When you have no money, why submit to the cold economic climate? Producing independent films with Raw Talent has taught me that throwing money at a problem will not necessarily solve it. Most of the time, the job is undertaken with half the energy and passion it needs. Here are a few ideas for cheap film marketing.
Marketers at big agencies are so tired and burned out that they use staid tactics to promote their films. Furthermore, they are paralyzed when anything new comes along by meetings of the boards and committees, whereas you, being poor, can make quick decisions.
1. Learn How to Use The Internet Effectively
Almost everything these days is marketed online. Film marketing is no exception.
While online, there are many apps that can provide you with helpful tools to make your browsing experience more efficient.
You can customize the websites you visit with Greasemonkey if you use Firefox and Greasemonkey – it’s a really useful app. You can, for example, customize Youtube so that you can download clips.
Share your videos, blogs, and other assets using Buffer as an easy-to-use tool across all your social networks. Twitter and Facebook posting can easily be done with Hootsuite, which gives us one screen to monitor metrics and responses.
2. Use Hashtags and Short Titles
You should keep your article and post titles short and snappy. In order to allow readers to retweet what you say on Twitter, keep your posts shorter than 120 characters.
Hashtags allow users to search by topic. Here is a really good tutorial: How To Use Hashtags on Twitter In 8 Easy Steps. Use this correctly and increase the effectiveness of your posts and messages tenfold.
3. Sweepstakes and Competitions
In order to market your movie, list building is the key. It can be challenging to distinguish between competitions and sweepstakes, but understand the difference between the two as you build your lists.
There is a difference in how the winners are selected between a contest, competition, and sweepstakes.
It’s up to you to determine whether or not the contest requires a correct answer, and whether or not the prize is limited to one winner, ten winners, or an unlimited number of winners. The giveaway can be used for festival screenings, for example.
In a competition, the participants have to accomplish a certain task, such as creating the best Vine video (see below) or sharing the project with a certain number of people. Winners are determined based on their scores. A title, scene, or viral video can be generated this way. In theory, competition entrants are more engaged with your project because they have to put a lot of time and effort into it.
The winner of the sweepstakes is chosen at random. In addition, it is a very useful marketing tool and it is easy to use.
You can find a lot of current contests and competitions at contestchest.com. Follow multiple examples in each category to determine what might be relevant to your campaign.
4. Identify Your Contacts
As a result, I have placed it at number 6 because it is the category most independent filmmakers dislike to hear about. Using your personal contacts is one of the best ways to market your film and spread awareness about it. Inform and nurture your network. Keep hold of people you already know and engage with by sending them private SMS messages, Facebook updates, and newsletters.
It’s time-consuming and requires constant maintenance of freshness. You will lose your most passionate fans if you ignore them.
Do you want to know more about keeping in touch with people you already know? We’ll show you how we do it if you subscribe to our free Raindance newsletter.
5. Screenings at Festivals
You should attend film festivals for four main reasons, but the main one is to create awareness about your film that will hopefully lead to a sale. Get the most out of the festival. Find out what tips can be picked up from other filmmakers.
6. The Trailers
The process is not complete without trailers. To promote across all your social media platforms, it would be best to create a Youtube channel and link to it from all your other platforms. Decide on your lower thirds and an animated logo, and voila! You are done.
7. Blogging
Blogs are essential tools for your business. You will be able to explain innumerable ways you overcame problems that would have paralyzed your inferiors throughout the course.
It is also possible to fake being an indie auteur by using your blog. Having your own website makes it possible for you to direct people to your Facebook page or other profile on social media.
8. Advertising on The Street
Raindance loves street marketing, but we haven’t really documented what we do.
It is effective to walk the sidewalks, hand out leaflets & make a movie poster, flypost, as well as dress up in costumes. Never market yourself alone on the street. If you have trouble, you need someone to backup you or call for help. Some people can be quite strange.
