How to promote your film on a budget 1/3

Let us start by saying this – if you have a large-scale multimillion-dollar film with star power attached to it…this blog post is not for you. This blog post is for the other guys.

You’ve made your film, you may or may not have distribution but the one thing you are lacking is a large budget publicity campaign. Sure, it’s easy to throw a dragonhead on a beach or create a giant zombie hand in a central subway station…if you have the dollars for it. If you have a budget that allows you to create a major publicity stunt then by all means, go for it. It is sure to get attention towards your project. But what happens if you don’t have the cash to back a major publicity stunt? Things can get a little tricky.

In a three part series (because let’s be honest, it needs to be broken down), here are our top tips for film publicity and promotions on a budget:

Part One – Laying the groundwork

Create marketing materials

It is important to have excellent collateral when promoting a film – that may be a poster, trailer, clips, postcards, publicity stills or mini posters; create as many marketing materials as your budget allows. What should you prioritize? 1. Publicity stills 2. Trailer 3. Poster 3. Clips 5. Mini-posters 6. Postcards

Create your digital footprint – Try and hit the big 3 social media channels – Create a Facebook page, a Twitter account and an Instagram account and make sure to keep them active. Post to each account AT LEAST once a day…but preferably more. Post things to get your audience interested like behind-the-scenes shots.

Photo Credit: Mobile Device Freedom

Build your target demographic

First and foremost you want to figure out who would enjoy your film. Is it geared towards young teens or an older demographic? Be as specific as possible when building your demo. For example, don’t say “Older people” say “ We’ll call them Betty and Joe – Betty and Joe are 50+, living in the city, play recreational sports, listen to jazz, have two grown up children, vote liberal and they enjoy cooking meals at home”

Photo Credit: 7 Leaf Marketing

Figure out how to find your target audience

Now that you’ve built your target demographic, you have to figure out how to find them. Where does your target get their news? What do they do in their everyday life?

Looking back at Betty and Joe from the previous point. Being 50+, they probably get their news from the newspaper, and seeing as they vote liberal, they might read more liberal centric newspaper. Listening to jazz, you might find them at a jazz club on a Friday night.

Use your demographic persona to figure out how you’re going to find them and build a list of places they might visit or news sources they might read, your list should be broad and lengthy. It should include news sources, businesses, community groups and many more.