Whether you’re showing off your new reel or trying to fundraise for your next project, if you could make use of a professional PR firm that would get you seen by industry pros and your ideal audience for pennies on the dollar…you probably would.
Well you have that kind of access now with Facebook ads and that’s why I started a Facebook Group to show you how to do it. Just like so many aspects of the entertainment industry and the tech industry there are no more gatekeepers. You’re not locked out of getting your work seen by hundreds of thousands or reaching the targeted few who care about who you are and what you do. And the access to quality tech means you can become your own marketing and PR firm with very little money and just a little understanding.
Why Digital Advertising Beats Traditional Paper, Billboards, and Others.
Ok. Let’s say you are building up hype for a screening of your next film project and you want to get butts in seats. Let’s also say you have the means to buy space on a billboard for 2 months leading up to the screening in the city where the film will show. Lucky you.
Will people see your billboard? Sure…probably. (When they’re not looking at their phones.) Will you be able to tell who saw it, how many people saw it, how many times they saw it, what they did after they saw it? No you won’t. Those are pretty limited options for all that money you spent.
Now let’s say you choose to run the ad on Facebook instead. For the next two months you’ll be able to show your ad specifically to people who work in the industry and who may be interested in your type of work based on what they’ve watched, listened to, bought, or websites they visit. You can even target the city they live in down to the zip code. Better to reach folks who are not just visiting or where the commute is not a problem.
Plus you’ll see who saw your ad (what location they’re in, age/sex), if it’s a video how much of it they watched (10%, 50%, 100%), how many people saw it pass by as they scrolled (impressions) vs. how many people actually stopped to look at it (reach), and what they did when they saw it (clicked a link, visited your FB page, etc.).
And here’s the kicker – you can actually show another ad directly to just those who engaged with your first one. That’s like showing up on the TV of someone who just looked at your billboard. “Hi, thanks for looking at my work. I’ll be at the premier on this date. Come join me.”
And this is all available to anyone! As long as you have a Facebook Business Page you have a Facebook Ad Account and can run ads.
”It seems to be the easiest way to share content with little risk and high reward.”
– Actor Eric Satterberg (This Is Us, Scandal, Shameless, over a dozen commercials)
Imagine spending that $90 you were going to spend on postcards, flyers, and mailings and instead put it into marketing you can actually track and use over and over again.
After interviewing well over 100 industry professionals on my podcast, The Actor CEO Podcast, I found the #1 problem that would keep actors (and I’m sure many artists) from achieving sustained success in their careers was…
Not Treating Your Career Like A Business.
We don’t get much information, experience or education on this in our training and that’s too bad. Any other business would KNOW that marketing is what keeps you visible and top-of-mind to your “customers.” Creative artists need the same perspective. Too often a filmmaker will overlook enough funding for marketing when fundraising or an actor will hope that asking their friends and family 100 times to “spread the word” will result in ticket sales to their show. That’s not effective. When you treat your craft as a business, then you’ll know to make plans, set goals, and invest in your business in the right ways to ensure you can continue to be in business.
Your Competition Is Already Doing It
While it’s still a relatively new idea, creative (and biz minded) artists are already taking advantage of this.
Actor: Eric Satterberg.
“I think Facebook ads are helpful for actors because for a little bit (or a lot) of money you can share your work on a variety of social platforms with very targeted tools (gender, age location, job,etc.). I’ve used it in the past to share my updated theatrical reels. It was something I wanted to share with Casting Directors, Agents, anyone and everyone”
Actor: Scott Cargle
“I think it’s helpful because I can target ads that only go to my mailing list, my email list of writers, producers, directors, and casting directors.”
Actor: Michael Daw
“I did this with my old character reel. I think it wound up around 10k views, which isn’t crazy, but I only spent about $40 on promoting it. When my new reel is ready I will probably do that again.”
Filmmaker: Abby Walla
“We ended up raising 20K on our first day…We ended up raising way past the 40K goal and raised 50K in our first month!”
So before the rest of your competition starts to get wise, wouldn’t it be smart to be the one who meets an industry insider, gives them your biz card with your website, and 3 days later shows up in their Facebook feed again showcasing your work? Or you could hope that postcard reaches their desk…
The easiest way to get started is to join the Facebook Ads for Actors, Artists and Filmmakers Facebook group. You’ll be able to ask a ton of questions, watch videos, and get some support from others who are doing the same.
Of course you could reach out directly to facebookads@actorceo.com to get access to the online course that walks you through the entire process or you could even set up a private tutorial. If you’re ready to rock right now or have a project that needs this now then this will be the best choice.
