I was talking to one of my clients the other day and he was going over all the successful promotional tactics they are using for their theatrical release tour (which they booked entirely on their own). So far for them, Social Media has been the most effective promotional tool in spreading the word, so we’re looking forward to seeing how many actually show up the screenings and purchase tickets.
But there’s a problem with using Social Media exclusively as a promotional vehicle…. when it comes to actually converting your fans to paying customers, it’s just not very effective.
It’s obvious to me why this is the case — think about it…. people on Facebook for example are there to socialize and not many are in the ‘buying’ mood – they turn to their Facebook news streams to keep up with friends and what’s going on, but in that space, they’re not really focused on ‘buying’ something.
So what can you do?
Well first of all, I never ever recommend using ONLY Social Media as a promotional tool. It can be intoxicating to get all those fans, especially when they start numbering in the thousands, but let’s face it – you don’t even have a way to contact them directly if you wanted to try and sell your DVD to them! You can post a message to your thousands of fans on your wall, but it goes on their over-crowded news feed and gets buried pretty fast. It’s very difficult to compete with all the ‘noise’ on Facebook.
I suggest adding other platforms to your promotions arsenal like email marketing (have you set up an email capture service like Aweber and are you focused on building your email list?). Some fools say email is dead, but it’s still the most powerful way to actually sell something to a prospect.
So for example, if you want to sell advance tickets to an upcoming screening, or sell DVD’s directly to your audience as part of your hybrid distribution plan, then email is the way to go. In this instance, you would email your list and link them to your website where they could purchase tickets or DVD’s (or other merchandise) from you using either Pay Pal, or a shopping cart system like eJunkie. (full disclosure: I’m an affiliate for both Aweber & eJunkie because I believe in the effectiveness of their services so much)
Another powerful promotional strategy is to find partnerships. Why try and do all the heavy lifting yourself? If there’s organizations or groups or websites that are related to the subject or topic or theme of your film, why not reach out to them and see how you can help each other. Notice I didn’t say how they can help you – this is a two way street and if for example you find a blog that would be a perfect promotional partner for your film, don’t ever just email them and ask for help. Blog owners get emails like that all day long and are tired of it. Do it a different way — first embed yourself into their community, contribute to posts by commenting and helping others, and after a few months of really getting in there and making sure the blog is a fit for you in the first place, THEN contact the blog owner and propose doing a guest post perhaps (where of course you would link back to your website at the end and use it as an audience building tool – like minded people who you can later invite to your screenings and launch your DVD to).
So these are a just a few examples, but you get the idea – don’t rely on any one promotional vehicle too much for your film. The big players (ie: Studios) wouldn’t dare do that, so why would you? It’s like playing russian roulette. And remember… at some point, you’ve gotta convert fans to actual paying customersif you want to have a sustainable business and career and be able to make more films and stay afloat.
So in closing, this you’re hearing about audience building and engagement…. it doesn’t mean a hoot to your bottom line if you don’t have a plan in place to actually convert your audience into taking action.
How are you planning to do that? What are your strategies for converting your fans into customers?
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Great advice there Stacey. We were lucky enough to have an actor drop out before production started, and our talent agent suggested an actor who happens to work as a radio personality on a local station. Talk about PR! Interviews with the cast, not to mention the almost constant on air mentioning of the premier showing. All at no cost to us. Premier is Sunday Halloween night. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Great tips Stacey!
Social Media should be integrated into the marketing mix and not the only vehicle. However, for many DIY’ers it’s the only affordable avenue. But we should expand the language for what social networking is beyond Facebook.
email, to me, is the oldest online social network and can be very effective (as you state) in driving sales. The biggest reason is because your email list is an audience based list.
Understanding the difference between audience building and community building is an important first step. Facebook is a great tool to build a community around ideas and common interests. Communities form to learn, share, etc in member to member interactions. Understanding how to leverage your community is the next step. It most likely wont be direct sales.
Audiences form to interact with you (your movie) not each other. They want to know what you are doing. They want to see you “perform”. Facebook can facilitate this but it may not be the best place to build an audience.
The difference? Audiences buy and communities don’t.
Let’s get to the basics. Most filmmakers are poor business people…who are jumping into the business world when then begin working the distribution/sales concept. That’s understandable since we’re talking Left Brain vs. Right Brain activities. (That’s why we need people like Stacy to help with that challenge).
First of all the filmmaker needs to realize we’re trying to “Sell A Product” here and not simply do knee-jerk things like go for a theatrical release. Is that really how this product will be sold? I doubt it. That’s a different game that few of us have the resources to play. It really may be simply an ego thing to say my movie is showing in a theatre. Well that can be an expensive ego trip.
There’s the challenge…Think of your movie as A Product if you plan to “make money” with your movie. And not every filmmaker wants to make money…some just enjoy the filmmaking process… Others want to make a statement. But don’t confuse the things.
Thanks Stacey, good article and certainly a good heads up on how things don’t always work out as we expect with our marketing efforts. I’m just getting started but can see that its a valuable skill to be able to read between the lines and understand how to be most effective in our efforts at reaching people, if we start to kid ourselves that any one approach is going to be better than it truly is, then its a tough blow down the line when nobody tuns up to watch or buy our films
You are totally right on here, Stacey. Too many people think Social Media is ‘free’ [excepting, of course, the scores of hours they must put into it], and that it will also solve all their problems. Maybe.
One of the things we advocate in our coursework for WebContent creators at WebTVWorkshop [sorry for the plug], is that Social Media has its origins in the word “social”, which is basically in-person interaction. So, if you don’t have an Offline, as well as an Online, component to make up your “social” equation…you may not be helping yourself [exactly as you point out.] Great column!
I’m mostly talking to friends (and a few fans) about my work, showing off my scripts, art and other development items. I find that as a show off more of my work, I get more people who like it.
I’ve been working on this story of mine for 3 years, but given how much I’ve learned along the way about business and how to refine my story, it has been worth it.
Hey everyone, thanks for your comments! There’s some really great suggestions in here!
Stacey*
Great advice, Stacey. A we’ll planned distribution strategy that includes social media, a website, a blog and an effective e-mail campaign are all essential elements to building both an audience for a specific film and a community that appreciates your work. Developing a network of partners that can help bring you fans and exposure is also critical. As you mention, this can be developed with bloggers that touch your niche market, but you can also capitalize on great exposure from companies that appreciate your work, are featured in your films, or are looking to feature filmmakers in their magazines, blogs, tv/radio programs. A good example is the relationship we’ve developed with some of the technology companies we’ve worked with like Adobe, Intel and HDVideoPro. Product integration can also bring you fans you never thought existed. For example, we had a classic ’67 Mustang in our film and now we have Stang Nation behind us. We didn’t even know what car we were using until a week before we started shooting and now it’s a major part of our marketing strategy. We are planning on doing a special event release at 5,000 drive-ins with special perks for Mustang owners. There are many unlikely places where you can gather support, you just have to spend some time thinking about it in a creative way.
Good reminder to diversify our marketing communication. It’s a relief to hear you say that Facebook is a limited resource- that has been my experience too– but don’t hear it said very often. Emphasizing email lists and websites are more solid ways to spend energy– but it’s still difficult to convert sales with these just these systems. I like your advise on building a relationship with bloggers before just asking them to mention your film. Again, it goes back to trust, before we can expect favors in return.
This post was very helpful.
@ Steve, you’re right – it’s still tough to convert fans to customers if you’re JUST using Facebook – if you add Email to the mix, you’re getting better, but in reality you need to do more than just these 2 things alone. That’s where partnerships, blogs, and video marketing come in. Good news is you don’t need to MASTER every single one of these. Learn to do a couple of them well and then build a team who can complement your talents and help you with the rest.
Great feedback everyone, keep the comments coming and please share this post with your friends and followers so we can continue the discussion!
Stacey*
Social networking communities will buy anything you present them with as long as its juicy enough and it is marketed in a way that shows you care about what you are trying to push on them. Converting fans is no easy task by any means. In an economy such as the one we’re living in today, there is simply no one effective way to turn fans into customers. Everyone wants something free. Grocery stores have been capitalizing on this simple notion for years. If you want your fans to reach into their pockets and pay you. Simply provide something free and “delicious” to your fans. In the viral age that we are living in today, people love seeing small clips.
Create a viral campaign of 3-5 minute clips that pull your viewer in and leave them wanting more. Once they’re waiting for more pull the plug on your stream of online vids and tell them to see the actual film or video you’re promoting. This will generate buzz and actually catch the interest of your fans on facebook. This is a proven method that even television studios have begun to take advantage of.
I am a photographer (kissing cousin to filmmakers) and I am also facing the challenge of converting the FB fans to paying clients. One of the keys we are using a PremierChoice Photography is leveraging existing movers in the Social Media sphere.
There are individuals with huge followings so by posting your event, contest, viewing, etc. with the entrance fees or related costs prominently in your posting not only will your fans see it, large numbers will see your call to action and do something for your bottom line.
Again, no matter what, you MUST move your relationship from the facebook page, to their inbox to ultimately being face to face with you!!!
@Patrick- thanks for contributing. Totally agree with you and interesting that photographers are in the same boat as filmmakers!