By Annelise Larson
In Part 1 of this series, I looked at how search offers an amazing opportunity to find and connect with your audience. I also mentioned keyword research, which is the first and most fundamental step in search engine optimization, and how it provides information about the words and phrases people are typing into the search engines. If done well, this important SEO step can be used in many ways to help your film. Here are just five of them:
#1 – Inspiration
Looking for the next great idea? Stuck on several and can’t figure out which one to choose? The data from keyword research can provide you with the spark of an idea that suggests a direction and gets your creative juices flowing. It also allows you to test and compare which ones have the most interest and potential audience. It shouldn’t be the ultimate deciding factor but it can help you be more strategic in your creative choices right from the beginning of a project. Or it can suggest a direction to get your creative juices flowing.
#2 – Prove Market Viability
This research includes hard data on how many searches for a particular phrase; in other words its “search market.” It can give you an idea of how big the established audience is for your lead actor, the enthusiasm for the title of the work you are adapting, the current level of interest in the specific topic of your project and other salient facts. These can all be leveraged to prove the viability of a project when trying to attract investment and for building out a strong marketing strategy and business plan.
#3 – Define and Find Your Target Audience(s)
At a time when you can own your own audience, it is critical to know who they are. The more keyword research you do, the more insight you have into what they are looking for and you can then shape your marketing strategy accordingly. You can also use that language to perform searches – on Google, on social networks, etc – to find out who is already using these phrases, having these conversations. This can build you a bridge to those potential fans and again help to shape your digital marketing strategy.
#4 – “Talk the Talk”
By using the language your audience is, you automatically gain credibility with the community you are targeting. We all get our fair share of unwelcome communication and spam online. But if you are at least saying the right words in an authentic way and adding value to an online community, this helps significantly in building an audience for your film (and helps to not be dismissed to the trash can without a second glance).
#5 – Attract Your Audience
And perhaps the most important point, and the one most relevant to a search friendly or SEO approach, is that when the language from your keyword research is effectively woven amongst your website, social media presence, online press releases and other written content, it becomes a powerful tool for attracting people to you and your film. It connects you to your audience through the words they are already typing into the search engines to find what they want.
In part 3 of this series, I give some tips on how and where to use this language and other ways to be search friendly.
Annelise Larson is a recognized leader in search and digital marketing for indie film and other media. She teaches and consults regularly throughout North America, and writes the blog From Search to Screen: A Filmmaker’s Guide to Digital Marketing.
