Top creative ways to promote your short film:
With the moving world and rushed pace of life, everything is getting shorter in time, then why not the films! A short film just talks to the point and conveys your message in the minimal way possible. But people are going to watch it only if it is promoted in a proper way.
Hiring a freelancer to do it for you is always an option but to create a best marketing strategy, a good paycheck amount is needed. No one else will have more passion for your film than you. It’s not just a film for you, it’s an emotion. Do it yourself!
So here are some creative ways to promote your short film and make it a super success:
Build the buzz:
Promoting your film can be a long term process. Spread the word and build a buzz about your movie even before the shoot ends. Ask your actors to keep posting good behind the scenes stills from the set, dressed in character, which may keep their followers hooked till the released day.
Launch a TEASER:
A teaser is a short freeform video which gives introduction to your work. The goal of a teaser is to establish the tone and pace but barely reveal any detail about the plot and characters, which would ultimately leave the audience intrigued. This curiosity should only attract the audience for the full shot of entertainment. And don’t forget to highlight the release date at the end of your teaser, so your audience knows until when to wait.
Blogging community:
Blogging is another crucial aspect in the promotion of your film. Almost all short film makers run a blog to act as an SEO (Search Engine Optimizers) for their film. Remember, your audience is your business. To keep them engaged and curious, start blogging about the film way before it finishes so that they are aware of the film, what it represents and how watching it will benefit them in some way. Mention link of your film’s website at the end so your followers know where to go next for more and satisfy their curiosities.
Social media:
In our quick and mobile driven digital era, social networking fits to be the perfect path for promotion of your film. Social media is more like an open online discussion.
Create an FB fan page, twitter handle, instagram account etc. and encourage you followers to like it. Ask your friends and relatives to help you increase followers by publicizing your page. Mention your film’s website link and release date in your every social media account’s bio so that it highlights every time a new follower opens your page.
Don’t hesitate to post multiple times a day to keep your audience engaged. Make sure you use one unified hashtag on all your social channels. Ask your followers for their feedback and assure them their views are appreciated. Whether you upload teaser or short film, make sure you write an attention seeking caption which urges the followers to watch your video.
YouTube:
Yes I know, even you had this idea on your mind! It is like one mandatory way to promote your film. YouTube is a home to all the small budget short films. Everyone is going to upload their film here but to make your film stand out and get the most possible views is the real deal! Make sure the quality of your film is HD so the viewers enjoy it. You can also paste your films link in the comment section of the popular videos so that it gets more limelight. Keep in mind- The more popular your video is on handles like YouTube, the better it’s chances of getting accepted by reputed distributors
Film making:
Arguably the most crucial aspect in our journey towards promoting our film. There won’t be a film to promote if you don’t have one ready in the first place, right? Now, start with a solid script, something that’s bound to catch the viewer’s attention at a single go, ’cause there’s always a more entertaining video ready for them to watch just beside yours on any video viewing platform available! Make sure that the actors that you are using have at least a little bit of a knowledge when it comes to, well, acting in a short movie. The most important point to note here is that discuss with the actors about the available roles and try to decide which actor should play a particular role. If a guy is, say, super funny in real life, he may very well do good in a comedy role.
Finally, make sure that you use a good camera which captures high definition clips and images, and don’t forget to keep everything saved in case you need bloopers and deleted scenes to make a companion video.
Submit to online film sites, TV and cable operators:
Now, there are tons of websites dedicated solely for short film submissions out there. For example: Short of the week, Shortfundly, Large short films and film shortage are just the tip of the iceberg and there are many more to submit your films to. Before that though, don’t forget to put your film on YouTube and try to garner as much publicity as possible in a span of a predetermined time period.
As far as TV and cable operators go, No film school is a site which lists a massive amount of international distributors for your short film. You can browse through the distributor list and move ahead or else go back and search for more distributors.
Film festival:
Berlin and Cannes are two of the most respected film festivals in the whole world. There’s a long list of rules for submitting your films in these festivals. For instance, Cannes demands that your film should not have been exhibited on the internet prior to submission. So if you think that your film is as good as they come, try your chance in these festivals, and who knows, maybe if your film gets a green flag, your film will definitely be watched by experts all around the world, and word of mouth will take care of the rest.
Online contest:
This can be a game changer! Arrange an online contest for your followers. This will keep them more involved. A contest can be anything like a brain teaser, Quiz contest or a lucky draw. Of course! You have to announce the prize for the contest. Prize should be something like getting a chance to meet the cast of your film or get a copy of your film with autograph of the film’s lead stars.
So this is it! I have thoroughly described the most important steps that you need to take when it comes to promoting your short film. Following these steps will surely do wonders for you and your film, but hey, you can always go crazy and try something else that creeps out of your wild imagination! I mean, you were crazy and passionate enough to jump into the world of film making! So no need to constrict yourself. Try whatever you think might work towards making your film, the talk of the town!
