The filmmaking industry is a vast world of endless creative possibilities, idea sharing and idea execution, consisting also of the most brilliant, resilient, logical, tactical and sharp minds. This industry is one that directs and produces film for the cinema and television.
It is known that film and movies are products made for public consumption, for an audience on screen. Hence, one would say the end goal of a produced film work is that it gets to its consumers and this can only be made possible if properly marketed.
There are strategic ways by which producers can effectively promote a film. We will be highlighting them in this article as you read through.These steps will serve as a guide to help you market and promote your film properly.
The first step is to Create a film marketing plan; here you map out the audience you plan to reach out to with your film, you also create a timeline for both offline and online promotion and draft a calendar you will work with, also consider sending out press releases with a good lead up to a screening.
The next step is to Build your audience; this simply means that you find and target those who will be most interested in your film, (check out our blog story on identifying your target audience Begin with family and friends, members of the cast and crew, film enthusiasts and government film bodies.
After this, the next thing to do is to Vary your film marketing methods and proceed to reaching out to your already built audience; this largely depends on your budget, there are several options; the use of posters, flyers, emails, newsletters, press releases, billboard ads, radio jingles, TV commercials, social media posts and ads, digital and social media influencers, website ads and blog posts.
You can never go wrong with A captivating movie trailer; create a hook-filled trailer, do not underestimate the power of a good trailer. Make it funny, gripping and compelling (depending on the genre) within the first few seconds. Even if you’ve clearly identified a target audience, you still have to grab them with masterful storytelling.
Finally, the most organic and important method is to Build word of mouth; like we commonly say ,”tell a friend to tell a friend” , words travel faster by verbal communication. You could also go as far as attempting a viral marketing stunt that would cause people to talk.
At Afrofuturism Creative Academy, all that you need to know about the world of filmmaking has been carefully curated in the course of business of filmmaking and producing for a duration of 4 intensive weeks that promises to be super insightful and fun.
Trust you had a good read! 🙂
