One of my goals for 2021 is to revamp my actor marketing. This is an endeavor focused on building authentic, personal relationships with people in the entertainment industry I want to work with. As personal as I want this experience to be, I’m also finding it helpful to step back and consider marketing as a transaction.
In this transaction, I know what I want: attention. I am asking my audience to look at my social media posts, my newsletter, my blog, for them to be aware of me as an actor they could hire or collaborate with. The question is, if this is a transaction, what am I giving in return?
“And you say to yourself just what am I doin’
Bob Dylan, Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie
… Who am I helping, what am I breaking
What am I giving, what am I taking”
One way I see actors answering this question is by offering sex. Not literally, but along with their updates they regularly include half-dressed photos of themselves to keep their audience watching. In this transaction, they’re paying for clicks, followers, and attention on their acting career by playing to our desire to see attractive people without their clothes on. That works. It’s a clear transaction; everybody gets something out of it. It just has to be the game you feel comfortable playing.
I’ve been digging around for what I want to bring to the table to earn attention. What I’ve landed on is jokes. If I can offer my audience a laugh with each update, then there’s a reason to keep tuning in. This is the exchange. It’s the way that I can be of service, while also asking for what I want. I want to be known as an actor, and I will earn that by making my tools to get attention delightful.
Most marketing collateral is visual, though, so coming up with quippy one-liners isn’t really going to come in handy here. Head shots, postcards, Instagram posts: those are all pictures. So, I had to find another way to tickle my audience’s funny bone.
That’s why I’ve turned to visual comedy, and taken ‘Altered Thrift’ style artwork as inspiration. Here are a couple of my favorite artists in this genre:
Leroy’s Place
Artist Jason Jones
I love that ‘Altered Thrift’ uses style, scale, and story to take familiar pieces we’ve seen a hundred times before and transform it into something surprising and, well, funny.
And if you can do it with a landscape painting, why can’t you do it with a head shot?
Taking this as my jumping off point, this was the holiday card I sent out this year:
And this is my first postcard mailing to agents and casting directors:
By dressing up my head shot with surprising elements and elaborate illustrations, the marketing transaction works. I’m getting eyes on my head shot and I’m buying that attention by making my head shot fun to look at.
At the end of the day, a transaction is just an exchange of value. Being conscious of the value I’m offering has made me more confident in my marketing because I feel that my content is worthwhile. I’ve earned my audience’s attention, so I don’t feel self-conscious or apologetic about asking for it.
What’s more, creating from a place of value actually motivates me to put my content out there. Every funny piece of marketing is a gift I create for my audience, and I can’t wait to share it with them. Knowing what I have to offer in this transactions doesn’t only help me overcome resistance or imposter syndrome, it actually makes marketing something I look forward to.
One of the reasons I’m a performer is to make people happy. I want to make people laugh. I want to delight and entertain.
Now every piece of marketing I have feeds that same desire. It draws from that well of passion and inspiration. It makes me feel confident and excited to share and connect with others. And and – hopefully – it make some else’s day a little it better.