I’m F’in Stupid, Now Tell Me Why.

[Thomas Hill]

What about a local screening in conjunction with the dog rescue group? Get some word of mouth going as the people who see it live spread the link on their social media. 

There are also lots of film festivals that focus on docs.

I'm doing the festival thing with my horror flick now. And could really use a marketing person because that is definitely not my forte.

[aaa123jc]

The dogs are super cute!

So you should show them more. And you should know about your target audience which would probably mainly consist of dog lovers like me. For the Instagram, try to use hashtags related to dogs and even better, the breed of the dog in the picture. Some people just like certain dogs better. And they will look for specific breeds they really like. Use a few general hashtags and then a few more specific one.

For example, #dogofinstagram, #dogoftheday, #cutedog, #dogrescue, #animalrescue...etc. You get the point. The good thing about Instagram is that you can see how popular is that hashtag. So use the popular ones.

Your contents are great. Your target audience would love it! The only problem is that they had not heard of you. You just need to reach them.

I assume that video isn't the trailer. But the trailer should be easily accessible for any new potential audience. The fact that one may be really interested in your documentary but couldn't find the proper trailer to have a look could mean you just lost a potential customer.

 

[Trek of Joy]

A few quick thoughts -- on the topic of hashtags, you can use hashtag generators for ideas. As suggested look for dog/puppy related ones (there are a few that have lots of action like dogsofinstagram, puppylove, dogs and so on), indie films or documentary and gear tags like GoPro, Canon 5dmkIV or Sony a7III. Follow others that are doing similar things, even dog influencers, dog food companies, anything related. Your social feeds are just talking at people, there's no engagement, so your audience has no reason to stop scrolling. Create conversation, treat IG posts like a microblog. Make sure all of your channels are feeding each other. Facebook is pretty useless without putting any money behind a post, organic engagement rates are low. Putting $10 behind a post will increase its reach dramatically. Join Facebook groups related to everything in your film, dogs, rescue groups, the camera, the plane and so on, then post to those groups. I would put your trailer on IGTV and Youtube too, just because it'll get more exposure. Post any BTS stuff too, forum geeks love that kind of content. Good luck.

Chris

[thebrothersthre3]

Yeah I think you have a great very marketable idea, its just the execution. All the advice in here is amazing, I am taking notes haha. 

To add to what everyone is saying I agree, the video wasn't catching my eye quick enough. I just wasn't seeing the emotion or animal cuteness that I think is probably there.

[Mokara]

13 hours ago, Lars Steenhoff said:

Put it on youtube and monetise it with ads?

This video has 28 million views for example.

 

 

 

So, find some puppies, put them in some dire life threatening situation, then "rescue" them?

[fuzzynormal]

10 hours ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

video wasn't catching my eye quick enough.

Well, I did update/change from the announcement video to a proper trailer. I also plan on making a new trailer-promo with a lot of positive movie reviews in it. 

In the meantime...

FLYING FUR!  Whoohoo, it’s great!  Dogs! Airplanes! Happy Endings! Hooray!

https://www.flyingfurfilm.com #FLYINGFURanimalrescueDOCUMENTARY!

Hows that for promotion?

[IronFilm]

14 minutes ago, fuzzynormal said:

#FLYINGFURanimalrescueDOCUMENTARY

Bad hashtag

[webrunner5]

Yeah that is like #LolLolLoLLollol. They spelling that or remembering it.

[fuzzynormal]

8 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Bad hashtag

That hashtag is a bit of a “can of worms” when it comes to the history of this project.

Luckily we now have #flyingfurfilm 

It’s easy to see how I struggle with social media.  I think it’s a cultural/ageism thing. (Along with my curmudgeon attitude)  I’m older so I sort of resent it, while anyone under 30 embraces it as part of their existence. They hardly even consider it, they just use it.

Man, I just want to make movies, but now I gotta do all this other stuff?  Yikes. 

[Mattias Burling]

6 hours ago, fuzzynormal said:

Man, I just want to make movies, but now I gotta do all this other stuff?  Yikes. 

Few professions doesn't come with a pile of boring extra work

For me it's the idea, planning, producing and marketing that's the fun part. The actual shooting is just a necessary evil.

[fuzzynormal]

5 hours ago, Mattias Burling said:

Few professions doesn't come with a pile of boring extra work

For me it's the idea, planning, producing and marketing that's the fun part. The actual shooting is just a necessary evil.

You enjoy social media marketing?  Can I hire you on commission!? ?

[Emanuel]

I had a teacher in film school who was used to say exactly the same as Mattias ; -)

[Mattias Burling]

4 hours ago, fuzzynormal said:

You enjoy social media marketing?  Can I hire you on commission!? ?

Marketing as a whole, not just social media

[The ghost of squig]

You need a sales agent, preferably one who loves dogs.

[fuzzynormal]

8 hours ago, Mattias Burling said:

Marketing as a whole, not just social media

Good on ya. 

Personally, I don't really feel intimidated by the notion of marketing, it just doesn't really get me excited is all.  Perhaps if I ever did something and realized the cause-and-affect in a positive way, I be more curious, but it's mostly a "meh" for me if I'm being honest.

So, gotta find a way to fix that attitude and try to have a run at some success.

This is VERY important to DIY'ers, obviously.  Just feel like I'm trying to hit a target and I'm facing the wrong direction most of the time; would love more advice to get pointed in the right direction.

[Trek of Joy]

Don't get discouraged. I'm on the Social team at VISIT FLORIDA, marketing is a different skillset. And social is different from "traditional" marketing. Bums me out when people tell me they hate social media after finding out what I do, especially lawyers and politicians, haha. 

Chris

[fuzzynormal]

9 minutes ago, Trek of Joy said:

marketing is a different skillset. And social is different from "traditional" marketing.

Exactly, and when one is ignorant of how to use either, it all becomes a big challenge.

Not afraid of challenges, but the fact is I'd rather play with film-making ideas and gear rather than selling.  Somehow I have to get to a balance that is effective for what I want to do.

Do you have any advice from your experience?

[Mattias Burling]

Marketing and movie making have one major thing in common which is why I enjoy it so much. 

It's all about human emotions. 

At the end of the day it's the only thing that's truly important. Budget, advertising space, cameras, actors, etc.. it's all just small cogs in a machine with one simple purpose. Affect human emotions in order to change a behavior or opinion.

That's the reason for my fascination and why I early on jumped from crew to the production office and later Psyops, PR and marketing.

[kaylee]

On 8/6/2019 at 8:36 PM, fuzzynormal said:

What do you see? Maybe more important, what do you NOT see? Thanks for your help!

im going to try to help you, out of pure pity

you have been condescending to me and other board members in the past, perhaps unintentionally. you need to check yourself

NOW:

ANSWER THIS QUESTION:

~WHY~ should ~I~ give a fuck about your little doc? My bf says to pretend we're at a film festival, and you're meeting us, and he just said that to you, sober as a judge. I'm standing r there too

Do you ~actually~ have a response? Try not to lie

[fuzzynormal]

44 minutes ago, kaylee said:

im going to try to help you, out of pure pity

you have been condescending to me and other board members in the past, perhaps unintentionally. you need to check yourself

NOW:

ANSWER THIS QUESTION:

~WHY~ should ~I~ give a fuck about your little doc? My bf says to pretend we're at a film festival, and you're meeting us, and he just said that to you, sober as a judge. I'm standing r there too

Do you ~actually~ have a response? Try not to lie

Face to face, if someone said that to me at a film festival, it would be terrible. I’d probably be gobsmacked and just say something like, “okaaay” and walk away thinking, “man, that guy was cruel.”  

I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t feel like talking about a short documentary dog movie at that point. 

And along those lines, asking for advice from some people that consider me condescending might not be the best bet either. 

Certainly apologies to you if you’ve felt condecendent or patronized by me. FWIW, your writings here offer some of the better insight I’ve read.  Any slight by me to you would have been unintentional.