The most important thing about marketing
Most creatives put their marketing energy into their sometimes sleek, funny, professional or random content-filled Instagram feeds…and that’s about it. Sometimes there’s a website that just maybe is linked in the IG bio.
There is clearly a conscious effort to stay on top of today’s most “it” platform (i.e. Instagram, YouTube, TikTok). This makes a ton of sense because we can safely assume the rest of the world is following suit, right?
While there is an absolute benefit to staying on top of what’s current, you must also look at the full breadth of marketing strategies available to you from a strategic standpoint and determine where your targeted audience is giving their attention.
Diverse marketing > likes
To repeat: your marketing strategies and ideas should not be based on what is easy or validating for you, but what your target audience engages with.
Your gram may be filled with fun, interesting, brand specific content that is getting tons of response from friends and family alike and, subsequently, you feel super validated and effective. But is it reaching the folks that matter?
Sometimes, absolutely! I’m sure plenty of your colleagues follow you but what about the people you want to get your work in front of? The ones that you’re ultimately trying to reach who cut the checks? If your current marketing plan (or lack thereof) is not reaching the people you want to reach then you must reevaluate and innovate.
Once you identify your target audience you can then begin implementing strategies based on them.
Ask yourself:
- Who is in my target audience?
- What do they value?
- What kind of content / media (if any) do they engage with?
Marketing ideas for actors
Once you identify your target audience you can then begin implementing strategies based on them. Specifically, there are a myriad of potential, often unique, strategies that you can consider when looking to tell your story.
My boyfriend and I were at a subway station in Astoria, NY when Awkwafina (she hails from Queens) came over the loudspeaker and had a pre recorded announcement slipping in plugs for her new show. Genius, right? She was targeting young, millennial New Yorkers like us!
While I’m obviously not implying you go to the MTA so you can plug your new short film, I *am* encouraging you to think well beyond your current marketing efforts to break into new territory altogether.
I could list out dozens and dozens of potential marketing ideas that stretch far beyond Instagram but to give you a sense of what’s possible, take a look at some examples below:
- Bi-monthly newsletters
- Social media collaborations w/ diverse and notable colleagues (IG Lives, photo shoots, interviews)
- Market Research (Better understand your brand and what folks are responding to)
- Merchandise
- Personalized Mail Labels (Put your face on that stuff!)
- Vlogs / Blogs / Podcasts (invite some of those “higher ups” on)
- Specific, designed, action oriented Email signature (www.wisestamp.com)
- Ongoing press pitches to publications, podcasts and blogs
Marketing is an easily overlooked and under-appreciated piece of the puzzle. Getting a sense of the myriad of strategies that are available to you may get you going even more.
Btw…you can find me on TikTok at @DirTyguRL33. Oh and does anyone know what Steven Spielberg’s handle is on there?! I can’t seem to find him for some reason.
Also by Artist’s Strategy:
Actors as Producers: Beware of Tunnel Vision
Do You Need Connections to Become an Actor?