When I first got into filmmaking there was no talk of online movie marketing. After making a movie, every filmmaker I knew focused on finding a distributor in hopes of making a BIG deal. And from there, these filmmakers would use the proceeds to fund their next project. The plan made sense and seemed to work for some filmmakers.
Of course, many filmmakers also learned a challenging lesson. Just because you made a decent indie, doesn't guarantee a great distribution deal. And if you failed to land a distribution deal, your film ended up collecting digital dust on a hard drive. Fortunately times have changed. Through companies like Amazon, filmmakers now have options for getting films to market, without the need for a traditional distribution deal.
Make Your Own Online Movie Marketing Machine
Here's the thing. Just because you can now get your your film into Amazon does not guarantee that people will find it. This is because the market is saturated. So the real challenge is letting people know that your movie is available and getting them to buy it, or rent it, or stream it.
Here's three things to think about:
1. Go to the shoppers: It's easier to sell stuff in places where people shop. When it comes to motion pictures, most distribution deals will include iTunes, GooglePlay, Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, etc… And if you decide to self-distribute, (as mentioned earlier) Amazon is one of the largest online marketplaces in the world. And they work very hard to convert visitors into customers.
2. Find your audience: While getting on these platforms is an essential step, you will need to “prime the pump” by driving targeted visitors to your point of sale. The good news is, you can research how to find targeted visitors online. Here are examples I pulled from the free Google Keyword tool:
— Zombie Movies – Roughly 40,500
— Romantic Comedies – Roughly 60,500
— Action Movies – Roughly 90,500
— Horror Movies – 201,000
— Documentaries – 110,000
3. Make it easy for people: If we know people are searching for these search terms, what are you doing to make sure that your movie comes up in the search results? One aspect of online movie marking is making sure you optimize your website (title, keywords and tags) for search results. From there, you will want to make sure that your site “funnels” people to the various marketplaces.
If you're interested in getting some additional info on how to market and self-distribute your film, check out the How To Sell Your Movie System. It will provide you with real online online movie marketing tips from the trenches.
