(Ad) The Covid-19 outbreak has had a significant effect on the film industry. While many film festivals have been postponed or cancelled, many filmmakers and cinephiles are wondering what the future of festivals will look like.
Of course, there are calls for film festivals that everyone recognizes, such as Sundance, Cannes, Toronto and SXSW. And they are very likely to survive, no matter what happens to them. of marketing), how can you publicize the call for the festival?Read on to find out.
It is essential to bring a multidimensional technique to the advertising of your film festival. Several strategies we have listed below will allow you to succeed in the widest audience imaginable.
Social media is the starting point for maximum online marketing campaigns. Create a social media profile for your festival on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and then apply hashtags to succeed in a wider audience. Hashtags similar to film festivals come with #moviefestival, #festivales, and #cine.
If your film festival hosts special events, you can announce posts and announcements to them on social media. Tagging visitors and celebrities attending your event can help you expand your reach, as your fans will see those notifications and the average user is more likely to do so. be interested.
Source: Home Front Film Festival
Email is one of the fastest and most cost-effective tactics to succeed in your audience. By every means imaginable (reputable), you deserve to collect emails from potential attendees and upload them to your festival’s mailing list.
When sending emails, use eye-catching theme lines and artistic content that makes other people need to open them. You can also run sweepstakes and provide prizes in your emails to increase the chances of opening them.
One way to get good advantage of emails is to create a newsletter that is published at a normal pace (monthly, quarterly, semi-annually). Newsletters allow you to provide long content that will have interactive readers even six or nine months before your festival.
Start by identifying niche markets that would be interested in your festival. Once that’s done, you can create specific marketing structures for those teams. The niche possibly comes with some celebrity fan bases or teams similar to the videos shown.
You can also find organizations, businesses, and Americans who share their target audience and spouse with the organizations that advertise their festival. Consider creating joint marketing campaigns to save money by sharing ad spend. You may also need to offer discounts or other incentives. to attendees who purchase tickets through their spouses.
Although much of the advertising has moved online, print advertising is still an effective marketing method. You can place classified ads in local and national publications that are successful with your target audience. The ads announce special events, films, and visitors at your festival. Print advertising would possibly include:
Postcards can be a cost-effective marketing method, allowing you to succeed in many other people with moderate expenses. Use a provider to segment and send bulk emails to others who have compatibility with your target demographic and make sure your creation matches the overall branding of your event. .
Source: Designs – Yhoko Design
In hyperlocal, you can distribute flyers that sell your film festival. Start by designing attractive flyers that sell your festival and come up with key facts like dates, locations, and ticket prices. Flyers are distributed in high-traffic spaces, such as coffee shops. , university campuses, bookstores and network centers or posted in public places such as network newsletter forums and local businesses.
Classified newspaper ads can be successful in local and national audiences. You want the audience of the publication and tailor your message to that audience. Keep in mind that many newspapers now appear to be online, so advertising can take the form of virtual classified ads.
Contact Hearst Bay if you would like to place an ad in the San Francisco Chronicle or SFGATE.
Magazines, by their very nature, have target audiences. Whether it’s US Weekly, Popular Mechanics, Time, or an independent film magazine, each is aimed at an express and engaged audience. You can use this to your advantage by figuring out your target audience and the videos they are interested in, and then targeted messages to succeed on them. Classified magazine ads are more expensive than other advertising bureaucracies, however, the targeted marketing facet can make ROI value it.
Source: Regate – Rudi Petry
You can use your festival to raise awareness about social reasons that are vital to you and your audience. This can work especially well if your film festival has a theme or includes films that highlight social issues. In doing so, you will not only be a voice for a vital cause, but you will also attract more interest from passionate consumers.
If you decide to advertise a social cause, include films aimed at social issues in your festival programming. And invite speakers to talk about the social factor and look for tactics to raise money for a similar charity, either by donating a portion of the price. ticket sales or by organizing a fundraiser.
Remember that other people are smart and can see through “green bleaching” (when you use a social cause for marketing but do nothing to solve the problem). So make sure your festival has an impact!
Source: Maryna Kulichenko Design
Local businesses will offer a valuable opportunity to market their film festival to local audiences. One way to spark interest is to offer discounts or other incentives to others who are corporate and mention your festival. For example, you can marry restaurants that create a “special festival satisfaction hour” or other incentives.
Another way to engage local businesses is to ask them to donate pieces for their party bag. And, of course, you can create sponsorship opportunities that offer companies moments of exposure and branding. Most film festivals create an advertising package for corporations with other titles. sponsorship to simplify conversations with potential sponsors.
Contact us if you would like to sponsor one with the San Francisco Chronicle.
Source: Drake Brewery
You can promote your film festival online by purchasing classified ads on Google Ads, Facebook, or other virtual classified ads. Each of those advertising platforms allows you to target your visitor base and test A/B ads to compare the effects of others. classified ads.
These classified ads can be very effective, but they can be costly if you don’t thoroughly control your budget. , so they can help you succeed in the right people.
Source: Reel Recovery Film Festival
Unlike classic advertising, which can be intrusive and disruptive, local advertising integrates seamlessly with your environment. For example, instead of paying for an eye-catching ad that appears in an online article or YouTube video, a local ad would be the article or video itself. To create effective local ads, you want to expand an engaging and informative content strategy.
For example, you can write an article or a video directory with the following year’s top 10 films and then at the end mention that all 10 films will be streamed at your festival. This type of content is engaging and memorable, much more than just an ad, but it takes a lot of idea and making plans to execute it well.
Content and blogs are a wonderful way to spread the word about your film festival. You can use WordPress and Medium to write articles about your festival and include links to your festival website. You can also tap on film bloggers and ask them to write about your festival. Be sure to provide them with all the information they need, such as dates, ticket prices, and a list of movies that will be shown.
If you’re on social media, advertise your festival hashtags, post updates, and run ads. The more people you can contact, the greater your chances of making your festival a success.
YouTube is also a wonderful option. You can create a channel for your festival and download trailers, clips, and interviews with filmmakers. You can also use YouTube to advertise ticket sales and inspire other people to submit their movies.
What is the difference between content marketing and local advertising?Native advertising is more short-term targeted and you would possibly be paying to position content on other people’s sites. At the same time, content marketing is more search engine-oriented in the long run. optimization and permanent content, in addition to being hosted on our own sites and platforms.
Source: Traverse City Film Festival Blog
When promoting a film festival, make sure your online page is readable and up to date with the latest news about your event. The online page includes information about your festival, such as the date, venue, schedule and ticket prices. Having links to social media sites will make it less difficult for visitors to your online page to get percentage data about your festival.
The website can also be a funnel for your newsletter, mailing list, and social media. Since the maximum internet traffic comes from mobile devices, you need to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly so that users can view it on their smartphones and tablets. Google Analytics can provide you with information about the functionality of your website and how your visitors use your site.
Data Source Provider: Sundance Institute
Overall, do your best to give your audience a compelling explanation of why to interact with your logo the year. Don’t just post in the weeks or months leading up to your event. It deserves to have a normal cadence for content, adding industry news, interviews with actors/directors and highlights from past festivals.
You can supplement the original content with other (amazing) content from the network to keep your audience interested. you don’t have to look for it.
And perhaps most importantly, make sure you know as much as you can about your audience, so you can use it wisely. These attributes come with age, location, language, and source of income level. you can create a more personalized party for them, either on the occasion and the year.
When marketing your film festival, there are a few key things to keep in mind:
If you need help marketing your film festival, look no further than the Hearst Bay area. Our team of experts can help you with everything from print and virtual classified ads to making plans and running a social media campaign.
Contact us today to receive more information on how we can bring your film festival to market.