I attended the Patreon On Tour conference in New York City, and I strongly advise you to take advantage of this opportunity if it comes to a city near you. It was packed with great data-backed information, like information on which Patreon rewards work best.

At one time in the presentation, the topic of promotion came up, and the data they had gathered floored me. I’d been thinking about patron-acquisition all wrong. Here’s what I learned…

It’s Not All About Social Media

According to their research, about 40% of new Patreon backers arrive through social media — less than half!

Think about it. If you’re focusing on social media to spread the news about your Patreon rewards, you’re missing sixty percent of the other avenues! Here are the other ways patrons find out about the Patreon campaigns they back:

• The creator’s website itself
• Fan forums
• Newsletter / e-mail marketing
• Press
• Events (conventions, etc.)
• Paid advertising
• Collaborations
• Phone calls

Let’s talk about a few of those…

Website

I surveyed my backers, asking them one question: How did you find out about my Patreon? More than 70% said they found out through my website. I’ve added the survey to my standard Welcome package when a new backer joins, and the percentage has only risen. It’s now 76%.

Although you can’t count out social media entirely — after all, perhaps those readers found my site through social media — it’s a stark reminder of the power your website still wields.

House ads

If you’re like many of us, you’ve seen your advertising revenue decimated by ad blockers. You may have even removed advertising from your site entirely. But that space is still has value — even if it’s not currently delivering on that value. House ads have long been promoted on this site as a way to bolster that undervaluation. The application to this instance is simple: Replace the paid-advertising space with self-promotion space. If you code it directly into the page, you can even bypass ad blockers. There’s no better place than your site to find the people that are most likely to back your Patreon campaign. Use that old advertising space for outreach.

Collaborations

This is a great way to promote a Patreon campaign. Consider this post from last October for one way you could approach this:

The Patreon Content Trade

Newsletter

Sending out a monthly e-newsletter is a great way to keep in touch with readers — and an awesome way to get the word out on new information about your webcomic. It takes a little time to prep, but it’s a well-targeted message to an interested audience is incredibly valuable as you build your community. Webcomics.com has tons of handy resources to get you started.

E-Newsletters

The Return of the E-Mail List

E-mail your comic to subscribers

Creating an Automatic Send-By-E-mail Comic Mailing List