A new report from the Canadian Media Production Association says that “discoverability” tactics are now critical components for success in the online marketplace.

Discoverability: Strategies for Canadian Content Producers in a Global Online Marketplace, authored by Duopoly’s Catherine Tait, with funding support from the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), states that without using these tactics in all stage of project development, production and distribution, Canadian content may become invisible in the now global online space.

So in addition to the challenge of financing and producing online content, there’s the added challenge of driving viewers to content and using critical and audience acclaim as a measure of the content’s success.

Tait surveyed producers and content creators, digital buyers, distributors and advisors to discover some best practices and general consensuses around strategies for online deployment, and included case studies of successful Canadian and U.S. online properties.

In the online global marketplace, with apps, games, and video content competing with traditional film and TV product, the report states that leveraging the rapid penetration of social media, maintaining and nurturing a direct-to-consumer relationship for the long-term, and creating a “brand” around a property are all important strategies in boosting discoverability.

The general consensus amongst survey respondents was that social media is the most effective marketing technique in improving discoverability. Undoubtedly, social media has changed the way people connect – from human interaction, consumer behavior, political or social activism and brand engagement.

According to the report, Canada ranks 10^th in terms of the world’s most engaged markets for social networking. And in order of importance, respondents ranked Facebook, Twitter and Youtube as the top key platforms on which to build, engage and maintain audiences.

“In Canada, Facebook generates about 16 million monthly unique visitors, according to  InsideFacebook.com. Alexa.com confirms that Facebook is the  second  most visited site in Canada (behind Google), with Twitter ranked 8^th,” the report states.

These major player social platforms have evolved their destinations to be more advertiser friendly (revenue-generating, also) and user-immersive.

Tait also noted that emerging platforms like Pinterest, Tumblr, Flickr, Reddit fill important niches and can therefore each fill a different role in marketing plans.

Other techniques that respondents reported as effective are using SEO, digital ad campaigns, with traditional marketing trailing the lot.

Target “influencers”

The report notes that a key element of building an online campaign is to identify and engage early on the “influencers” – the users or viewers who can become superfans or advocates, and who have a following and are respected within an online community. That means understanding the influencers’ core audiences, and targeting, say, key bloggers to test drive apps and games, and review movie trailers or web series.

And no surprise here, building authentic relationships with viewers before production and continuing them afterwards, instead of treating audience engagement as a market after-thought, is critical in seeding interest.

The report also shed light on the added hurdles indie producers now face in creating successful content for a global online marketplace. The responsibility to market the content now falls on the indie producer’s shoulders, particularly if discoverability strategies are not built into the planning and budgeting process.

Traditionally, marketing to the audience has largely been the responsibility of the distributor or broadcaster, not the content creator. But for indie producers who don’t have a studio or network budget behind them, identifying and building audiences at project conception is extremely important, and is the shared responsibility of the producers, on-screen talent and crew, the report states.

“As there is no automated solution for effective social media campaigns, the costs associated with discoverability are considerable and no longer reside with an arm’s-length broadcaster or distributor. For Canadian producers who are independent and do not benefit from studio marketing budgets, this new cost maybe an obstacle to success unless it becomes an integral part of production planning and budgeting,” the report states.

An additional challenge is that many online platforms that fund original content are looking for evidence that the property has a pre-existing audience before committing to it.

Survey respondents agreed that there’s no fail-safe strategy to improve the discoverability of content online. The general consensus was that the property must be backed by great content to build loyalty, and respondents agreed that organic promotion, early engagement and tailored content to the strengths of specific platforms are all key strategies.