The Guerrilla Rep
The Guerrilla Rep
  • Home
    • About
    • In the Press
  • Blog
  • YouTube
  • Projects
    • Cicada Moon
    • Film Insight
    • Events >
      • Producer Foundry >
        • Producer Foundry Pitch Workshop
      • Archieve
  • Resources
  • Contact
  • Submit
    • Early Stage
    • Completed
  • COVID-19
    • COVID-19 News/Affects
    • COVID-19 Resources
  • Home
    • About
    • In the Press
  • Blog
  • YouTube
  • Projects
    • Cicada Moon
    • Film Insight
    • Events >
      • Producer Foundry >
        • Producer Foundry Pitch Workshop
      • Archieve
  • Resources
  • Contact
  • Submit
    • Early Stage
    • Completed
  • COVID-19
    • COVID-19 News/Affects
    • COVID-19 Resources

The IndieFilm Purchase Process

7/17/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture
If you want to understand how best to market something, you need to first understand the steps that a customer would take in buying it.  This isn’t just true for film, it’s true for everything any entrepreneur might want to sell.  It’s called the purchase process or purchase cycle. Here’s what it looks like for film.

I’ll start out by saying this is primarily for independent film, and the prioritization is centered around independent films where the customer doesn’t know the creator.   This process is meant to start when they see your film on a platform.  There’s a chance they might have heard of the press or on social media before that point, or that you directly lead them to that link.  If that’s the case, the only thing it really changes is that they’ll be more likely to buy the film in fewer steps due to the relationship you built with that customer to get them there. 

This is more based from my general observations of myself and others.  While I’d LOVE more of a data backed approach to this, in so far as I know none currently exists that’s available to the public.  At least not as of the time I’m writing this.

This blog is focused on VOD content.  The process is similar whether or not the customer has to pay for your movie.  That said, it’s much easier to move your potential customer to the next step and to click the watch button if they don’t have to pay to watch it, because duh. 
​

See KeyArt

Picture
Steve Lack: Audio
Donald Evans
Ashley P.
Judah J.
Clever Username
Picture
Generally, the first interaction with your film will be your thumbnail keyart, or in some cases the cover of your DVD.  If you don’t catch their interest on the thumbnail, they probably won’t move to the next steps in the purchase process. 

That said, there are a few exceptions here related to search filters for whatever VOD platform you’re watching the film on.  There’s a chance the customer will have heard of your film from a review site or general publicity before seeing the key art on the relevant platform, however even if they have it’s not incredibly likely they’ll seek the film out.  However, It might make them more likely to proceed to the next step in the purchase process if they’ve heard of it before randomly seeing it. ​
​
This step is also quite important on platforms like youtube or facebook when you’re marketing the film directly to your audience. 

Read Title

Second, if the poster caught the customer’s eye then they’ll read the title.  If the title is catchy, they’ll probably move on to the next step.  If it’s not, they might move on to the genre, but it won’t help the film close overall. 
​

Check Genre

This step might be bypassed due to search filters, or other parts of the discovery algorithm of whatever platform your customer is interacting with your content through.  If it’s free to watch, there’s a good chance that the customer will make their decision on this alone.  If they continue on the path to purchase, every step makes it more likely until they either buy/watch the film or don’t. 
​

Related: Why Genre is VITAL to Indiefilm Distribution

Check Platform Rating

Some consumers are really invested in what the algorithm of their favorite platforms think they’ll like.  Generally, it’s an early part of their decision as to whether or not they’ll watch a film, even if it’s only something like “we think it’s a 30% match vs a 90% match.  In this instance, it seems like low ratings mean a lot more than high ratings do. 
​

Read (short) Synopsis

If they didn’t decide to make watch the film based on the information up until now, they’re read whatever description of the film is native on the site.  It’s important this be exciting and punchy, as it’s getting very close to the point where the customer will decide whether or not to buy your movie. 
​

Watch Trailer

If the platform the customer is watching your independent film on offers the ability to watch a teaser clip or trailer, your potential customer may watch it before they watch your independent movie.  Your distributor will probably re-cut it to make it punchy, but they may not if you made it well enough.  That’s what happened with Goodland.  (watch the Trailer)
​

Related: How to best COLLABORATE with your distributor to Market your MOVIE

Rotton Tomatoes/IMDb

After the genre, they’ll probably check the star rating for whatever platform they’re using.  If they’re considering buying the content, they may check the tomotatometer or imdv as well.  A lot of platforms have at least one of those metrics native in the display right now.

All of that being said, reviews are still incredibly important, as they’ll help you reach new potential audience members, and if they heard of you before, they’re more likely to get past the first step or two in tis process.

Thanks so much for reading!  If you like this blog, you’ll probably like my other blogs.  Sign up for my mailing list and you’ll get free monthly blog digests segmented by topic, and a great FREE set of resources.  I don’t just blog about movie marketing and distribution, I also do it in real life.  Click the submit button for help no matter what the stage of your project is.  Finally, if you like this content, consider supporting it on patreon.  You can find all three of those links on the relevant buttons below. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Right below our sponsors
(who you should visit, if they're relevant.)

2 Comments
Seth Nielsen link
10/6/2022 10:34:35 am

Talk star off receive company others. Turn cut firm movement commercial. Question since leader dinner although part.

Reply
Alex Blanchard link
10/29/2022 11:55:47 pm

Man game past morning event condition reveal own. Authority wait rock baby drop true one wide. Office seat often order pretty.
Step when opportunity trade expect. Green lose control same.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    My name is Ben, I'm an Entrepreneur, Producer's Rep, and Author.  I'm the founder of Guerrilla Rep Media, Co-Founder/CMO of ProductionNext, and founder of Producer Foundry.  Together, the organizations seek to help make filmmaking a more economically sustainable endeavor.  I am dysic, I have capitalization issues, and the blogs are often unedited. opinions all my own.

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Join my Mailing List for FREE Resources!

    I'm happy to offer a FREE Resource Package to anyone who joins my mailing list.  You'll also recieve monthly digests of my articles and other valuable resources.
    Sign Up!

    My Books

    Picture
    Find it at
    Your Local Library
    Books Inc
    Barnes and Nobles
    ​Amazon

    Audiobook Free through Audible.com

    Picture

    Available exclusively through Amazon.com​

    Archives

    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    February 2015
    August 2014

    Categories

    All
    Affiliates
    AFM
    Aggregation
    Angel Investing
    Angel Investment
    Audience Engagement
    AVOD
    Branding
    Business Plan
    Business Planning
    Career Growth
    Community
    Contracts
    Crowdfunding
    Data
    Deck
    Distribution
    Distribution Agreements
    Distribution Deliverables
    Distributors
    DVD
    Email Marketing
    Entertainment
    Entrepreneurialism
    Executive Summary
    Film Budgeting
    Film Distribution
    Film Festivals
    Film Finance
    Film Financing
    Film Industry
    Film Investment
    Filmmaking
    Film Marketing
    Film Markets
    Film Money
    Financing
    First Feature
    Genre
    Grants
    Grantwriting
    Hustle
    Indiefilm
    International
    International Sales
    Look Book
    Markeing
    Marketing
    Marketing Materials
    Packaging
    Packaging Documents
    Physical Media
    PR
    Press
    Producer's Rep
    Publicity
    Sales Agency
    Sales Agents
    Screenplay
    Script
    Self Distribution
    Short Films
    Social Media
    Staged Financing
    Studio
    SVOD
    Tax Incentives
    Technology
    Terminology
    Transparency
    Venture Capital
    Waterfalls

    RSS Feed

Home

About

Services

Menu

Contact

Copyright © 2019 Guerrilla Rep Media.  All rights reserved