Indie Filmmakers Do Not Neglect SEO Marketing
My main creative passion is independent filmmaking. I enjoy the rush I get from writing screenplays and directing movies. I am a self-proclaimed filmmaking junkie. After I finish a movie I’m already looking for my next creative high. I pound the pavement looking for a money tree to shake to fund my next movie. With economic times as tight as they are it’s tougher then ever to find money to make a movie.
Many indie filmmakers can relate to the story I am about to share. A few deals fell through for film funding leaving me without the backing to produce my next movie. Life is strange when it comes full circle. Before signing a distribution deal with Maverick Entertainment Group for Consignment co-producer Tim Beachum had a insane idea. At least it was insane to me. He made it possible to stream the first 10 minutes of Consignment online for free. A Virginia Beach based newspaper posted an article online about it. Seems there were not many indie filmmakers doing what we did. It worked out good, but it still took time for what Tim told me about SEO marketing for it to sink in and share with you.
SEO marketing is a important part of reaching independent filmmaking success. When I started making movies I never wanted to see them as a product. Since then my thinking has changed. After a movie is completed it is a product that needs to be properly packaged, promoted, and sold. I’m not taking away from the creative process of producing a movie. I put my heart and soul into writing scripts and making movies.
Movies have to be marketed to potential viewers or they might as well not exist. A few of the brick walls indie filmmakers have to knock down are limited marketing budgets, their distributor is focusing on marketing their higher profile movies, or SEO marketing is something they do not know how to promote their movie with. I had no clue how SEO marketing worked after completing my first movie. I had blinders on thinking Maverick Entertainment Group would do enough marketing to get the word out that Consignment was a killer urban movie viewers would want to see.
In no time at all I learned a movie distribution company with hundreds of releases can only put so many resources into certain movies. They are dealing with salaries for staff and other overhead. They need to earn a profit, so they invest a large part of their marketing budget into hyping movies with name actors. It makes good business sense. Maverick Entertainment Group has a platinum label to showcase certain releases they feel will make the most money. Head honcho Doug Schwab is a well respected part of the indie filmmaking community and has shared solid advice on the business side of indie movie distribution works. I like to think of him like that cool older brother you can hangout with and party.
I knew I had to start paying serious attention to SEO marketing. Consignment Co-producer Tim Beachum has been involved with Internet marketing for past 10 years. I myself never gave much thought to SEO marketing because I was focused on writing, directing, and producing movies. Never thought about marketing them when they were done. Being a good friend Tim told me about another SEO guru named Frank Kern. After that things started to even more sense to me. I understood that indie filmmakers needed to know how to promote their movies online without going broke. With so many people out there searching for different things online your movie might never be found. Having a basic plan to use keywords and phrases will help people find your movie. The Consignment trailer has had over 15,000 views on YouTube so far. There was no way people were looking for this indie movie, but keywords and phrases worked big time.
I was finally able to apply the SEO wisdom passed to me from Tim Beachum and Frank Kern (hoisting my beer to these guys). It’s insanity not to use researched keywords and phrases when uploading your videos online. A simple tip I did not follow when I started posting videos online using the movie title as the only keyword. Clearly not the best movie considering the word consignment is a common search engine query.
Indie filmmakers that embrace the core idea of SEO marketing will enjoy more success. The point of making movies is to have them seen by people. SEO marketing helps you achieve that goal. Cutting different trailers and using specific keywords and phrases will widen your viewing audience. Think about the storyline of your movie and come up with a few keywords and phrases that find viewers. Don’t expect viewers to find your movie, but your movie has to find viewers.
