MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Marketing; My Main Concern About This Fo...

Marketing; My Main Concern About This Forum

posted 8 years ago by MrCottonsParrot (29)
13 replies | jump to latest

Hi Jim,

Thanks for doing a great job! I am so glad you managed to save so much from the IMDb message boards. You rock!

But doesn't the many thousands or millions of pages mean it costs a fortune in hosting?

One thing I always admired about Amazon (who own IMDb) was the amazing marketing techniques on their main shopping site. They always show you bundled products, and what other people bought, etc. to maximize sales.

And yet how easy would it have been to put highly targeted ads on each movie's IMDb message board, that take the user straight to the DVD of that movie?!! Or to the direct download?!

I could not get my head around how they MISSED that opportunity!

Surely it would not be hard to code pages like that?

They would have cleaned up. I mean seriously!

Say you just saw a great movie on TV, but you missed the beginning... or you fell madly in love with a character... or it had a crazy twist at the end and you HAD to see the movie again straight away, but not until you'd asked a question or two on the forum..

How bloody effective would those ads have been in those situations?! The instant downloads would sell like hot cakes!

If you had ads, I would not blame you. I wouldn't mind at all. And if you had ads like I described above, that are directly relevant to each movie, it would be win /win for everyone!

But if you don't have ads, how will MovieChat.org survive?

That's what worries me.

People are not going to donate massive amounts. But they'll urgently pay to obtain a movie instantly!

What do you reckon?

Thank you

[–] lennonforever (2453) 8 years ago

I do not want ads. I will donate.

[–] MrCottonsParrot (29) 8 years ago

That's fine Lennonforever, but a very small percentage will donate.

I hope the site is able to survive whatever happens.

[–] StyxNyx (862) 8 years ago

Jim mentioned that he has the financial means to support the site. Guess we'll see what he decides later.

[–] Moviefan225 (259) 8 years ago

I am sure that IMDb knew about the opportunity to market DVDs on their pages. I think Col was resistant to the idea. Basically, once the millions of dollars start coming from these tie-ups, the corporates can put undue pressure on you and force you to tow their line, and it becomes difficult to backtrack. I think IMDb just did not want to get into that situation, even if it meant getting more money.

As for Moviechat, the membership of this board is far too small at the moment to have such tie-ups. Moviechat might get that type of membership much later in the future and at such a I time I am sure Jim will weigh his options and decide what's best for this site.

[–] MEMOREX (3031) 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] HollyGoLightly2013 (331) 8 years ago

I know this isn't much of a possibility, but I had thought a good way to advertise is if some agreement could be reached with IMDB to advertise on their page. Like I said I know it's unlikely; however I imagine there are lost refugees still lurking there with no place to go.

[–] Catbookss (13664) 8 years ago

That would be great, and I'm sure you're right, there are still a lot of refugees wandering aimlessly around the place, with no idea where to go. If I had any regard left for the owners of IMDB, I'd think they might do that out of regard for their former membership, as a gesture of good will. Unfortunately I don't think they care at all about us, and have any idea of how much bad will they've generated by the actions they took.

[–] HollyGoLightly2013 (331) 8 years ago

I agree Catbookss. Part of me still wonders in the back of my head if this is really an experiment to see if they can still be prosperous minus the message boards. I mean they may say they can't bring them back, but if the site suffers they sure will! At this point I don't know how much good that would do if IMDB did bring them back. I think it would scatter everyone out even more.

[–] Catbookss (13664) 8 years ago

Ha ha, Holly, a cruel experiment that would be. And, after the way we were treated, who'd want to go back there anyway?

[–] lennonforever (2453) 8 years ago

I will NEVER go back.

[–] lennonforever (2453) 8 years ago

I still contend, it was a PLOY to be able to charge a fee. I feel IMDb message boards will return in one year, asking a fee.

[–] Catbookss (13664) 8 years ago

If that was their game plan, it was a very bad one. They alienated a healthy chunk of their users, most of whom have landed on other sites, like MovieChat. A year from now, no one will want to go back, and definitely not if they want to start charging for it.

[–] HollyGoLightly2013 (331) 8 years ago

That's just cruel right there; however it would not surprise me.