The movie His Only Son beautifully depicts Abraham’s three-day journey after the Lord calls on him to sacrifice his son Isaac. As Abraham journeys with Isaac and two servants to the mountain of Moriah, we witness the weight of his decision heavy on his heart. Memories flood back, reminding him of the years he and Sarah spent longing for the son they were promised—now the very son he must lay upon the altar. Yet, despite the harrowing nature of this account, there is a sense of hope that prevails. His Only Son brings to light the strength of Abraham’s faith and the enduring nature of his love for God.
His Only Son hit theaters nationwide on March 31, 2023, and FrontGate Media was hired to promote the movie through a robust advertising, dedicated email, blogger, and influencer campaign.
Target Audience
We targeted Christian families, pastors, and church leaders for individual and group ticket sales through this campaign, keeping in mind that His Only Son is rated PG-13 by Motion Picture Rating due to thematic content and some violence.
Campaign
This campaign utilized Dedicated Email, Display Ads, Blogger Reviews, and Influencer Marketing to reach and engage the faith-based audience online. FrontGate Media developed a comprehensive strategy that reached over 4.5 million people.
We not only developed an advertising strategy but designed the ad creative and wrote compelling copy for the emails and banners to encourage people to click to purchase tickets to the movie. We also engaged our Christian Women’s Blogger Network and proprietary Christian Influencer Group to spread the word about His Only Son.
Our bloggers watched the movie and wrote an in-depth review on their personal websites while cross-promoting across other marketing channels. Our influencers also viewed the movie and created original content to promote with a primary focus on Instagram as well as posts on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.
Results
The advertising, dedicated email, blogger, and influencer efforts for His Only Son reached 4,524,254 people and generated 11,050 clicks to the movie landing page to watch the trailer. Below outlines the results of each campaign.
Dedicated Emails
Key Takeaways: Open Rates ranged from 4% to 36%! Click rates ranged from .37% to 2.93%. Standout media for church leaders included Cachet & Church Growth. Prophecy News Watch had the highest open rate and click-throughs.
Cachet Entertainment (pastors/leaders)
- Sends: 42,201
- Opens: 11,149
- Open Rate: 26.42%
- Clicks: 523
- CTR: 1.24%
Church Growth (pastors/leaders)
- Sends: 120,000
- Opens: 30,862
- Open Rate: 25.72%
- Clicks: 638
- CTR: 0.53%
NewRelease Today
- Sends: 162,618
- Opens: 29,054
- Open Rate: 17.87%
- Clicks: 798
- CTR: 0.49%
Washington Times (women/evangelicals)
- Sends: 200,000
- Opens: 8,661
- Open Rate: 4.33%
- Clicks: 733
- CTR: 0.37%
Prophecy News Watch
- Sends: 210,326
- Opens: 75,833
- Open Rate: 36.05%
- Clicks: 6,165
- CTR: 2.93%
Banner Ads: on-site & in-email newsletters
Key Takeaway: Nearly all of the media outlets over delivered on impressions!
NewReleaseToday 300×600 on Desktop
- Ad Views: 45,564
- Clicks: 198
- CTR: 0.43%
NewReleaseToday 300×250 on NRT Mobile
- Ad Views: 221,821
- Clicks: 661
- CTR: 0.30%
Washington Times 300×250, 970×250
- Ad Views: 344,605
- Clicks: 715
- CTR: 0.21%
- 19,605 more impressions delivered than booked
Washington Times 3-Day Newsletter Sponsorship
- Subscribers: 1,019,491
- Clicks: 60
- CTR: 0.01%
- 19,491 more impressions delivered than booked
Washington Times 1 Social Media Post
- Total Followers: 450,000
- Clicks: 63
- CTR: 0.01%
Blogger Campaign
Key Takeaway: Over 1,000 email leads were collected!
- Total Bloggers: 29
- Total Impressions: 1,238,028
- Total Social Engagements: 35,922
- Email Leads Collected: 1,046
- Clicks to Website: 496
Influencer Campaign
Key Takeaway: 14,000+ social reactions, including likes, comments, follows, and shares!
- Total Influencers: 35
- Total Impressions: 424,600
- Total Social Engagements: 14,354
Summary
In its opening weekend, His Only Son ranked #3 nationally of all films in theaters! Overall, the advertising, dedicated email, blogger, and influencer campaign for His Only Son over delivered on the booking, reaching more than 4.5 million people, generating 11,000+ clicks to the movie landing page, and collecting over 1,000 email leads for the client.
We used multiple marketing strategies (dedicated email, bloggers, influencers, banner ads, and social media) to achieve awareness, engagement, and clicks for the movie. By diversifying our advertising efforts, we were able to reach a broad audience and successfully promote the film via trailer views and ticket sales!
At FrontGate Media, we are Your Gateway to the Christian Audience. Do you have an upcoming movie launch, product release, or giving opportunity to promote? We can help! Contact us today to develop a plan for getting your faith-based brand in front of the right people at the right time.
