How to Create a Web Series [Part Five: Marketing]
Getting the word out about your web series is an art, and there is no way I can possibly cover all the major marketing concepts in one post, but here are some major points you need to think about when marketing your web series:
Social media -- be EVERYWHERE. People are picky. Most of my peers only really use one or two social media networks frequently. If you can get your web series on ALL platforms, you'll have a better chance at reaching your audience. Post entertaining tweets on Twitter, share behind the scenes photos on Instagram, and blog frequently on your website.
Have a "home base" website. This is where all your episodes are posted, and links to all your social media platforms are.
Create a marketing plan AT LEAST six months before your series launch. We had a fairly solid marketing plan back in December 2013 for our May 2014 launch. We had trailer release dates, ideas for blog content, and some simple marketing campaign ideas for our Facebook. Have a plan in place and have people who can help you make it happen.
That's enough theory -- here's what I did for my web series marketing:
Marketing the Antidote 15 Web Series
We did an absurd amount of work marketing Antidote 15 -- and we still should have done more. However, I think we did do a good job with what we managed to get done on top of actually producing the series and being students and having jobs and lives and (occasionally) social lives.
Stage One: Who We Are
I uploaded a Creator's Statement video to Youtube explaining my goals for the series, and began interviewing the cast and crew for blog posts, showcasing "The Team." Since we were still in pre-production, we didn't have too much to post, but our goal here was to get people to meet us and being to see what our series was about, and to begin growing our fanbase before our series premiered. We were also interviewed in my hometown newspaper.
Stage Two: Behind-The-Scenes Journey
We posted behind-the-scenes updates on the blog about casting, auditions, and each day of shooting. We also uploaded photos to all our social media accounts.
Stage Three: Teaser Content
Trailers were the best because they were fun to make, gave a first glimpse into our series, and got people excited about what we were doing. We posted two trailers, first this teaser trailer that's 19 seconds long, and then later a full one minute trailer two weeks later.We posted stills on our Facebook page as well.
Stage Four: Full Court Press
Before our first episode premiered, we did EVERYTHING.
1. We posted this flier around campus with rip-off plot clues and our website address. College students were our target audience, so that's why we tried to do a lot of marketing to target them:
2. We posted a "SOME OF US" campaign highlighting each character in the series and a little hint about them, and had our cast change their profile pictures on Facebook to these graphics a week before the first episode aired:
3. We ran different types Facebook ads for our target audience, which were fairly successful.
4. We posted post-production updates on the blog.
5. We tweeted at people to watch the show, and started gathering a larger Twitter audience.
6. Cast and crew changed their Facebook covers to our Antidote 15 banner, and crew changed their profile pictures to a special Antidote 15 logo with the website on it.
Stage Five: Midweek Marketing
In between episodes, we re-posted content, posted short "previously on..." videos, and also created graphics like this for the season finale:
Conclusion
Marketing for a web series is time-consuming and can be absolutely overwhelming at times when there is so much to get done. In hindsight, we needed more manpower, more varied content, and giveaways. However, I think we did a good job building a fanbase for season one, and we're looking forward to bringing this momentum into season two. Another great aspect of marketing web series? All the work you did for season one carries over into the next season. You're not just hyping a project, you're building a brand.
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