Horror functions off of expectation. Be it foreshadowed or a jump scare or a scene that sends chills down one’s spine, horror movies are often predicated on the director’s control over the viewing audience’s prior understanding of the horror genre well before they enter the theater or select play. And one of the most effective means by which to generate expectation is via promotional trailers in consistent email and marketing campaigns from exclusives to sneak peeks, countdowns, and behind-the-scenes.
The email campaign for the ultimate horror film makes the audience feel the vibe as you create your audience. From creepy teasers to ways for them to engage through subliminal inclusion, this how-to guide will explain how email marketing is used intentionally for a horror film in expectation and surefire release.
Crafting Mysterious and Suspenseful Teaser Emails
Since horror fans love putting together a puzzle, an email campaign satisfies this need. Use an Email Template Checker to ensure that eerie visuals, cryptic subject lines, and interactive elements render correctly across devices, enhancing engagement. Instead of a regular email sent about the project although one will be needed a vague subject line will work, and the images/graphics are creepy with little copy. In addition to a few other such emails, they may receive a creepy voicemail, a distorted photo, or a creepy clock timer.
Also, remember, supernatural horror films could launch an email campaign, for example, by sending a blank email with nothing but a flickering GIF of static, then a subsequent email with a dark image where, upon closer inspection, people may just see a shadow person. Every email adds tension and fills in the gaps of the bigger picture before the audience even sees the movie. This is the perfect opportunity for subscribers to crave more, anxious to see what gets revealed.
Engaging Horror Fans with Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Content
Hardcore horror fans know what it takes to get scared, and therefore, any behind-the-scenes elements sent in an email marketing campaign are always appreciated. Special effects breakdowns, interviews with the director and actors, concept art, and getting to see how the film was made elevate their experience even more. Where one newsletter has a link to the making-of featurette for the horror film with the time-lapse of the practical effects makeup, another has the lead male actor interviewed about his mental health issues to prepare for the nuances of playing a man trapped in a haunted house. This exclusive access renders them all the more a part of the process to want to see the finished project.
Creating Interactive Horror Experiences Through Email
Horror isn’t just seen. It’s experienced. Therefore, horror-based email marketing can take advantage of the experiential aspect of the genre via interactivity to render an audience as if they’re on a personal horrific experience. Even personalization, click-throughs, and ARG (alternate reality game) components render an email a horrific experience. For instance, a psychological thriller may establish a seemingly innocent newsletter that “glitches” when you mouse over to expose the hidden subtitle. Or, people could get personally traumatizing emails where everyone on the CC gets one with their email and the subject line title suggesting someone is watching. Within the body could be links to creepy, unlisted trailers or even websites created for the film’s diegetic world. This makes the subscribers feel as if they are already in the horror movie, folding in emotionally to the story.
Using Countdown Timers to Build Anticipation
There’s nothing more suspenseful than a countdown. When countdown timers are sent via email to subscribers, it creates just the suspense needed for trailers, teasers, special events, or early access. For example, one horror film sends a blood red email with the countdown timer placed over the image, counting down to the “arrival.” But what is the arrival? An “arrival”? An ending? Death? Transformation? Either way, it’s a thrill and all the audience wants to know is what happens when the digits reach zero. Such suspense appeals to audiences who stay engaged, opening more emails to see what else there might be.
Leveraging Jump Scare Tactics in Email Campaigns
Email marketing is akin to a jump scare in a horror movie. Where a movie tends to play out and have an ending, often, emails sent and formatted are such that they are static. But little design features and GIFs allow for jump scares to intrude upon an unsuspecting viewer and pierce their mind, albeit for a short time. For example, a horror film email might begin like any other new release email, and then boom at the end, in the email’s footer, a GIF of a ghostly face flashing “appears” at the end. Undetected by sound but visible by sight, these little jump scares become things people recall that associate them with the film.
Offering Early Access and Special Perks to Subscribers
Nothing drives people more than exclusivity. Horror fans enjoy the community aspect of membership, so provide them with early access through email to trailers, peeks, or digital collectibles. For example, an email blast can feature an access passcode to an exclusive online screening of one scene before it officially drops. In addition, limited edition horror collectibles posters, virtual artifacts can be strictly available to those who registered as horror fanatics. Such distractions occupy them and create an even stronger investment in the film.
Encouraging Fan-Generated Content and Community Engagement
A horror film relies on a specific buzz, and email marketing ensures that the buzz continues. For instance, bringing subscribers into the horror fold emailing them their own horror destinies, creating fan art, or preventing them from winning the ultimate best diehard fan award generates more buzz for the impending release. Another possible email campaign could be to have fans submit their biggest fears and have a few of those fears used in subsequent marketing. A costume contest can have fans make their own costumes of film characters to win tickets to the VIP screening. When people are involved in the horror through email campaigns, they become an active and excited fan base that wants to share the results.
Retargeting Subscribers with Personalized Follow-Ups
It’s not like the fear dissipates after the first email. The ability to follow up and retarget registrants based on previous interaction deepens the experience. If someone signs up for the secret, special trailer, the subsequent email they receive can detail that scene even further. If someone solves the riddle email, their subsequent email can give them another hint. So, for instance, if a player opened the email about the missing person poster tied to the story, a few days later, they’d automatically get an email that something has happened and they should click on this time-sensitive link. This automated connectivity ensures that players are engrossed in the same email horror experience as those who might be involved in the bigger story.
Building Suspense with Serialized Horror Storytelling via Email
That’s the thing about great horror films: there’s an undercurrent of tense suspense the whole way through, and so is horror-themed email marketing for a franchise. By utilizing a drip campaign that doles out bits and pieces of a horror short story related to the film, the creator maintains engagement while fostering a deeper connection to the universe of the film.
Take, for instance, a horror movie.
An email marketing campaign could have the first email sent from a character with something strange happening to him or her, only instead of a peculiar occurrence, a supernatural one is happening to him or her. The next email provides additional information about the supernatural horror up until the movie release date. Those email subscribers, trying to solve the mystery, become more and more invested in the plot and, thus, more compelled to see the movie when it debuts. This form of email marketing establishes an episodic relationship with horror.
Using Psychological Triggers to Heighten Fear and Excitement
Thus, where humans connect to fear, an understanding of email marketing developments can be relative. For example, fear of missing out can be relatable since in horror email marketing, one often finds limited-time offers from limited-time early access screenings to horror merchandise that is only available to subscribers for a limited time. Another guaranteed component of inducing horror would be employing a titling and language that’s disconcerting by implication such that people feel aware enough as if the horror is coming through the screen and pushing into their email inboxes. For example, a subject line like “Seen Anything Weird Recently?” or “You’re Not Alone” can do just that. Therefore, such psychological horror elements in an email marketing campaign would make it successful because people would sense, before even watching the movie, that the horror had started already.
Extending the Horror Beyond the Premiere with Post-Release Emails
The terror doesn’t have to end when the credits roll. An extensive post-release campaign elevates the fear with bonus features, deleted scenes, and other aspects of its reality.
For example, a few days after the opening weekend of a horror film, an email could be sent out with Easter eggs of things that people may have missed or how a particular moment was created to be scary with an insider view behind the curtain. Then, a few weeks after that, another email can tease a sequel to get people talking once again about something they may not have even thought about after leaving the theater. Using email marketing to keep the project alive can not only create buzz but, at the very least, provide more scares in the future.
Conclusion
Horror film email marketing can entice an audience and ensure they’re invested in a film’s universe before they’ve even seen a teaser trailer. From teaser emails with horror film related subject lines to horror-based contests and countdowns to behind-the-scenes access, the generated anticipation can foster an audience eager to have their horror cravings satisfied. Horror film email marketing appeals to an audience when their experience is horror-related. When horror film email marketing is effective and appealing, it’s not just an attempt to sell a film it becomes part of the horror. Let them fall victim to the horror.
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