Home arrow Marketing and Distribution arrow The Marketing Plan arrow The Marketing Plan: What, Why and When
The Marketing Plan: What, Why and When PDF Print E-mail
Page 2 of 3

In fact, marketing should start the minute the film is conceived. Before the project’s creative forces even write the script, they must know what market they intend to target. This doesn’t mean you should tailor your story to what is presently “hot” in the marketplace – but, as filmmaker, you should have realistic expectations about where your audience can be found.

For success in theatres, on home video or via television, it is absolutely essential to plan how you will market your film, and to what audience.  Too many projects are conceived, developed, produced and released without any realistic plan for making them stand out in the crowded marketplace.  The results are never pretty.

The marketing plan


Tip:
  • The easiest way to define positioning for your film is through genre – the collection of categories used to define what kind of movie a particular film is. Genre also helps us determine what kind of audience would go see that film. Identify your film’s genre, and then take advantage of the collective knowledge and experience about that genre. Use this information to identify the right audience, build the right marketing plan and marketing campaign, and find a distributor.
Film marketing is the process for connecting your film with its audience.  Your marketing plan describes how you’re going to do that. An effective plan will therefore contain detailed sections on every element you need to address.  It will also be taken through different stages, as the film itself moves from stage to stage (see Stages of a marketing plan ). 

Two of the key considerations for any film marketing plan are target market, and positioning.

Target market – your selected potential customers.  Who are they? What do they want? Knowing the audience for your film will help you determine the nature of the relationship between your movie and the marketplace.

Your target market is also going to be your core group of fans – the people who will spread the good word about your film. This core group is incredibly important. Remember: 9% of the population buy more than 50% of all movie theatre tickets, and 78% of a film’s business within a given market takes place in the film’s first two weeks of release. You have to find your core audience group before your film is released.  If you do, and if you spend your resources well, they will become your champions.

Who belongs to your target market? Find them by identifying the most likely audience for your film, and the market segment they belong to. Describe them by:
  • Gender
  • Age
  • Economics (income & occupation)
  • Education
  • Religion
  • Nationality
  • Ethnicity
  • Geography
  • Psychographic Profile (lifestyle, personality, buying motives, product knowledge)
Positioning – linking your target market directly with your product.  Audience breakdown is the backbone of your marketing plan, because you use this analysis to determine how you will position your film, in the current marketplace, to reach those people. Defining the audience is crucial – but reaching them is your real objective.

Continued...
 
Next Article >
Reel Stories reelstories-marketdistbutton1 reelstories-marketdistbutton2 reelstories-marketdistbutton3 reelstories-prodbutton6
About Us
Sponsors
Contact
Sitemap
Search
Legal
Login / Register