It’s Turnaround Tuesday and I’m doing a marketing makeover on http://outloudmovie.com/ it’s Debs website raising funding for her movie idea. She’s done a fantastic promotional video and a previous Kickstarter campaign, but hasn’t raised as much as she expected. (I’m listening to P.O.S. while I work.)
Here are my top 8 quick and dirty tips for turning your movie website around…
1. Some sentences are far more important that others. Spend time to perfect your hook.
I’m greeted by a big sign that says “Join the rebellion against boredom, apathy and fear”.
It makes me pause and think. I’m not sure there IS a rebellion against all those things. Or that they are all rebellion worthy.
People who are bored and apathetic, by their very nature don’t tend to rebel. Their inability to imagine better futures means they don’t act (which means they don’t buy movies to solve their problems).
Fear is a different emotion. Plenty of people want to overcome their fear and try very hard to do so. Overcoming fear is more of a battle, there is a clear enemy, so a rebellion may be relevant.
But if you have a strong emotional driver and a weak emotional driver and you mix them together, you get blah.
The key to a rebellion, to positioning your movie as a cause, is that it needs to really hit people between the eyes. It must instantly grab onto an existing FRUSTRATION and twist the knife.
Your movie must be THE solution they have been seeking to solve their XXX frustration.
I would spend a little more time specifically thinking about the psychology of your customer. The ones who buy things like this.
What are they really rebelling against? What is their number one frustration? How can I most clearly tap into that frustration with just a few words.
Then fine tune that initial hook. Make a list of 20 different variations on your rebellion theme. Then test them with your audience, see which one phrase appeals the most.
eg.
Join the rebellion against boredom, apathy and fear.
Join the rebellion against boredom and fear.
Join the rebellion against creative fear.
Join the rebellion against creative procrastination.
etc.
Most of all, don’t underestimate the amount of work it can take to get this one sentence right. Because it is this one sentence which will trigger all the emotion and attention you need to sell the rest of the pitch.
2. The line between clear and clever is a fine one. Be very careful with cleverness when you’re explaining your idea for the first time.
Underneath the main sign you have a second tagline or description saying “Out Loud is a movie shaped expedition into creativity, courage, curiosity and connection.”
So, you’ve already essentially got two slightly different pitches for this movie, right on the first page. That isn’t necessarily a problem, if the second description expands and deepens the first, or in this case hits it from a slightly different angle.
But, be very careful of “cleverness”. As a creative product it’s an essential part of what you’re actually selling.
BUT, when you’re trying to sell an idea, you need CLARITY to come first. The cleverness can come later, when the user has bought into the basic idea and chosen to invest their time and energy into getting to know you a little more.
People need to comprehend in a split second but on a deep level what this is. It’s a movie (not a movie shaped expedition) and you want them to be a part of its development.
Test: “OUT LOUD is a movie about creativity, courage, curiosity and connection and we’d love you to be a part of it!”
3. Know exactly what your goal is. Prioritise accordingly. Cut anything that gets in the way.
Although there’s not much on the page, there are more calls to action than necessary. A call to action is anything you’re asking the user to do.
I can click on two different “shaky” things that open your video.
There are 3 big buttons entitled;
“A movieeeeee!!!”
“Provocative movements!”
and “spending pennies”
Again, these are creative, but I have no clue why I might want to click on those links or what to expect on the other side.
They all presume the reader cares and has time to explore. Neither are usually true, at this stage of your relationship with them.
There’a also a large “pre-order” button. And a large email sign-up box, with an unclear header.
That’s at least 6 things you are trying to get your reader to do. And they all have a similar level of importance in your design. They’re ALL big.
I’d suggest creating ONE primary call to action on any one page. And maybe one secondary call to action, if appropriate.
The one thing you really need people to do is watch your video. But there’s no reason at all to make them think, guess or click before doing that. It should be visible upfront, not hidden behind a sign. And I’d test having it play automatically.
Now you’ve removed the action of playing your video, you can make it much clearer what else you want them to do.
So lets think about that for a second. What actions do we want the user to perform? And in what order?
Overall we want to…
- Have them watch the video which best describes the product
- Have them give you permission to email them
- Have them pre-order the product
4. Make it worth their while to give you their email address and reward that trust immediately.
More than anything you want their email address. Convincing people to give you money is tough. It takes time, it takes a process.
Without an ongoing means of communicating you can’t build trust, so your primary goal is to get the email address.
I’d suggest setting up an email auto-responder sequence with a company like Aweber. And offer a series of short samples of the wisdom, insight and humour that you’re promising in the final product.
If I intended to interview 20 people for a documentary, I’d be planning to include at least part of 6 or 7 of those interviews (the best ones) as free content, in the run-up to making the actual movie.
You’re essentially selling pre-orders to a product you haven’t yet made, to people you don’t yet know. Imagine how skeptical that are the first time they meet you. Even if they love the concept.
But imagine how much likely they are to invest, after you’ve sent them 6 or 7 valuable mini interviews over a period of weeks.
And you’ve also kept them up to date with your progress to date and the ins and outs of the process. Revealed more about yourself and given them a glimpse behind the scenes. Essentially, once they’ve got to know, like and trust that you can deliver, your odds of securing those pre-orders go way up.
And you can ask for the pre-order every time you email them something useful.
So, don’t be afraid of sharing some of your content, especially your best content, as part of your persuasion process.
Its no different than offering tasty morsels of cake before trying to sell the whole thing.
People won’t buy into this because you have secret content that they don’t have. There’s simply too much alternative content in the world these days.
They will buy it because it satisfies a strong emotional need they have right now (not in the future, when the movie actually comes out).
In this sense, you’re not selling a movie, you’re selling a way for people to change their state RIGHT NOW.
And the more you can prove that you have the ability to do that, the more likely they will be to trust you.
So, I’d offer content from some of the interviews you’re already done as bribes to secure an email opt-in. The promise of satisfying some of those emotional needs right now.
5. Know when you’re winning and when you’re losing. Sometimes it’s hard to tell.
The idea that raising money to fund a product is an inconvenience that gets in the way of “the real work” is a belief that destroys many a creative dream.
Raising money by any means is a full time, very tough job. There’s a reason that the people who sell stuff, generally make more money than the people who actually make the stuff. There are no short cuts to sales.
I saw that you once ran a Kickstarter campaign for this and stopped it, presumably because you where nowhere near your goal.
But I think your goal was unrealistic. You should know that raising nearly £11,000 on Kickstarter, which is the point at which you stopped is actually a super achievement. It shows that you have done a LOT of things right. Your basic offer is valuable, it just needs tweaking to make it super valuable.
6. Your video is superb. But be prepared to edit and test video pitches just as you need to test headlines and hooks and everything else.
OK setting aside the comments I’ve already made about “boredom and apathy” not necessarily being strong enough states to rebel against… The video is superb. It’s emotional, it’s creative, its personal, its fun and it contains proof that you’ve already got the ball rolling.
After watching it I feel like this project is already on its way and so there’s a chance it will happen.
If it needs anything, apart from refining that initial hook, its maybe a stronger, clearer call to action at the end.
What one thing should people do next? Don’t leave me guessing. I feel good after watching the video. Tell me exactly how to extend that good feeling.
This goes back to the email sign-up bribe.
Remember that this isn’t TV, you aren’t forced to pack a “go to our website” sign into the one second of commercial time that’s left at the end of your creative.
With video, you have all the time you make.
You’ve sold them on the idea of the movie, now you have to sell them on the idea of taking action.
There’s nothing to stop you spending another 2 minutes doing that. If there are going to give away 6 useful interview clips as bribes, then you have 6 things you can talk about at the end of your video, 6 reasons, to tell them 6 times to go join your email list.
If YOU’RE not selling them, someone else is. They’ll be GONE to the next viral video. The next compelling unworthy headline.
Your job isn’t done when you peak their emotion, it’s done when you turn emotion into action.
7. Inject more of yourself into the pitch. People buy from people. People want to connect with people. People live vicariously through other people. People join causes led by real people.
You don’t actually say anything about who YOU guys are. Whilst the readers are more interested in themselves and how you can solve their problems, they need to trust you enough to believe you have the capability to do that.
You have to open up (and be open to criticism, which is why its hard) before anyone will trust you. A little more about what makes you both tick. And your own fears and frustrations, will draw the audience closer.
8. Amplify the message, simplify the page structure.
There are various “bits” of other stuff on the website, that make it more complex to move through.
I would edit it down. Remember the goal of this site…
- Have them watch the video
- Have them give you permission to email them
- Have them pre-order the product
In that order. I think you only need a two page site. Anything else can be delivered by email later in the relationship.
On page one we deliver the video, talk about the content of the movie and focus on getting an email sign-up with a bribe.
And on page two we can focus on selling the pre-order.
Bonus: Upgrade your hosting, it’s too slow.
This is a mass market product, you need people with lots of followers to recommend you. People simply won’t wait for websites to load. Trying to get PR is all wasted energy if you have a slow server.
Summary
You already have all the content and resources and words you need. This is more an editing, slimming down job.
Revisit the specific hot buttons your customers are most fired up by. That is your hook and your bait, you have to get it spot on. Then don’t make them think about 6 things. There are only 3 things in this process. Prioritise them, make them as easy as possible. Never think that the money bit will come easy, then you can focus on the “real bit” the creative. It takes just as much attention to detail to get a great pitch as it does a great movie. And like a movie, it’s mostly in the editing and the testing process, where that last 5% makes all the difference between interesting and heart grabbing. Overall, superb video, excellent work. Well done, keep going!
I really respect what you’re doing.
When I’m doing a marketing makeover, my voice is really the voice of your cynical (trust me they are) customers. In reality, I have real respect for you and anyone with enough drive to put something out there in the world. To stand up and say, this is who I am, this is what I believe in and this is the value I want to trade with the world. Especially when you’re smart enough to get feedback and share it with the community. This way, everyone can learn from real examples. I salute you.
This was a free Turnaround Tuesday marketing makeover.
As a marketer it’s my job to help you make products your customers actually want. And to communicate your value in a way that moves them to buy. Anyone can sign-up for a free marketing makeover with Turnaround Tuesdays…
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