How Promotional Content Can Drive Webtoon Readership and Sales

Key Takeaways:

• In the years after the pandemic and globalization, webtoons continue to shine internationally thanks to webtoon promotional content.

• Webtoon promotional content helps webtoons gain more visibility and stand out in a crowded market, successfully leading to webtoon sales growth.

• Some promotional content that works best for webtoons are teasers and trailers, character reveals, sneak peeks, fan art, early access, and hashtag campaigns.

• Webtoons may be promoted through social networking sites, Reddit, YouTube, webtoon platforms, and comic-cons.

Table of Contents:

• The Importance of Promotional Content for Webtoons

• Types of Promotional Content That Work Best for Webtoons

• Best Platforms for Promoting Webtoon

• CCCI: Expert Manga and Webtoon Services

In the years after the pandemic and globalization, webtoons continue to shine internationally thanks to webtoon promotional content. Webtoon is the new tool for Hallyu, or Korean Wave, in South Korea where it originated as made-for-smartphones digital comics. Talk-of-the-town K-Dramas like True Beauty, Sweet Home, and All Of Us Are Dead were first known as webtoons in Naver, a Korean online platform. 

According to the available data, the global market size for webtoons in 2024 reached $8.24 billion, and within 2022-2030, the webtoon sales growth is at 36.8%. Currently, Naver’s Webtoon has 82 million global users. These figures are possible because of the promotional content, which was utilized to increase webtoon readership.

As a manga and webtoon expert, CCCI brings you today the importance of digital comics promotion. Subsequently, you’ll learn how to promote your webtoon through the proper channels and grow your audience. Scroll for more!

Imagine being in a metaphorical market wherein the vendors sell the same things as you, how would you stand out? Of course, with ads and campaigns! Webtoon promotional content helps webtoons gain more visibility and stand out in a crowded market, successfully leading to webtoon sales growth.

There are three things to remember about how webtoon marketing strategies are important. First, it makes your webtoon visible – which anticipates audience growth and brand recognition. With the right kind of buzz, potential fans would look forward, and existing fans would expect more projects to come.

Second, advertisements and similar content maximize the exposure of the webtoon, and in the long run, it sustains engagement and retention from audiences. Third, when the webtoon is recognized and well-received by the audiences, it fosters community-building, strengthening connections among fans and potential audiences. And even then, promotional content can generate income as it also offers monetization opportunities!

Pro-tip: On how to promote your webtoon — start with comic-focused sites. What better way to encourage your webtoon than to get it in front of comic enthusiasts, right?

• Teasers and Trailers. Consists of brief, attention-grabbing videos and banners, which are usually released before the debut of a webtoon, a major plot twist, or even the season finale. This type of promotional content creates the first buzz, that first impression, of what to expect with the webtoon.
• Character Spotlight and Art Reveals. It is usually social media postings to sustain the buzz. This type of promotional content introduces new characters or new story arcs, which connect characters to audiences. Creators can also share trivia and fun facts about a specific and already-introduced character!
• Behind-the-Scenes Content. This type of promotional content lets the creators bring the audience into their creative process. Sneak peeks on what to expect for that episode, sketches, and design drafts work as potential easter eggs that create anticipation with the audience.
• Fan Art and User-Generated Content. Of course, creators can bring their fans to promote content for their webtoon! This type of promotional content builds a sense of community and engagement. Fan art is a way to appreciate the work and the creator, as well as to promote the webtoon to a wider audience. As the creator, they can also hold fan art contests to create more buzz!
• Exclusive Previews and Early Access. While there are free webtoons, bigger platforms offer opportunities for webtoon creators to earn, especially those with an existing fanbase. Paid membership platforms like Patreon usually have exclusive previews and early access to promote fan loyalty incentives. 
• Hashtag Campaigns. As a reader, there are some instances wherein an episode brings the feels out of you. What better way than to tweet about it, right? Creators can create specific hashtags per episode to track engagement and create buzz through social media sites like X or Instagram. In this way, fans can use the hashtag to share their thoughts related to the webtoon, and et voila! – promotion! 

• Instagram. As a visual-first platform, Instagram is suitable for artworks and behind-the-scene sneak peeks that can be shared through Stories, Reels, and Hashtags.
• X (formerly Twitter). X can be utilized for quick and real-time engagement and updates. It also features threads and polls to get fans involved in quick decision-making regarding updates and releases.
• TikTok. This platform is known for viral content videos. Webtoons can be promoted through creative videos reminiscent of BookTok, which is a subcommunity for bookworms. Webtoons can be promoted as comic recommendations by fans and critics through short-form content.
• Webtoon Platforms. Of course, what would webtoons be without the OG platforms? Platforms like LINE and Tapas are equipped with built-in promotional tools for webtoons. By optimizing the webtoon’s metadata and visibility tags, it will find its place in the Feature Spots, Recommendations, and user notifications!
• Reddit. As a network of highly niche communities, Reddit is a great spot to promote webtoons! With the right subreddits like r/webtoons, r/comics, and r/webcomic, creators can even find feedback and thoughts about their webtoon.
• Discord. Creators can create a dedicated server for their webtoon in Discord, where they can interact with their readers and host live events, Q&A sessions, and watch parties (for when their webtoon successfully makes its way to live adaptation)!
• YouTube. More of a long-form content platform, YouTube can be utilized by webtoon creators to post longer trailers and in-depth videos such as interviews, creator diaries, etc.

Conventions. Even if webtoons are digital media, they can also be promoted through comic book conventions (or Comic-Con!), wherein webtoon creators and fans can interact face-to-face! Through such events, webtoon creators can also sell merchandise to sustain momentum and build brand loyalty.

That sums up our article on the importance of webtoon promotional content! Truly, webtoons gain more visibility, stand out, and build communities through digital comics promotion. With so many ways and platforms to promote your webtoon, there is no doubt that your webtoon can be the next cool thing!

Need help getting your webtoon out there in the world? CCCI is your best manga and webtoon service provider! Create a new story with us today!