The film industry has taken social media by a storm, using it to promote the biggest blockbusters to independent films. There are many ways social media has impacted the film industry.

Due to the millions of users on such sites as Facebook, production companies can find out which areas have the greatest interest in a movie and then target the area. Companies also have the opportunity to promote their movie by offering screenings of the film online to gauge the audiences reaction. Film companies also have the opportunity to get more input from people about the film, before it has even gotten to theaters. By posting previews online, they can accumulate data about which age/gender group liked the movie the most, and the least. More and more movie studios are posting their movie previews on social media websites. The age of the theater-movie-previews is dying.
The great part of advertising movies on social media websites is that it can reach a wide range of people, some who would want to see the movie, but didn’t hear of it before. Another cool things about using social media as a tool for the film industry is that they can now sell tickets on such website, perhaps even with a button placed underneath the preview the viewer had just watched. Movie studios can even make apps that are interactive, to gain more interest in the film. Apps that show photos and clips of movies are gaining much popularity.
Contests or trivia games posted on social media sites are gaining headway too. Offering people free tickets if they can answer questions about popular culture. This is a good way to gain more attention for a film. The great thing about selling tickets on sites like Facebook is that friends can be invited along with the original party.And if the movie studios can pull in some viewers, they can then post about how much they liked the movie. Which is basically free advertising for the studio.
Social media has become a huge part of the marketing side of the film industry. And will surely increase as time goes on.