Introduction:
Reflecting on the past few weeks, I believe that the social media campaign has been very successful. I had created a time table listing specific days and posts for those days, on my page. As work has progressed, I have been updating my campaign more often and now it is beginning to follow the structure of the table. Now that the proof of concept has been filmed, the days which mark video-based material being posted will become part of my curriculum.
At the moment, there is not as large a number of followers on the page but I believe that as more interactive media is incorporated, this will change. The interactive media will consist of my proof of concept along with teasers for the final product and behind the scenes featurettes. Having now scheduled the official release of the proof of concept, for Friday, I have began uploading short teaser videos with three to four seconds of footage from the project. These give a number of days until the official release. As mentioned when analyzing media campaigns, this method of promotion tends to build anticipation within the target audience. I can now state that more followers are feeling encouraged to respond to posts on the page and take more notice of the campaign.
Strategies:
The strategies I used when reaching out to my audience consisted of two main subjects. These were short videos teasing the proof of concept going into production and also regular posts listing dates and explaining what work would be relevant to those dates. It seemed that once the videos were incorporated, responses came a lot quicker and in greater successions.
When posting behind the scenes pictures, there were five likes from followers of the page. Though this is not many in the grand scheme of successful social network campaigns, it proved to be an increase and reached followers who had not responded to previous posts as frequently. This was part of my ‘regular post’ strategy where I would post short messages on the page, in between uploading video teasers, to keep the audience interested and create more of a dialogue so that I was reaching out to them in more ways than one and using words rather than leaving all communication to the visuals.
Here is the second teaser I uploaded ahead of the proof of concept going into production. Though only three likes, people showed their excitement and it was these people who became more frequent with their reactions and responses to my other posts. It also allowed me to introduce visuals to the audience and suggest what they may see in the proof of concept as well as the final product. It also really set the aesthetics for my film with the bright colours emerging from the darker tones in-shot.
There was a significant increase in likes as more interactive media was added to the page. Looking at the second teaser video I uploaded, it was recorded that a total of twenty one people were reached. The video, itself, managed only three likes however, this is only early days of production and, as it progresses, I will expect to see more responses to the more anticipated material. This could be through shares, likes or even commented feedback.
Another strategy I used was sharing posts relevant to my film’s genre and also posts from films which influenced my idea, in the first place. These posts were centered around Kingsman: The Golden Circle and Baby Driver. In sharing these posts, I not only give the audience context to my idea but also allow other audiences to understand what approach I am taking to the film and how it compares to other films. Those who were fans of either Kingsman or Baby Driver would then feel obliged to investigate my campaign and see what my idea was. This would increase the number of views on my page and familiarize more people with my product. With social media campaigns partly being about the notoriety of your film, this would help greatly.
Other social media platforms used:
With regards to other social media platforms, I am planning to set up a YouTube page as soon as the proof of concept is complete so that more interactive media is available as opposed to just posts which would not prove successful on a site specializing in video-based products.
Due to the feedback being largely positive, it has only influenced me to continue with my video-based work and update my audience daily, until the proof of concept is released. The only elements I would change and improve on would probably be using GIFs. GIFs are becoming increasingly more popular on promotional pages and encouraging more anticipation from their audience.
Crowdfunding:
I did not refer to crowd funding for the proof of concept as I had all the appropriate equipment within reach. Also, I am not considering referring to crowd funding for the final film as I believe there are very few requirements that are not already available to me. However, one issue which was raised before was that perhaps actors may wish to be reimbursed for travel fare and even expect to be given sustenance on-set. Taking this into consideration, I will not rule out crowd funding as of yet but in the grand scheme of my final film, it is not a definite option.
What would I change:
It is the interacting that I would try to improve upon as production goes further, therefore GIFs would be an ideal next step. This way, I will be able to help surface more excitement from the target audience, regarding the release of my work. Also, when using GIFs, the film being promoted is given more likability as it reaches out to its audience on a very modern and yet light-hearted level. The films which have inspired my project have utilized GIFs on their official pages and so this is one of the many reasons I would feel obliged to use them, going forward.
Here is an example of another student’s campaign. Here, they used GIFs to approach their audience and advertising with a mildly humorous and light-hearted mood.
Page Link: https://www.facebook.com/caper.film/
In terms of techniques I would change, I would have tried to synchronize my posting with the timetables, earlier than I previously imagined I could. This may have influenced a greater number of likes and shares from the audience, during the earlier stages of the campaigns existence. The only reason there was a lack of synchronization was because of the lack of video-based material available at the time. However, now that I am in the late stages of editing my proof of concept, more video-based posts can be added to the page.
How has this campaign helped my personal development:
Creating this social media platform has helped strengthen my understanding of advertising and how the importance of it is often taken for granted. For example, creating the video-based material proved extremely significant in encouraging reactions from my audience. When people use social media and see these short teasers, not all take the time to share their excitement and react to them. In the context of mine, a select group of people have began regularly reacting to posts, updating them on the project as well as the video teasers themselves.
It has also made me feel more confident in selling my ideas through social media. Beforehand, I had doubted that a social media campaign would be entirely successful for assembling an audience and building popularity for a film project. However, having researched other campaigns and seen independent films gaining a significantly high number of followers, I feel more reassured that, as an option, social media campaigning does not fall short of success. Even when just starting out with the campaign, the curriculum I have set for myself feels sensible and I feel a great amount of pride when delivering announcements and teaser videos for my project. Purely seeing my project blossom into the campaign and even into a short film, itself, has added even more to my passion for film.
Feedback & Summary:
Having received feedback on my social media campaign, I found that the responses were extremely positive. Many commented on how I was persistent with the posting of relevant material. When sharing content on my page, I would often happen upon posts promoting the films which had influenced my film idea such as Baby Driver and the Kingsman series. I always made sure that I shared those posts on my page and gave the audience an idea of the approach I was taken towards my proof of concept and final film.
One commented on how they believed my campaign to be, ‘ …one of the best’. They talked about how I my behind the scenes posts were interesting and how each posts engaged my audience more. This feedback was extremely reassuring to me as it confirmed my ambitions were met which were to engage my audience and be frequent with my posting and promoting.
Another viewer commented on how posting the soundtrack to the film helped, ‘…create a buzz’ for the release of my film. They claimed that this all catered to my target audience and that the work, overall, was of a high standard. All of this feedback has influenced me to maintain this standard with my campaign and perhaps experiment with the techniques I mentioned having not carried out. A piece of feedback stated that I have been ‘considerate’ of my target audience by publishing posts which would appeal to the demographic. They continued on to praise my countdown videos and how they contributed to the anticipation of the release. Being that all which was applauded met with my ambitions, I can confirm that I will continue to maintain these qualities and even welcome some techniques I had not considered beforehand. Also, as mentioned before, this is all reassurance that as of now, the persistence and content is working.
Overall, the social media campaign has been extremely successful in selling my idea to the target audience and has received positive comments, throughout. I felt that the visuals of the page were of a standard I set out to achieve. The reoccurring purple helped my page stand out from the others and also, subtly hint at the story line and the stolen item referred to in the synopsis. The persistence of my posting proved to work well as it attracted more views and likes. One example would be the ten days count down video to the proof of concept, above, which received nine likes and a total of forty views. Again, though not the greatest number of likes and views they are still present and indicate that people are being reached. This is what I aimed to do when creating the campaign and also encourage a lot of excitement for the release. I feel that I have accomplished this for my proof of concept and this is all in favor of the social media campaign.
Brandon Hobson 
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