Having worked in the studio industry for what felt like a lifetime, and overseeing 70+ digital marketing campaigns for theatrical releases, I’ve learned the importance of a well-balanced movie campaign. For example, a successful media campaign needs the right creative to create buzz, and a high reaching TV campaign isn’t as impactful without a targeted social post endorsing the film. Yet, as we immerse more deeply into the automated world of programmatic advertising, I am alarmed when I read how marketers are shifting more and more of their dollars into this space. As much as programmatic media allows us to efficiently pinpoint our target audience through data sources leveraging behaviors, affinities and look-alikes, relying solely on this sways the marketing scale too heavily into the mechanical void of non-personalized media.A successful digital movie campaign requires a more balanced mix of high reach and contextually relevant media. It doesn’t stop at programmatic, it levels out the automation with the synchronized execution of an Influencer campaign creating an emotional connection with its audience through well-tailored authentic messages. Influencers not only lend trustworthiness, they contextually align their allegiance with the passions and behaviors of their readers and followers. An authentic message has over 6 times the efficacy of a generic post.[1]With the proper lead time, instituting the following guidelines will help you execute a successful Influencer program in film marketing, ensuring you’re connecting with your audience, and ultimately driving box office dollars.

• Listen to the social universe to gauge interest and engagement with the key selling points you identify.
• Test response through organic content seeded to your lowest hanging fruit – the people who have already raised their hands as fans of your film.
• Identify the enthusiasts who can contextually align with your message. Don’t limit yourself to those with the highest reach or those who self-identify as “influencers”. Ensure your message is coming from someone with a deep connection to your brand, and that their followers/readers align with your target.
• Develop a multi-pronged campaign. Build trust through the frequency of multiple messages and employ different call-to-actions based on the marketing stage of the film (i.e. awareness, trailer views, tracking, or ticket conversion).
• Adjust to the live feedback, responding to the learnings with a flexible campaign that can be re-worked and optimized based on learnings.

Side Note: Stop thinking Influencer Marketing is only for the millennials. 62% of Facebook, 60% of Pinterest and 59% of Twitter’s audiences are 35+[2]. Done right, a successful Influencer campaign can engage the masses as well as target niche audiences alike – all with powerful endorsements you can’t buy through media alone.

[1] Source: Burst Media, “2014 Influencer Marketing Benchmarks Report,” March 2, 2015

[2] Source: comScore Media Metrix Multi-Platform as cited in “2015 US Digital Future in Focus,” March 26, 2015

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