DITCH LILY SOCIAL MEDIA LAUNCH
Built to spotlight the midwest and the filmmakers behind it, and the marketing strategy that grew a following before its release.
INDUSTRY
FILM
SERVICE
SOCIAL MEDIA
TIMEFRAME
TIMEFRAME
AUG 2026 - MAY 2027
AUG 2026 - MAY 2027
ABOUT
Ditch Lily is a 30 minute short film showcasing the beauty and fun of Wisconsin, showing the potential to make cinematic art everywhere. With a female-led crew, their goal was to create an atmosphere where other young creators can feel more empowered to create in the industry.
With that vision in mind, they needed a social presence that matched that energy. They wanted their socials to be an inspiration- to show that film can be successful all around, and that all it takes is a passionate team of creatives to make something beautiful. With a minimal budget for the film, and no social budget, this was a test of organic virality and community.
64.9K
ORGANIC VIEWS
13.5K
ACCOUNTS REACHED
96%
REACH FROM NON-FOLLOWERS
FIRST MONTH RESULTS WITH $0 PAID MEDIA
THE CHALLENGE
With no budget for paid media, no following, and an oversaturated digital landscape, Ditch lily needed to pave their way entirely from scratch. The challenge was to turn an indie short film and its midwest, female-led production team into a story people wanted to follow, before the film release.
THE GOAL
Build awareness, grow a pre-release audience, and generate anticipation for Ditch Lily entirely through organic social media, using the films midwest identity, female-led crew, and behind the scenes, to drive community, engagement, and reach without paid media.
THE MARKET STRATEGY
ORGANIC GROWTH ENGINE
With no paid media budget, all content was built around organic discoverability and shareability. Posts were designed increase reach through catchy hooks, and highly reshareable content.
COMMUNITY & CREATOR SEEDING
Promoting the midwest was a strong proponent of this campaign, and to push that further, Ditch Lily worked with other existing Midwest film, creative, and emerging filmmaker communities to expand the film’s reach beyond its own channels. By partnering with other local creatives, we turned community connections into shared promotion.
AUDIENCE TO VIEWERSHIP FUNNEL
The campaign in 3 categories: discovery → investment → anticipation
Each stage had a role in building familiarity with the filmmakers, strengthening interest in the story, and ultimately driving viewers to watch.
PHOTOGRAPHY: ADDI GRACE
THE RESULTS
We built a scaleable organic content pipeline capable of supporting the campaign through release with a $0 paid media budget.
By strategically planning, we transformed 5 days of content into months of social assets, creating the consistency and momentum needed to grow awareness organically.
MONTH ONE RESULTS
64.9K
ORGANIC VIEWS
Generated 64,900 views through organic social content, building awareness without paid promotion.
13.5K
ACCOUNTS REACHED
Reached 13.5K different accounts in the first month.
96%
REACH FROM NON-FOLLOWERS
96% of accounts reached were non-followers, expanding Ditch Lily beyond its existing audience.
THE CONTENT PRODUCTION SYSTEM
STRATEGIC DISCOVERY
Studio & client meeting to understand the brand’s narrative, creative vision, audience, and marketing goals.
STRATEGIC DISCOVERY → CONTENT PLANNING → PRODUCTION → POST-PRODUCTION & CONTENT CALENDAR
CONTENT PLANNING
Comprehensive shot list and production schedule, organized by day, allowing maximum efficiency and material captured.
PRODUCTION
Content is captured according to the production schedule, efficiently, while leaving room for organic, in-the-moment content.
POST-PRODUCTION & CONTENT CALENDAR
Content is edited & organized into a content calendar, with room for organic media, creating a clear campaign roadmap.