Film marketing tactics recommended by the pros

Over the past year I’ve quizzed a number of film industry professionals on various topics. I went back through the conversations to pick out all the ideas they shared around film marketing.

It quickly emerged that there were a few core ideas many people spoke about. I have brought together a collection of their tips and advice.

Here’s the skinny:

1. Start your marketing before your film is finished. Begin building an audience early by sharing the filmmaking process and generating interest well before release.

2. Target niche communities and micro-influencers. Collaborate with smaller, focused influencers who speak directly to your target audience and generate more meaningful engagement.

3. Use social platforms as force multipliers. Engage with audiences on the platforms they already use by posting tailored, authentic content to boost visibility and word of mouth.

4. Create real-world experiences worth sharing. Design immersive or novel physical experiences related to your film that people will want to share online.

5. Give fans tools to spread the word for you. Provide easy-to-share assets and encourage user-generated content to turn your audience into active promoters.

6. Use surprise and mystery to fuel curiosity. Tease elements of your film to provoke speculation and build anticipation without revealing everything upfront.

7. Don’t leave first impressions to chance. Invest in high-quality trailers, posters, and synopses as they play a crucial role in attracting both audiences and industry buyers.

8. Let controversy work for you. If your film sparks debate or outrage, embrace the attention and use it to fuel conversation and visibility.

Now let’s dive into each and I’ve found a few illustrative examples so you can see it in the wild.

1. Start your marketing before your film is finished

Build your audience from day one. Do not wait until the film is done to start promoting. Share behind-the-scenes moments, update progress, and let people in while you make the film. Early audience engagement proves to buyers that there is real demand for your work.

One expert put it simply:

Nowadays word of mouth is no longer about festivals but social media.

Another told me:

Films with an active fan base or growing public interest are much more appealing to sales companies and distributors.

Skinamarink (2022) became a viral sensation after leaked clips circulated during its festival run, drawing over 20 million views on TikTok. The film’s alignment with analog horror and liminal space aesthetics helped fuel online buzz, ultimately securing a theatrical release and grossing around $2 million on a $15,000 budget. Director Kyle Edward Ball shot the film in his childhood home, building on the dreamlike style he developed on his YouTube channel.

Sound of Freedom (2023) leveraged a grassroots marketing strategy centered around its Pay It Forward ticketing initiative. This program enabled supporters to purchase tickets for others, resulting in over 1.8 million tickets sold through the initiative, contributing approximately $26 million to the film's box office revenue. Angel Studios reported that about 84% of these tickets were redeemed by moviegoers .

2. Target niche communities and micro-influencers

Big influencers look expensive and out-of-reach, but collaborating with niche or micro-influencers delivers specific, credible engagement.

Approach people whose followers match your audience: genre fans, regional film lovers, or relevant online communities. Provide them with material or advance access.

A distributor told me:

Smaller influencers often have higher engagement rates within specific communities. Their perceived authenticity and closer connection to their followers can be highly effective for genre films or titles targeting specific cultural or interest groups.

Twisters (2024) activated over 80 influencers across weather, music, and pop culture niches, generating more than 52 million views before release. The campaign blended TikTok trends with film clips and featured the cast appearing at country music events, including a Luke Combs concert, positioning the film squarely within southern pop culture.

Sony’s campaign for Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) targeted BookTok influencers and curated Pinterest boards to reach the book’s core audience (i.e. women already engaged with the story). It also partnered with book clubs by supplying discussion guides and screening invites, building demand well before release.

3. Use social platforms as force multipliers

Find the social platforms your audience already uses and become visible there. Share content tailored for those spaces. Authentic, regular interaction builds a following much faster than one-off posts. TikTok, Instagram, and even Letterboxd can become engines of discovery if you put in the time.

In the words of one person I spoke with:

You don’t need a huge budget if you understand how your audience talks and where they hang out. Social platforms can carry your film further than any billboard.

The marketing team behind Terrifier 2 (2022) spent almost nothing on traditional marketing. Instead, social media and old-fashioned word of mouth (helped along by viral stories of audiences fainting) drove demand. Online horror fans dared each other to see it, and every viral tweet or community post turned into a ticket sold.

Even mega films need to harness social media. For Barbie (2023), Warner Bros. turned every possible social media channel pink. A custom AI selfie generator let users share their faces in “Barbie posters,” pushing the film’s aesthetic across feeds worldwide and turning ordinary people into film promoters.

4. Create real-world experiences worth sharing

Give audiences and media something to talk about in the real world. This can be an interactive event, a clever prop, or an unusual public stunt connected to your film’s core idea.

Audiences share these online because they feel like insiders experiencing something unique.

Give people a story to live, not just watch. When an audience experiences something tangible, they become part of the campaign themselves.

To market The Green Knight (2021), A24 created a tabletop role-playing game and mailed out campaign kits filled with dice, character sheets, and maps. Gaming and fantasy circles buzzed with excitement well before the film’s release.