How Might We Level Up Our Actor Promo Game?
One of the podcasts I'm low-key obsessed with at the moment is Business Witchery by Rachael Maddox.
She's a business coach with a background in trauma and a passion for helping value-centred business owners build abundant businesses, by centring their values and gifts. And this isn't your stereotypical business podcast. It's playful. It's authentic. It's rooted in the realities of this word and at the same time empowering and affirming of what we have the power to do through our work, if we want our work to facilitate change.
I freaking love it.
There are a few episodes I tend to go back and re-listen to. One of them is The 2 Types of Marketing Witches where Rachael breaks down how to work out where your marketing strengths lie: in creative marketing or relational marketing.
Here’s the episode if you’d like to check it out for yourself:
And every time I listen to it, it makes me think about marketing as an actor.
I feel like when it comes to actors, we're told what to do to 'sell' ourselves without thinking about what we're actually good at, what we find fun or what works. So, in this post I’m going to share my opinions on which promotional strategies we as actors are told to use fall into which categories.
‘Work Begets Work’ - Creative Marketing
This is one of the two big clichés of how to get work as an actor. Your previous credits and how well that project and your performance was perceived are a classic example of creative marketing in our industry. Your creative work is what gets you known and in the room.
‘Who You Know’ - Relational Marketing
This is the second of the big clichés. And yes, some of the prevalence of this cliché is down to nepotism. But also, if someone like working with you, they are more likely to refer you to colleagues when looking for actors, or work with you again if they have a project you’re a good fit for.
Writing to Casting Directors, Directors etc - Relational Marketing
Networking emails are a biiiiiig item on the should-do list for jobbing actors. And this is, by and large, relational marketing. It’s inviting people to see your work, it’s letting them know what you’re up to, if maintain relationships with creatives you’ve already met of worked with.
Writing your Own Work - Creative Marketing
If I had a penny for every time I heard the advice, “make you’re own work”. This is the creative marketing that, as actors, we have the most control over. Creating shows has been a great springboard for many actors careers.
Show Reels/Voice Reels/Vocal Reels - Creative Marketing
In lieu of being in a production or having your own creative project to share, reels (pre-recorded examples of your work and/or your skills) are the way most performers creatively market themselves in a way that’s relatively evergreen.
Networking Events - Relational Marketing
This kind of relational marketing is found across many industry sectors. Networking events, be they showcase meet-and-greets, press night parties or industry conventions, are ideal places to create new relationships and strengthen existing connections.
Social Media - Both or Either
In my opinion, social media is a marketing tool that can be used either way. It can be a way to showcase your creative work, either to host your reals, show extracts of larger projects or for creative works made specifically for a certain platform. But social media can also be used for relational marketing. You can connect with your existing network or reach out to new contacts.
Auditions - Creative Marketing (mostly)
Like reels, auditions are a place to showcase our skills. Your creative work is the most important factor. However, there are also relational aspects to the audition. The panel will also be evaluating whether they can work with you in a rehearsal room or on set. If there’s a chat with the panel as part of the audition, it will be a chance for an actor to build rapport with the team, which is a highly relational way of ‘selling’ yourself.
Being Invited Back - Relational Marketing (mostly)
Being invited back, whether it’s a revival of a production or a different project with the same team, isn’t self-promotion per se. However it does indicate that a strong enough relationship has been built that the team actively want to work with you again. But there is also a creative aspect. If you’re creative work is sub par, no amount to relationality is going to get you an invite back
Headshots - Creative-ish
Headshots are a bit of a grey area for performers (although for photo models, portfolio photos could most definitely count as creative marketing). Photos aren’t your creative work as an actor - if anything they’re a creative collaboration between you and the photographer. However, their purpose is to convey your creative essence to the panel. Your headshots should show the vibe you have as a creative; what roles you could play, what energy you bring to a part. So, in that sense, headshots fall into the creative marketing camp in my opinion.
So what do we do with this information?
In her podcast, Rachael suggests focussing on your marketing strength as your main strategy, and supplementing with the other. And I’d highly recommend listening to the episode if you want to figure out which marketing style suits you best. Whilst many of the strategies we use as actors feel non-negotiable (you can’t not have a headshot or never do an audition, for example), I do think we can keep in mind what’s most easeful and what gets us the majority of our work.
During my first job, I worked with a woman who, by her own admission, sucked at auditions. She’d be racked with nerves and not showcase her skills in the best light. But people she’d worked with before would always invite her onto projects that she was a right fit for. In contrast, an alumna from my drama school who was a few years above me has been taking comedy shows to the Edinburgh Fringe for several year and built a substantial platform on Twitter. And her body of creative work has lead to her being booked for other performing work.
Where I think this insight can help us as actors (I’m going to try it anyway), is in finding ways to steer all of our marketing towards our strengths. The clearest hypothetical I can think of is in networking emails. If relationships are your strength, talk about who you’ve worked with or the people behind recent work you’ve seen. See what mutual acquaintances you have with the people you’re writing to. Make the goal of your emails to create an authentic connection. If your creations are your strength, you can focus your messaging on invites to shows or sharing your reels and examples of your creative projects. Centre your body of work whenever you can.
So those are the thoughts I’ve had on how we as actors can apply our awareness of these two types of marketing. And hopefully, with this knowledge, we can promote ourselves more intentionally, authentically and effectively