Reinvent The Movie Going Experience

Why cinemas should do it

The digital landscape of the entertainment industry is changing and it has greatly impacted all stakeholders in the field. For cinema exhibitors, competition has evolved and it's no longer just between other cinemas but also with popular streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime, Disney + and Netflix, etc. With more and more audiences preferring the home viewing experience, the time has come for cinema exhibitors to start creating experiences that would be worth leaving the comforts of the home for.

The recent blockbuster hits like the Barbenheimer phenomenon, which collectively earned $308 million in just their opening weekend only, have shown that cinema is not as dead as some thought to be. It showed the importance of creating experiences audiences can resonate with. The time has come for cinema exhibitors to create more dynamic and personalized experiences that captivate audiences in this digital era.

Personalization

Modernize how you communicate with your audience. You can take note of how streaming platforms use content personalization to upsell and retain their customers. For cinemas, you can use already existing data such as transaction history to recognize behaviors and purchasing patterns from your customers. With this data, you can provide more personalized offerings. For example, “Hey Tom, it's great to have you back again, last time you ordered a Jack Daniels and a beef burger, would you like the usual again? or would you prefer a different brand of whiskey today?”.  This level of personalization can be streamlined and achieved through a comprehensive customer relationship management feature provided by cinema exhibitor software. 

Additionally, By utilizing CRM functionalities, you can promote even more engagement outside of the in-theater experience. Such as providing personalized notifications either through SMS, or push notifications to keep your patrons informed about the latest movies they would be interested in or to provide special discounts for patrons who have not made purchases in a while, etc. You can have more active engagements after customers leave the theater to promote customer loyalty to your cinema.

Moreover, on a personal level, your staff can play a major role in building trust with your audience. Simple gestures like addressing them by their name can help establish a connection and provide a satisfactory customer experience. If you’re interested in learning more about how you can use customer data to elevate your business you can take a look at our blog article: here

Make it more than just the ‘movie’ 

Your theater has the potential to offer movie-goers more than just what's on the screen and create unique experiences that suit their preferences. 

By introducing a dine-in theater experience, your patrons will get a chance to recreate their at-home view experience of streaming while having a meal in a much fancier manner. You can elevate their experience by upscaling your menu to match restaurant standards to create an atmosphere with the combined experience of going to a restaurant and watching a movie. In addition, you can also consider offering the convenience of ordering concessions from the seat, this will create hassle-free purchasing for your customers and they won’t have to queue at the concession stand. Ensuring a positive customer journey experience. 

These changes will not only help you to differentiate from streaming platforms or most other cinemas but also take your patrons' movie-going experience to the next level. 

Bring in new technologies

Moreover, using up to date technology like innovative cinema exhibitor software can enhance the user experience and optimize user engagement for your cinema. Through captivating design interfaces such as web and mobile apps, your customers can easily navigate to find showtimes, buy tickets online and book seats in a seamless and pleasant experience compared to outdated technology that can cause longer wait times and have an outdated design which can deter the modern customer.

While it’s important that you create modern digital experiences on the customer end, it’s also worth considering the in-theater technology. Today's cinemas have access to a variety of physical equipment that can be implemented, such as multidimensional audio and premium ergonomic seats, high-end screens and experiences that go beyond 2D or 3D screenings. These technologies would get your audiences immersed in their experience and also distinguish the superiority of the cinema experience from the at-home viewing. 

Implement inclusivity 

To ensure inclusivity at your cinema and to make all your patrons feel welcome you can embed features such as closed captions and subtitles at screenings, language support at customer-facing interfaces with audio descriptions. You can also implement physical facilities such as wheelchair-accessible seats, ramps, accessible doors and entryways to accommodate a diverse audience. Additionally, You can also look into sensory friendly screenings where you can have screenings with lower sound levels, or dimmed lighting to accommodate sensory sensitive audiences. 

Create a sense of community 

Another approach you can take to add a unique experience for your audience is to facilitate community engagement at your theater. You can achieve this by enacting your cinema as a hub for special events, forums and even organizing movie game nights or movie marathons, which can lead to more familiarity and create stronger bonds between the cinema and your audience. In addition, some cinemas are known to foster brand loyalty and form multiple streams of income by doing this.

The way forward 

There are many approaches a cinema can take to transform an ordinary movie watching to something memorable. By making the movie going experience more personal and immersive, cinema exhibitors can level up their game to compete with the ever evolving streaming services. With new technologies to elevate their audience experiences, creating interactive events around the movies to improve customer engagement and making inclusive experiences available, cinemas can reclaim their former glory and become the ultimate choice of entertainment for the public.

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