Just about anyone with a film is going to be marketing it online, which is why I continually recommend launching a PR campaign to separate you and your film from the competition. But, that said, marketing you and your film via your blog and the various social media platforms is essential. The trick is you don’t simply want to make noise or add followers. You need your content to connect and engage your target market. A filmmaker with 10 thousand engaged followers is in much better shape than one with 100 thousand followers who are paying no attention.

So how do you maximize your online marketing?

To start pick the platforms that are most likely to reach your target audience. Next start creating compelling content and make your audience feel engaged. Build a tribe that with a connection to you and your film(s). If you connect and have a genuine call-to-action you can have fans jump on board and do a good deal of your work for you by sharing information with their friends and followers. You can do that several ways, some include running contests, creating incentives and offering unique one-on-one experiences.

If you’re having a screening or a premiere, starting at least four weeks out, give a special focus to that city. Give people a reason to show up apart from the screening itself. Will there be a red carpet event? Will there be cast members they can meet? Is there any kind of contest you can run that ties in with the event? For example, if applicable, the person wearing the best costume wins something, etc. Be creative. Have fun with it.

As mentioned, if your resources are limited, or you’re doing this on your own, don’t try to utilize every social media platform out there. You’ll end up doing a little of everything and accomplishing a lot of nothing.

Pick no more than four platforms. The top ones to consider are:

• YouTube: You’re a filmmaker, use that to your advantage. Add videos, make it compelling, create sections, playlists, annotations, link overlays and continuously update the welcome video.
• Instagram: Share compelling short videos and photos. Give your fans an insider look to the making of your films.
• Facebook: To get around their restrictions, share videos. Keep posting and updating videos and photos that give your fans a glimpse into your world. Make your posts engaging. Don’t simply post in order to have something out there. Think it through.
• Twitter: Again, focus on video posts, generate conversations with fans in specific cities prior to a screening or event in order to broaden your reach and add new followers. Speaking of Twitter, don’t ignore Vine, the 6 second movie clips generated by the vine app on Twitter can offer unique ways to create viral content for your website.

PR Campaign & Media Relations

If you’ve launched a PR campaign and are landing media coverage, share those links. Media separates you from the competition and makes your social media campaign all the more compelling. When you post an article or a TV appearance, you’re not the one talking about you, the media is – you’re the news. That gives you the validation and credibility to separate yourself from the others in the field.

Post cast and crew Vlogs to keep the sense of being a part of the project.

Make sure you’re on Wikipedia and IMBD.

Involve everyone. Make sure that anyone who is associated with the film jumps on your social media bandwagon and have them bring everyone they know on board. Assign someone the job of finding and sending you relevant tweets, blogs, links and news stories you can utilize in your campaign.

So, the top tips to keep in mind when marketing your film online are:

1. Be selective in your social media outreach.
2. Use your time wisely.
3. Create compelling content. Reveal secrets, pull back the curtain.
4. Be creative. Come up with catchy contests, or events
5. Connect with your audience and fans. (Don’t simply talk at them; relate to them.)
6. Be consistent. (Don’t simply post or reach out once a week.)

There is quite a lot here, but don’t let it intimidate you. As they say pick your battles. Don’t try to be everywhere online. You want to make sure you don’t get lost spending time and effort that end up yielding no results. So make a list of your primary objectives, your target audience, and the social media platforms that match your target market

Now, get started!

PR For Filmmakers