Attracting Your Target Audience

There are many things that can be done to attract your target audience.

Firstly, the actual content of the film is a major part in attracting target audience. If, for example, you were trying to attract young adults, it would probably be a good idea to make your main characters of the same age. This is because people are often the most comfortable around those of their own age group, and so they're more likely to relate to and want to watch the character's journey through the film. Also, the location is very important in attracting your target audience - if your film is set in a high school, you'll attract more teens than adults, as they are familiar with the setting. If all of these things are made clear in the advertising stage, then you should successfully attract the target audience you are aiming for.

Secondly, advertising the genre is a way to attract your target audience. As detailed in the target audience post, different genres tend to have different age groups and genders who enjoy them more - advertising a horror film by just using clips from the beginning, when nothing bad has happened, will not attract people who enjoy horror films, as they won't recognise it as a genre that they enjoy.

The actual advertising that you do is also another important thing in terms of attracting target audience. Where you advertise your film is crucial - if you are producing a family film, advertising it on late night (2AM, 3AM etc.) channels which feature mostly soaps or TV dramas won't be at all helpful, as the children themselves won't see it, and most likely parents won't either, as they tend to hold 9-5 jobs. Likewise, advertising for a horror movie on a children's TV channel will be ineffective, as they won't watch it and want to see it, and the intended target audience won't know about it. Social media is a great way to advertise films, as you have a lot of people of all ages online - parents, teenagers, and the elderly are often active users of Facebook, Youtube and Twitter, and so advertising almost any genre online is often beneficial. However, you may have to fine tune where you advertise it, so it's more specific to your target audience - more adults use Facebook than children, so advertising films aimed at them on Facebook would be favourable. Promoting your family film on a children's gaming website, or a website that is aimed at parents may also be a good choice, as both children on the websites, and potentially parents monitoring them may see it. Advertising in a cinema may also be a good way to attract your target audience - if you were screening an action movie, and screened the trailer for your action movie before the film started, you'd be reaching the exact right target audience - they wouldn't be there if they didn't enjoy action movies, and so will be very likely to want to see yours. This is the same throughout any genre, and it's very effective as it guarantees your target audience will see it. Finally, advertising in public places, such as on the side of buses, at train stations, and on poster boards are good for films that have a broad target audience, such as comedies, because there's a very wide range of people who will see it.