One Cool Free Idea

A few years ago I worked as the registration manager for the Rhode Island International Film Festival - an Oscar-qualifying event attended annually by several hundred filmmakers from all corners of the globe. In my perch at registration, and in the weeks before and after the film talking with directors, I got a real inside look at the fear and frustration many filmmakers have in trying to promote their films and fill a house in a strange city where they have no prior connections.

Some hoped the festival organizers would work the press for them to help sell tickets. Many others walked the streets of Providence handing out beautiful flyers and postcards about the film.  But a handful of filmmakers deployed a smarter strategy, and it looked like this:

* they figured out well in advance of the festival who their core audience was

* they had reached out ahead of time to this group to build pre-fest energy

* they did not rely solely on traditional forms of media and publicity pre-fest

* they devised unique, tailored promotions and messaging that was appropriate to their unique target fan base

* they figured out a way to keep in touch with the fans they aggregated AFTER the festival ended.

Whether the person in charge of marketing is you, your brandy new “producer of marketing and distribution,” or your publicist - or some combination of all - the key success element to your festival marketing strategy is figuring out who your true fans ARE and then determining WHERE they go for news, support and companionship. But how?

What follows are my 5 initial (and somewhat overlappping) concepts or “keys” that can help you find your festival marketing mojo and help you fill the house with the kind of adoring, loyal fans who will want to follow you back home after the festival.

KEY #1: FORGET ABOUT PUSHING PRODUCT. IT’S ABOUT YOU PULLING AN AUDIENCE TO YOUR MESSAGE. PUSHING your film as a “product” people should buy - using posters, cards, flyers isn’t going to hook people’s attention or get anyone buying a ticket to your screening. PULLING people into your film’s purpose by connecting the film’s purpose with fan’s passion WILL.

You pull people in by communicating that you share interests with them. And “them” has a distinct set of likes and dislikes. Your audience isn’t “moviegoers in general.”  Your “true” audience is a very specific set of people who care about the same things YOU do. What are the passion points of your unique and specific audience?  I call these “why” touchpoints.  Why should they watch your film? Why would they care about its content?  Why would they want to hang out in a dark room to absorb your message?

These whys become your marketing glue. The glue is what you build your marketing message around.  Doing so will make your marketing far more authentic because you’ll be talking from your heart to theirs. Such messaging will resonate with people, and that should attract them to your product…and screening.

KEY #2: HOW DOES YOUR FILM BENEFIT YOUR TRUE FANS? Step back and ask why and how your film benefits the viewer.  Does it teach something?  Does it reveal something in a never-before-seen light?  Does it excite a certain kind of person who has been looking for validation of their beliefs or work? Does it inspire someone to make change or join a movement?  What will they takeaway from your screening?  What do you have in common with this core group?  Figure out what you are giving people (beyond an amazing work of art), and build this benefit into your marketing outreach.

KEY#3: LOOK BEYOND FILM CRITICS TO HELP SPREAD THE WORD. Sure it’d be great if a critic reviewed you, but how and where else can you get your message out to the people that care about you?  Be clever here. Don’t just throw news releases and marketing/promo stuff out there to some vague audience in the hopes your message will be perpetuated and stick. It won’t.

If your doc film is about food, why not get your message to me through the writer of a local food blog? If your film is about PTSD among post-war military personnel, how about reaching a potential audience of clergy who are being called upon to counsel these people?  Or how about targeting hospital PR folks who could tell their health care professional to stop by your screening as part of continuing eduction.  It may seem like more work, but it’s so much more targeted you can end up with a far more dedicated and interested viewing audience.  And that means money down the road.

With enough advance planning and outreach, you may be able to pre-sell tickets to your screening and even convince the festival staff to let you host a special screening for a select group. You could offer group ticket discounts to fans who agree in advance to join your screening. In return, you can offer to meet before or after the screening with key people in some key constituent group.

KEY #4: THINK LIKE A LOCAL. GO WHERE THEY GO.

This is closely related to #3.  Once you’ve identified your core fans, figure out where they go in your festival city for news and information. Then send your message and screening invites there before you hit town. Get them talking to each other about you. Do your potential fans meet at spiritual retreats or town halls? Do they follow certain local “tastemakers” for what to see and do? Is there a local arts collaborative whose members would love to see your film? Does your “core” audience love the same music you do? One smart filmmaker at our festival walked into the local college radio station and got an on-air interview just because he offered to talk about how he picked the indie music for the film’s soundtrack. He left tickets behind as giveaways for students and filled the house.

If they’re into sports, send your pre-festival info and invites to local sports associations, booster clubs or rec centers. For the food doc above, why not reach out to potential fans via the farmer’s markets or food coops they frequent?  One year, a director of a frat-centric film walked the main campus of Brown University on festival weekend handing out logo-d condoms with the film’s name on it.  (He filled the house).

If you don’t know where or how to find people, get help. Set up a Google Alert stream to your email inbox using keywords that describe your audience profile and see what sites/blogs/news stories pop up.   Refine where you are talking about the film and you’ll have a far more effective (targeted actually) communications strategy. One that might spark increased ticket sales to your screening.

KEY #5: FAN OUTREACH GOES ON AFTER THE FESTIVAL ENDS.

You must devise a strategy for keeping in touch with folks after the final afterparty winds to its bleary close. Did you give people something to hold onto reminding them to visit your site, join your Facebook group or email you feedback on the screening?  Did you capture pictures of you mugging it up with your new friends and fans?  Did you offer special promotional pricing to folks who came to your screening, and did you give them an easy-to-remember way to find you back online?  Did you grab a camera and videotape folks talking about your film as they left the theater?

This is the stuff you can use and reuse after the festival closes.  Not only will it give you great new content to post afterwards, it’ll help drive up your visibility and buzz as you enter and rev up for that next festival…or two..or three.

NEVER FORGET WHAT YOUR GLUE IS:  USE IT TO DRIVE YOUR MARKETING.

FILM’S PURPOSE + FAN’S PASSION = FAN EVANGELISTS

This should be a work in progress…so let me know what you think and what experience you’ve had working the festival circuit and finding your fans.  Love to hear your comments below!