You Oughta be in Pictures

Moviegoers Search Early and Often for the Next Blockbuster

I’m a bit of a movie buff. Not the kind of credit-scrutinizing nerd that knows the name of every key grip and best boy going back to “It’s a Wonderful Life,” mind you, but I do like to go to the movies just about every week and I’ve got a Netflix queue that should take me well into my 70s.

In the old days, back when the Internet was but a twinkle in Len Kleinrock’s eye, you first heard about the next big release just before you saw the last one, right after the familiar green screen assuring you that the following PREVIEW has been APPROVED for ALL AUDIENCES.
 

But times have changed, and so have the ways people learn about movies—and a Yahoo! study conducted last summer shows just how much. Online search, the survey found, is a top source for information about movies. Fully 68 percent of the 2,351 respondents said that they considered movie information sites to be the best source for getting the skinny on a movie, while 60 percent said that they count on “official” movie websites.

And how do most filmgoers find these websites? Through search: 83 percent of respondents said that search engines were the “the most easy-to-use source” for finding movie information online.

In addition, the study found that—contrary to conventional wisdom—most moviegoers (91 percent) will go online and search before a film is even in theaters. Your die-hard movie buffs are likely to engage in search (65 percent) when they first hear about a film. Later in the cycle, those wanting to avoid opening night crowds (26 percent) search just after opening weekends, and 15 percent search just prior to the DVD release. 

So what’s it all mean for advertisers? Well, if you’re advertising the next theatrical, on-demand or DVD release, it’s pretty obvious: make sure your landing pages are up to snuff, get your keywords in order, and hit the web hard. Ditto if you’re offering licensed merchandise or special offers of movie tie-ins. (Just make sure you’re not infringing on any copyrights.)

—Michael Mattis