By Reid Rosefelt
Have you ever thought about the miracle of the humble one-sheet poster?
Whether a film costs a hundred thousand or a hundred million–it gets the same 27” by 40” poster in the display case.
Now imagine you prefer squares, so you make 40” x 40” posters for your independent film. Or maybe you’re nostalgic for the good old days of Lobby Cards, so you make your posters 11” x 14” on sturdy cardboard stock. So now there’s room for 27” x 40” but you’ve elected to leave most of it blank.
But why would you do that? It wouldn’t make any sense.
But that’s what people often do in social media.
Image orientation and size makes a huge difference on different social channels. A tall picture on Pinterest is striking; a wide one is tiny. Tall pictures look great on Google+ too. On the other hand, wide aspect ratios look best on Facebook and Twitter.
Either you make two images that are optimized for the different platforms, or you are going to have to choose. But do you go wide or tall?
It’s a personal decision, one that’s easy to make depending on what social media network(s) you use.
Those who read my blog know that I’ve shuttered my Facebook Business Page, so that leaves Twitter, and the way I see it, pictures are really helpful on Twitter, but I can live with people having to click on mine in order to see them.
Everybody knows the future of social media is images and video. That’s why Facebook bought Instagram and tried to get Snapchat. That’s why Twitter now displays images in its news feed and not just links. That’s why Pinterest recently surpassed Twitter as the largest social media network after Facebook and LinkedIn. And if you don’t think that Facebook is worried about Pinterest, the fastest growing social network, you’re not paying attention.
I’m making my play for Pinterest and Google+, so that’s why I’m Walking Tall.
But whatever path you take in social media, remember the one-sheet poster and think about what shows off your images in the best possible way.
Reid Rosefelt blogs and coaches filmmakers & artists about how to market their films using social media, and lectures frequently on the topic. His credits as a film publicist include “Stranger Than Paradise,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and “Precious.”
His blog is reidrosefelt.com and his Pinterest Page Social Media for Filmmakers was named first on IndieWire’s list of “10 Pinterest Boards Filmmakers Should be Following.”
