5 ways to un-fail your film promotion efforts right now

For many of us, spending a lot of money on promoting a film is not an option, and for indie filmmakers, using the web to build awareness is. However, the vast majority of people fail to add value or build engagement within their film promotion efforts. So without further delay, here's my view on how you can un-fail your marketing and get back on track with a better plan.

1. Stop asking for likes on Facebook Pages

A lot of people do this on a daily basis to promote their films but the value in this is close to absolute zero. People on Facebook are being asked to like stuff all the time, but it doesn't help you build engagement unless you go further. Give something in return for the like. Make people engage with that page, rather than just asking for a vote. You can buy likes if you want to do that with the same result: A page with no interaction.

2. Start putting trailers out before promoting screenings

Yep, lots of people just don't bother, turn up at the film festivals and expect gold. Have these up on the web in a timely manner and all marketing materials ready, visible and functioning. The success of every major motion picture is built on this foundation.

3. Get rid of totally unnecessary 'This is amazing' synopsis

"This amazing, one-of-a-kind story," or what about this "Truly, unique, never-before-told story of a…" Ok, so there are a lot of expressive words used to describe movies, but sometimes they are counter-productive. People need to learn for themselves. Overly salesy descriptions tend to sound fake and don't actually provide a visual representation of the story people 'could' be interested in.

4. Don't promote films that have no external reviews

Not a great idea to say "Hey everyone, look at my film." In fact, we are so distracted as a society that we can barely remember the wording of our last tweet. Try gaining support for that film through reviews to give it extra visibility and credibility.

5. Give up on 'wait and see' approach

Making a film, then expecting it to somehow succeed because it's genius is a guaranteed way to fail. Some people think they are Gods and can make the best ever movies but the true masters are those who can promote and distribute (with the help of partners).

Thanks for reading. Check out our other film tutorials or skip straight to the part where you get to make money with a new job. Thanks!