TikTok: the best platform to promote your film crowdfunder?
Contrary to popular belief among older generations, TikTok is not only a place for kids to dance and lip-sync to popular music. It’s so much more than that! I am here to tell you how TikTok can be a good place to promote your film by showing you a case study of how the team behind Egghead and Twinkie promoted their film crowdfunder.
The Platform
Let’s start with the basics. For those of you who don’t know, TikTok is a social media platform where users can create and share videos up to 1 minute long. In the beginning, it was mostly known for giving users the ability to lip-sync to the most popular songs, hence why most people still see it as just that.
TikTok has a few unique ways of engaging with the audience. First of all, most of the content people consume is received through the main page of the app, called the “For You Feed” or “For You Page” (FYP for short). Secondly, the app has a few sharing features that are exclusive to TikTok, such as Dueting (reacting to a video in a split screen view) and Stitching (taking 5 seconds of a video and responding to it with one of your own).
As the algorithm gets to know you, you discover many communities and niches within the app on the FYP. Some examples of creators I stumbled upon were science communicators, vintage costume makers, mental health advisors, professional cooks and many, many others. In the words of Edward Linderman, the European Strategy Manager of TikTok:
“The For You Feed is very good at serving you content that you didn’t necessarily know you needed, but, after you’ve watched it, you are totally delighted.”
The Film
Egghead and Twinkie is a soon to be released feature film written and directed by Sarah Kambe Holland. It started as a 9 minute short film made in 2018. The story is about a gay Asian American named Twinkie and her best friend Egghead. In the creator’s words, “it’s a coming of age film about coming out” made by and for Gen Z.
The feature film was successfully funded, raising over $20,000 for its production. This success is largely due to Egghead and Twinkie’s fame on TikTok. Their first video blew up on the platform, getting over 1.2 million views in August of 2020, when it was first released. Their profile gained over 135K followers in just 5 days after the first video was posted.
TikTok is a platform that takes you to the right audience at the right time if used to its full potential. I want to share with you some of the reasons I believe contributed to Egghead and Twinkie’s success on this platform.
The Video That Started It All!
Egghead and Twinkie’s first TikTok video now has over 2.6 million views. It boomed on the platform and so began the domino effect towards successfully funding its production.
TikToks have a very specific style. The users can tell if the content presented to them is not made for the platform or if the message is not genuine. That is why, when working with advertisers, TikTok’s team tells marketing departments: “Don't make ads, make TikToks.”
Egghead and Twinkie’s first video embraced the unique style of the platform from the very first second. Here is how they did:
1. Hooks the right audience from the very beginning!
The very first few seconds of a TikTok video are very crucial. By giving examples of three well known films in the first few seconds, not only does it make the viewer curious about the subject of the video, but it also picks the right audience for it. People who are not interested in those sorts of films will scroll on, while the others will stick to find out about what Sarah Kambe Holland will say about their interests.
If you are planning on promoting your next film on this platform, try presenting similar films to the one you are producing in order to get to the right people. This type of hook can also be used to present the film’s main themes. For example, if you are making a documentary about climate protests, you can start your TikTok by saying something along the lines of: “Are you interested in stopping climate change and how everyday people can make a difference? Then stick around, because this is for you!”
2. Relevant and popular hashtags
Hashtags are an important part of the platform. Egghead and Twinkie’s video uses #comingofage #lgbt #filmmaking #lesbian #comingout, summarising the film’s theme and sending it to the right people.
Before posting your pitch on TikTok, make sure to do your research to find what type of hashtags your target audience might be interested in. A video’s description is only 150 characters long, so make sure you make the most of that space! And don’t forget to add a few nice words before the hashtags to hook the viewers even more.
3. Using a popular Sound as background music
One of the platform’s unique features (and one of the most exciting ones) is that you can pick almost any song to use in your videos. Using trending songs from TikTok’s Sounds section as background music helps with a video’s popularity and visibility. Egghead and Twinkie’s video used the song Backyard Boy by Claire Rosinkranz, which works quite well with the feature film’s coming of age theme.
As an editor, I think this is pretty amazing! No more need to scavenge for royalty free music on the internet. I can use one of my favourite Taylor Swift songs in my videos if I so wish.
Before choosing a song for your TikTok, check the most popular ones on the platform. See what type of content people create for each one and try to pick one that fits the theme of your film.
4. Summarising the film’s themes and selling points at the end
Adding text by using TikTok’s text features helps getting the content to the right people, as the platform analyzes it for keywords. Plus, it basically shows the essence of your film, crew and production in just a few lines.
5. Clear Call To Action!
Liking, sharing and following interactions are important for making a video blow up on TikTok, which is essential at the beginning in order to build an audience. The TikToks for the crowdfunding campaign came later on Egghead and Twinkie’s profile.
First and foremost, focus on building a community of people who want to support your film. Encourage your viewers to spread the word! The rest will follow.
6. The theme resonates with the younger generation
It’s a film about LGBTQ+ representation made by Gen Z for Gen Z. Plus it has a women lead crew and asian representation. Diversity is important to younger generations.
Even though the majority of TikTok’s users are between 10 and 19 years old (32.5%), 29.5% are actually between the ages of 20 and 29. If you believe your film can appeal to adults and young adults, TikTok can be an amazing platform to promote your film. Keep in mind themes which this particular age group might be interested in when promoting the film.
7. It was the very first video posted on that account
It has been discussed that the first 3 to 5 videos posted on a new TikTok account could be a huge determining factor on how well future videos on that account will do. The first few videos also have the highest potential to get many views, as the platform is testing your content with the users.
For more tips on how to get started on TikTok and how to increase your chances of going viral, watch this great video by Katie Steckly:
Keeping Their Head in The Game
The rest of the content from the Egghead and Twinkie’s page also makes the best out of the platform. They started by following popular trends and giving them a filmmaking twist!
They also created their own challenge on the platform as part of a contest to promote the film.
If you want to see what Egghead and Twinkie fans created by using that Sound, you can check them out here.
Conclusion
The team of Egghead and Twinkie managed to make it the first feature film to be funded through TikTok, thereby writing social media and filmmaking history!
So, is TikTok the best platform to promote your crowdfunding campaign? Yes, it can be if used right and if it’s tailored to a specific niche and a younger audience.
As a filmmaker, I can see TikTok has huge potential for promoting one’s projects and getting together a community of people interested in your work. This platform was called time and time again the best place for short form content. If you would like some help in promoting your business or your project through TikTok, feel free to contact us.