Social Media Analytics and Audience Engagement in the Indian Film Industry: Examining the Mediating Role of Social Media Campaign Effectiveness

Abstract

The promotional practices of the Indian film industry have changed markedly in recent years. Film marketers use social media platforms to understand audience interests, track online interactions, and design better promotional campaigns. Although analytics tools are widely used, little research has examined how insights from social media data drive audience engagement through campaign performance. This study examines how social media analytics capability (SMAC), content personalization (CP), influencer marketing effectiveness (IME), user-generated content influence (UGCI), online word-of-mouth (OWOM), video marketing effectiveness (VME), and data-driven decision making (DDDM) relate to audience engagement (AE) through the mediating role of social media campaign effectiveness (SMCE). Data were collected from 500 respondents who regularly follow films on social media platforms, and the proposed model was assessed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Every factor listed above positively influenced SMCE, and SMCE had a considerable effect on audience engagement, which indicates that campaign effectiveness is where digital insights are converted into engagement. Successful social media campaigns form an important link between analytics and audience response. Film marketers can raise audience engagement and campaign success by using data, creating personalized content, working with influencers, drawing on user-generated content, and using video marketing. The study adds to the literature on digital film marketing and offers practitioners guidance on improving engagement amid growing online competition.