Posted by Ann Bernard

Someone pointed out to me that the film/movie industry leverages social media better than any other genre, niche, and other industries within the entertainment industry.  I tend to disagree with that statement…while at the same time, I’ll give props to the movie industry for doing good marketing.  The exception perhaps being…Cloverfield

Of course, you could now bring the argument in that solid marketing on the web is leveraging social media.

Marketing Online = Word of Mouth for the Movie Industry
Okay…so this isn’t necessarily true for independent films.  They have a much lower budget and therefore limited abilities to plaster trailers all over the internet so more grassroot work is needed.

However, when it comes to blockbuster releases…the high dollars are invested in online marketing which generates the buzz.

People Love to Talk About Movies
A friend of mine that I talk to every few weeks asks me almost every time we talk “Seen any good movies lately?”

It’s a top rated question – it’s part of the American small talk dialogue. The movie industry just needs to give us something to talk about.

Whether it’s in person, movie review sites, on twitter or other social networks…what movies people have seen, are watching or movies coming out; those are all common and natural topics of conversation.

 “Quite the weather we’re having” right into “Hey, have you seen xxxxx?”

We naturally took those conversations online.

Recommendations

People love to make and get movie recommendations.  It’s probably the safest unsolicited advice to give “You should go see xxxx”

You might not have opinions about much, but I bet you have an opinion about pretty much all the movies you’ve seen. It’s probably, the few, if only opinions people seek and tolerate listening to.

Already Slated for Markets
Take the genre of a movie and the rating and Bang…you’ve got the majority of your market identified (age, sex and preferences).  With a little knowledge of where those people hang out online, you can easily target them.

The span of the various genre of movies pretty much reaches everyone – making for an unlimited market.

Appeals to our Senses
Movie trailers tickle our fancies.  The sounds, the pictures, the plot…the actors.  We watch movie trailers.  We just do. They’re entertaining.  They cater to our short attention span, they wet our appetites, they get us thinking about our opinions of the movie’s potential…they hit the mark. They even give us something to look forward to and get excited about.

Interaction
Interactive websites and video games add a layer to the icing on the cake.  So does our obsessions with actors and actresses.  

Movie fans are drawn together and like we already covered; they engage with each other.

The movie industry has a really good thing going.  Will anything change that? The economy – cost of tickets?

To other industries…you don’t quite have it made that way.  Even independent films…what can they do to generate more buzz without the budget.  What about performing arts, what can they learn from the movie industry?

Filed in movie

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