| Since the birth of the moving picture, film has played an | | | | and vote on trailers? How many views do you think a |
| important role in the way people experience culture | | | | trailer of an eventual award-winner ought to receive? |
| worldwide. This is apparent at the 400 film festivals | | | | Arrive at a low, medium and high estimate, with a |
| which take place around the globe each year. These | | | | timeline of projections, and constantly measure your |
| events give talented artists a venue to promote their | | | | progress. |
| work in front of a qualified, interested audience. | | | | 5) Leverage digital media channels to the fullest. |
| Like any dynamic art form, film is forever changing. | | | | Social Networking. With a little bit of research, you can |
| New digital media have placed unknown independent | | | | find the right social networking sites to target for your |
| artists on the same playing field as their more | | | | campaign. To leverage Long Tail potential to the fullest, |
| established, commercially-backed counterparts. | | | | use a network like Facebook or Myspace to co-brand |
| Moreover, as access to cyberspace has become | | | | content and engage new groups of people. |
| more universal, reaching the right audience has never | | | | Facebook - Create a Facebook profile for each |
| been so easy. | | | | member of the organizing committee, and use this to |
| Why is this? Because of “The Long Tail.” | | | | administrate a dedicated Facebook Group. Have your |
| Originally an abstract concept introduced in a WIRED | | | | developer create a Facebook application allowing |
| Magazine article from 2006, The Long Tail is now a | | | | artists to embed their trailer in their profile, with a |
| mantra of digital marketing. Applied to marketing in film, | | | | module to solicit ratings on films. For viewers, the |
| the pre-Long Tail mentality was to conceptualize an | | | | application should offer “on-demand” rankings of |
| artistic work with a specific target in mind, and then | | | | all trailers posted (across the entire Facebook |
| develop it to invite as big an audience as possible. | | | | network) to encourage healthy competition. It is also |
| Marketers would then direct their resources toward | | | | helpful to add calendar integration for notification of |
| the audience within distribution range. | | | | important dates in your mini-feed, and of course links |
| The goal was to make the next big summer | | | | back to the festival website and blog. If your festival |
| blockbuster. But according to Chris Anderson, the | | | | features content from around the world, why not add |
| author of the article, “hit-driven economics is a | | | | a real-time updatingworld map showing geographical |
| creation of an age without enough room to carry | | | | location of all participating artists? |
| everything for everybody.” In other words, a new | | | | Myspace - On this network, you’re faced with a |
| day has come. | | | | tradeoff. This is still the best place for artists (and art |
| In a post-Long Tail awakened world, we’ve found | | | | lovers) to nurture their passion. However, it may also |
| that most people’s taste in film goes beyond just | | | | be harder for you to cut through the spam and build a |
| mainstream appeal. With the recent onset of a limitless | | | | meaningful campaign. Compared to Facebook, spend |
| distribution range, the audience dynamic is changing. An | | | | far less time administrating the Myspace profile. It |
| American producer whose film deals with even the | | | | should simply be a “content dump” with regularly |
| most esoteric subject matter now has its niche | | | | rotating trailers and blog content. |
| audience at arm’s length. Using the right digital | | | | If you have a lot of manpower at your disposal, also |
| marketing tactics, the filmmaker can draw those | | | | consider a targeted approach to some of the |
| people in without burning through resources they way | | | | industry-specific sites such as Flixster, MatrixMovies |
| they might have during the pre-Long Tail era. | | | | and Revver. |
| Filmmakers, now freed from the shackles of heavy | | | | Search engines. Getting your festival to appear |
| distribution burdens, can finally create that masterpiece | | | | prominently in search engines requires an orientation |
| that was once deemed implausible. And with a | | | | toward dynamic content and inbound links. Start a |
| continued stream of artists looking for exposure, the | | | | festival blog in which organizers can collaborate to |
| film festival industry now has the scale to reach far | | | | upload content on a daily basis. This will push a variety |
| and wide...and find willing consumers around every | | | | of relevant keywords out into cyberspace, tied to your |
| corner. This is why, according to Anderson, the | | | | website to bring people back for more. |
| “cultural benefit of all of this is much more diversity, | | | | For added juice, open the blog up to the general public |
| reversing the blanding effects of a century of | | | | -- if the public is properly engaged, the volume of |
| distribution scarcity and ending the tyranny of the | | | | content will grow at a furious pace, along with the |
| hit.” | | | | number of inbound links to your site. With a little |
| Step-by-step: How to market a film festival to a Long | | | | creativity, you won’t have trouble coming up with |
| Tail audience. | | | | original content: event news, featured films, press |
| 1) Create a home for your festival on the net. | | | | mentions, staff picks, etc. Make sure all blog content is |
| Give your contestants a platform on which they can | | | | accompanied by chicklets (links for easy posting) to |
| share a trailer of the film they plan to promote at your | | | | popular social media sites, to increase the number of |
| festival. Allow visitors to vote on the trailers, with a | | | | viral touch points. |
| thumbs-up/thumbs-down or one-to-five-stars | | | | If particular video content speaks to a particular |
| approach. This allows the best ones to rise to the top, | | | | audience, weed out the leaders of each category and |
| creating a channel of the highest quality content, which | | | | make them aware of what you’re doing. Use |
| can be used to draw in a large audience. This widens | | | | Technorati to find the most prominent bloggers in |
| the timeline for audience engagement, and gives you a | | | | these categories, and approach them personally and |
| vehicle to convey supporting messages related to the | | | | individually, offering them your content and/or reciprocal |
| festival itself. | | | | links. |
| You want a website where entrants can upload a | | | | Find every event site related to film, digital media, arts |
| trailer with minimal technical know-how. The easiest | | | | & culture, as well as the city where your event will be |
| way to do this is to use YouTube as the host. Users | | | | hosted. Create a reference sheet containing your |
| worldwide simply create their own profile and/or | | | | event’s title, a short description, a long list of |
| channel on YouTube, submit their content, and then | | | | comma-separated tags, a shorter version of the same |
| provide your site with a URL or embed code to the | | | | list, and other pertinent information which will need to |
| video. Each trailer then has its own landing page on | | | | be standardized across all submissions. Put on a pot of |
| your festival’s site, and should be accompanied by | | | | coffee and hammer away. |
| “Send To A Friend” and “Download To Your | | | | It would also help to hire a search engine optimization |
| iPod” links, along with submission links for social | | | | (SEO) consultant to handle the keyword strategy and |
| bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us. | | | | tactical implementation. This will make your pages |
| (Note - It is important to limit the length of the trailer | | | | friendly to the spiders sent out by Google, Yahoo! and |
| (two minutes would be a good round number), and | | | | the like. |
| make sure that the actual length of the YouTube | | | | Email Communications. Decide your strategy from the |
| video is clearly visible on your site. If a video requires a | | | | very beginning: do you force everyone (directors and |
| time commitment, a lot of people will click away | | | | audience) to register, thereby creating a nice long |
| without even looking.) | | | | distribution list? Or do you scale back the mandatory |
| Make sure your site is scalable, in the event that you | | | | registration, requiring registration only to post content? |
| receive ten times the traffic you expected. Even if you | | | | You can also find a middle ground, offering certain |
| are focused on quality content, be prepared for | | | | incentives for opt-in (such as winning a pair of free |
| massive quantity as well. Your web developer needs | | | | all-access passes to the festival). The registration |
| to make you very confident that your site won’t | | | | module will allow you to also collect additional |
| buckle under pressure. | | | | demographic information (city/state, age, gender, etc.) |
| You’ll also want to add search capability (this is | | | | but if you go this route, make sure you have given |
| easy with Google Custom Search) do some user | | | | some thought to your privacy policy. |
| testing, or consult a usability expert on making your | | | | Sponsorship. This will vary based on your resources |
| festival’s website as navigable as possible. Invest in | | | | and network. If you have advertisers on board for a |
| good analytics software to follow trends in | | | | lot of money, your marketing communications will give |
| visits,pageviews, referrals, keyword-driven traffic, and | | | | you a variety of venues to feature them (website |
| so on. | | | | banners, emails, plus your entire arsenal of offline |
| 2) Give your festival a personality. | | | | marketing assets). If you have no major sponsors but |
| If your festival has a theme, make it very evident. | | | | still want to explore advertising revenue, you can |
| Brand it consistently, from the copy writing to the | | | | always use a program like Google AdSense for a |
| graphic design to the outbound marketing | | | | very customizable on-page sponsored link campaign. |
| communications. Everything must boil down to the | | | | Downtime. After your festival, you’ll be faced with |
| seminal concept of what your festival is about. If | | | | a decision: do we want to do this again next year? |
| it’s abstract, e.g. “good independent film,” | | | | You may not be ready to decide right away, but |
| that’s fine as long as you remain consistent. | | | | there’s plenty you can do to capitalize on the |
| Offer an incentive. Partner with local organizations in | | | | momentum of your event, to keep marketing your |
| the host city, e.g. the Chamber of Commerce or a | | | | concept. |
| local Arts Council. Find a major event taking place | | | | - Ongoing global link sharing campaign with partners of |
| which could benefit from a partnership; your | | | | various categories |
| contestants’ work might be a major asset to their | | | | - Blog coverage of other major film festivals |
| program. The grand prize, apart from whatever you | | | | - In-depth profiles of festival award-winners |
| already decide to offer the winner(s), is the visibility of | | | | - Discovery of worthy short films not originally |
| being associated with these organizations...and thus get | | | | submitted to the festival site |
| in front of a large audience. | | | | - Film industry interviews (available as podcasts) |
| 3) Define your stakeholders. | | | | Conclusion |
| Your directors and producers are the ones supplying | | | | Once all these elements of your digital marketing |
| quality content--the lifeblood of your site and your best | | | | campaign are off the ground, the last thing to do is |
| promotional asset leading up to the festival. | | | | convey your scope to your artists. You’re in the |
| Your visitors are your primary source of feedback. | | | | festival business, which in 2008 means you’re |
| Leverage their opinions wisely and you’ll find many | | | | hardly concerned with the manufacturing and |
| ways to bring them back to your site, and to your | | | | distribution concerns of the filmmakers. But this talented |
| festival--along with their friends. | | | | constituency is still waking up to the opportunities of |
| The general public is the 6 billion people living on this | | | | the Long Tail economy. |
| planet. Some don’t have computers. Some | | | | If you have the numbers, give your artists a pat on the |
| don’t like film. But in line with The Long Tail concept, | | | | back by showing them the geographic reach of your |
| reaching just about everybody else is relatively | | | | festival. Repackage the most compelling feedback on |
| easy...and the enthusiasts will come out of the | | | | submitted videos into a rotating “ticker” in the |
| woodwork. | | | | banner of your website. Do whatever you can to give |
| Keep these people satisfied at every stage of your | | | | these filmmakers--the authors of content without |
| campaign, and your marketing engine will keep things | | | | which you’d be in business--an extra incentive to |
| moving with minimal intervention on your part. | | | | keep going. |
| 4) Establish measurable goals. | | | | In a world in which, as Anderson says, “popularity |
| How many directors do you think you could get to sign | | | | no longer has a monopoly on profitability,” we’ll |
| up? How many people would you like to visit the site | | | | all be better off because of it. |