In June 2010, Steve Jobs sat down for a 90-minute interview with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the D: All Things Digital conference. It would be the last of his six appearances; one that foretold a “radical shift” -- a movie industry marketing revolution, much like the music industry had undergone years before.

“The way we market movies is undergoing a radical shift. It used to be that you spent a fortune running advertising on TV to run your trailers,” said Jobs. “And now, we can reach that same audience more effectively on the Web,” later noting that, within the next two years, movie marketing was “going to be more interesting, precise, cheaper, efficient.” View the clip here.

Perhaps his most insightful piece of advice was this: “What the studios need to do is start embracing the front end of the business, to start knowing who their customers are, and to start building mechanisms to communicate with them and tell them when their new product is coming out.” I agree.

However, six years later, while much has changed, Hollywood is still struggling to effectively reach target audiences and fill theater seats. This problem is exacerbated by the growing cost of marketing films and advertising audience fragmentation. 

Thankfully, social media and the democratization of influence have amplified the power of the everyday fan and their ability to help promote a film at every step in its development. There are now more opportunities for filmmakers and marketers to engage and create demand, buy-in and conversation among audiences earlier in the filmmaking process, not just in the promotion/distribution phase.

To demonstrate how online influencer engagement can support and work across the stages of the filmmaking process, we’ve broken it down here.

THE STAGES OF INFLUENCER ENGAGEMENT DURING FILM DEVELOPMENT

DISCOVERY STAGE

You’ve heard the phrase “good ideas can come from anywhere”. While many films are based upon historical events, people and literature, many filmmakers can benefit from discovering outside sources that provide inspiration and add context to their script. Demographics and attitudes are in a constant state of flux. Listening to and analyzing online conversation not just by topic but by location allows a filmmaker to uncover timely nuances into what the most credible voices around a film’s topic are saying, potentially adding relevance and texture to the development of the concept and story.

Beyond the analysis, filmmakers are tapping influencers to help them test out their receptivity to storylines, production techniques and more from the beginning, allowing them to minimize risk.

This and the next two phases are part of the front end engagement that Jobs alludes to.

VALIDATION STAGE

Validation in today’s film industry world is about more than audience feedback and testing in the editing process; validation of the concept by ‘the crowd’, investment, and marketing strategy is now often required before a film is even created. Just look at the many independent films which get off the ground with the help of “micro investors”. These investors often call us for our services to provide them with influencer insights about a prospective film.  Not only does the online microlending community provide a much needed source of revenue, it provides an important source of validation for filmmakers pursuing additional funding from increasingly savvy and sometimes risk averse investors.

On the backend, micro investors often have an elevated level of interest in the final product – whether through sharing news about the film they helped make possible or physically buying a ticket.

CREATION STAGE

As the role of influencers expands across the entire movie making process, some filmmakers are seeking out influencers to be in their films as a means to creating stronger advocates and more avenues of promotion and publicity to fill theater seats. While ingenious, it’s important to take into account an influencer’s network reach and more when making this determination. Flat analytics like follower counts, and impressions reveal little about an influencer’s credibility. Ultimately, it’s important to have access to and utilize multilayered analytics like network reach and more.

PROMOTION STAGE

In this phase, filmmakers are trying to drive awareness around their film.

More commonly, filmmakers give influencers an “inside look” or “inside knowledge” about the film, however, a more recent trend has been to encourage influencers to take part in creating promotional content to share across their networks. This effectively creates more exposure for the film,  turning influencers into advocates at the same time.

While this isn’t right for every film or filmmaker, taking this step further and tapping influencers to provide user-generated content can be a high value activity for the right films and audiences.

Net/net, with a little creativity and a lot of respect for the critical role influencers play in a film’s success, savvy filmmakers are mobilizing these influential advocates to carry their film across influencers’ often vast networks.

MAKING THESE STAGES WORK FOR YOU

Once you’ve mapped out these stages, you’ll want to begin associating influencers you want to engage within these stages. Of course, you’ll need to adjust along the way as new influencers come to light and your film project evolves. The point is to be prepared to discover, evaluate and be ready to engage these key credible influencers along the way so you can improve the odds of your film’s success.

After all, what Jobs said in 2010 holds true today: “The opportunities with technology are huge for content owners. They always have been.” For today's filmmakers-as-content-owners, the opportunities are endless.

To learn more about how VizSense is solving and simplifying the influencer marketing conundrum for today’s most visionary filmmakers, contact us. We invite you to learn more about how to discover, understand and engage influencers at VizSense's Influencer Tradecraft Workshop by registering here. 

Also, download our free eBook, Making Sense of Influencer Engagement: The Essential Elements of a Successful Influencer Outreach Program for Today's Films.