You have finished your movie, now what. Well, now people need to find it and see it.
So, do you have all the main materials to promote your film? Have you thought in the marketing
plan already? In this video I share 7 tips that will help you build your Film Marketing Strategy.
Coming up!
Hi everyone! And welcome back to another video, my name is Ani Asfura. In this channel, every
Thursday, I share tips and tools to help indie filmmakers build their film strategies.
So, if you want to be part of this industry and this community, consider subscribing.
Now, let’s jump into the video.
One of the biggest mistakes that indie filmmakers and producers make, is that they develop a
marketing plan after they finish their films. Not a good thing to do. But we are here to
change that, because there is plenty you can do and must do in the process, that will help
you to promote your film and to make it stand from the crowd.
Number one. Create Marketing Materials. From the moment you start the creating process
you need to think in the promotion. You need to make your marketing, PR and positioning,
part of the storytelling process from an early stage. One of the most important things to
do is to hire a professional stills photographer on set, because you can’t rely on screenshots,
whose quality is far inferior. You also need to take promotional photos of the cast and
crew, that eventually you will share with the press. You can also use these photos for
promo material in your social media campaign and even for the draft of your movie poster.
A good thing to do too, is to document the process. Make some videos from the early stage,
showing the development and the pre-production of the movie. You should also hire a videographer
on set for the making-of and and the interviews with the main cast and crew.
Number two. Benchmarking Analysis. People say comparations are bad but it this case,
it can help you a lot and be good for your project. Think about what other similar movies
have worked in the market. Compare your project to 5 films made in similar conditions, no
blockbusters or classics. Film from the past 10 years, that your audience can recognize.
What can you learn from them? What are their mistakes and successes? This at the end, will
help you to get closer to identify the most effective strategies to deliver your film
to your audience.
Number three. SWOT Analysis. The primary objective of a SWOT analysis is to help you develop
a full awareness of all the factors involved in making a business decision. Try to define
5 Strengths and 5 Weaknesses that your movie has from the point of view of the audience.
These are internal factors of the project. For example, one strength can be having a
strong an original concept or having a female-driven movie. On the other hand, a weakness can be
having a first-time director or not having a well-known cast. Then you need to define
the external factors of the market; 5 Opportunities and 5 Threats. An opportunity can be that
the movie has a lot of potential to VOD distribution. A threat could be the genre of the film.
Number four. The Positioning. What is your film? What is its personality? Positioning
refers to the place that a movie occupies in the minds of the audience and how it is
distinguished from other movies. For this, consider the strengths and the weaknesses
of your project. Then choose two or three important key concepts from each side. Try
to ‘cover’ the weaknesses and concentrate on the strengths to build your positioning
strategy to excel in those. These concepts will describe your film and will be the Unique
Competitive Advantage for your audience.
Number five. The Audience. What kind of audience see the movies that you choose to compare
your film? Remember that you have to find your target by their behaviors and their hobbies,
and not only by their demographics. Build a Film Consumption Profile. What do they feel
and think? What do they say and do? What do they see and hear? In what niches you can
find them? Personalise it and dig deep into their preferences. Imagine a person you know
to understand and define their behavior.
Number six. The Distribution Plan. This is the moment to make a lot of research. Which
film festivals are key for the visibility of your movie? Which sales agents or distributors
have worked with projects like yours? Find out the languages, genres and budgets that
these festivals and companies exhibit and distribute.
And finally, number seven. The Communication Plan. In this stage you need to define the
key messages and the key tools to communicate with your target. The easiest way to do it
is to build a website and use the social media platforms, where you can publish photos, press
articles, teasers and trailers. Also, you need to generate a press release and create
an Electronic Press Kit (EPK), which is a snapshot of your film, and includes; the synopsis,
logline, film poster, movie stills, cast and crew bios, full credits and contact details.
The goal is to send it out to as many media outlets as possible.
You can have a very good movie, but without a good marketing strategy, nobody will know
its potential. Also, every time you pitch your project to investors, buyers or public
funding entities, at some point, they will ask if there’s an existing audience for
your film and how you plan to reach them. So, keep in my mind that you need a savvy
marketing strategy form the beginning.
Well, let me know if this video was helpful for you in the comments below. You can hit
the like button as well. Thank you so much for checking out this video and the channel.
Keep crushing it! And see you next time.