the instructions for getting one.

So off with you, create your online army marching to battle for you ;)