Recently we talked about how having social media influence can impact your acting career and why Instagrammers and Youtubers are crossing over into the mainstream industry.
It’s not something that actors can ignore any longer and having a strong social media is quickly becoming a necessity for anyone trying to build a successful acting career.
Here’s why...
It’s not difficult to see that social media is much more powerful and has a much bigger reach than traditional channels.
See, before social media became what it is today, studios relied on traditional methods of advertising to get the word out about their new project. The problem was that it was expensive and inefficient.
Now through social media, they can get the same or better results, at a lower cost, by simply having the cast post about their involvement in the project.
This is why Casting Directors often ask for your follower count before you speak a single word in an audition
There is a big benefit that comes with social media and actors hardly ever take advantage of it properly, even though it can be one of the biggests boosts to your acting career...
Right now, you can get into an A list decision maker’s inbox through social media. This means that you have direct access to them, often without a “gatekeeper.”
In case you’re not familiar with what that is, a gatekeeper is someone who is charged with managing the people who get to speak to industry decision makers.
They screen calls, filter emails, schedule appointments, etc.
However, gatekeepers don’t typically have social media duties because most high level decision makers aren’t doing outreach on social media. There are some that do it, so it’s still important to be prepared for it. We’ll talk more about that in just a moment...
What this means is that, through social media, you have a direct line to someone you may not otherwise be able to get a hold of.
What’s best is that you don’t run the risk of being off putting. It’s a direct way to get in touch, but it’s not an interruption the way a phone call, or a “door knock” would be.
It doesn’t get any better or more effective than that, so don’t let the opportunity go to waste. The window for you to take full advantage is closing.
We’ll talk more about that in a sec. First, let’s talk about the bigger picture.
Everyone knows that you have to be using social media to advance your career, but hardly anyone knows how to do this correctly.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed and just post haphazardly, but it can be really simple if you keep a few things in mind.
Remember that you are using social media to push your career to the next level, not just to gather likes.
So, treat it like an extension of professional self.
If you wouldn’t do something in front of a Casting Director or industry decision maker, then don’t post it. At some point, if you are going to move forward in the casting process, they are going to look at your social media and what they find has to be a positive for you.
Even beyond CDs and industry decision makers, you want your followers to get to know you, but you have to ask yourself what side it is that you want them to see.
You should want them to see a professional and passionate actor.
They should also see someone they would want to get to know. That’s what creates social media accounts that grow like wildfire.
When you walk into the room, you want your social media presence to precede you. When you leave the room, you want it to be another asset that improves the perception casting already has of you.
When casting is interested in you, they look you up and build a profile on you. What they find will either be to your benefit or to your detriment and it will move the needle in one way or the other, so be sure that your online image puts your best foot forward. Here’s how I can help with that.
If you are going to use social media to advance your career, remember that success on social media is about the way people interact with your content.
So before you post something ask yourself whether what you are about to post would make someone stop scrolling and pay attention?
Does it give additional information about who you are as a person? Will anybody care about what you are posting?
People tend to post without putting much thought into it. Put yourself in the viewer's shoes for a change. If your post showed up on your feed, would you give it a second thought?
For 99.99% of the content I see from actors on a daily basis, the answer is no. So how do you create content people care about?
You should only post things that your followers can consume. There has to be more to it than just a pretty face or a cool sunset.
That doesn’t mean you have to overwhelm them with heavy content. If you do post too much of it, your audience will get overwhelmed and tune out after a while. So, use the rule of 1 in 5.
Plan out 5 posts at a time. It would be great if you did more, so you are never at a loss for what to post, but batching them into groups of 5 should be the minimum.
Here’s why...
80% of your content should be “personality” posts.
The remaining 20% should be directly related to advancing your career. That doesn’t mean you have to directly post that you are an actor for hire, though that can work and we’ll talk about that in a bit.
What I mean is that, this 20% of your content has to solidify your professional image. So what are some things you can post to do that?
Post about the things you do as a professional actor. Things like your acting classes, clips from your reel, or your audition prep. You could even post scenes and ask your followers for feedback.
You can catch them up on your career progress and talk about what it’s like to be an actor. Don’t be shy and feel free to get creative with this!
This mix of content creates a strong bond between you and your audience and they will be in your corner one hundred percent. That can be a big factor that extends way beyond your social media feed.
The mistake people make when trying to use social media to advance their acting career is that they try to do what the big accounts are doing, thinking it will get them the same results. There will come a point where doing that can be effective, but starting from where you are now is not the right time.
Right now, it’s all about forming a relationship with your audience. Otherwise, they won’t share your content, they won’t tag their friends, and your account growth will always be at a crawl.
It’s a lot like how things happen in your career as well. Things start slow and you make some progress, but it snowballs when you start to get industry people in your corner.
That’s why it’s so important for you to be visible where industry decision makers are looking.
Your career will really start to skyrocket when you have casting directors that want to see you succeed and go to bat for you with decision makers, and try to find projects for you even when they don’t have anything to gain from it.
Your career goes to unbelievable heights when Directors, Producers, and industry decision makers want to work with you over and over again.
You don’t have to already be a star for this to happen. It’s how you get to the next level. We’ll talk more about that part next week.
That, combined with the power of a social media presence built correctly could open many, many doors.
So, get started on this now. Everything we talked about today is something you can do immediately and if you have any questions or if you’re having trouble wrapping your mind around something, remember I’m always happy to help.
Shoot me an email or leave a comment below. I’ll help however I can, because I truly want to...
See you at the top,
Scott