How SMS Marketing Can Help Movie Theaters

Advanced ticket sales are like receiving money for lemonade, before you squeeze the lemons. Your movie theater generates considerable cash and your customers are happy they don’t have to wait in line on the day of the big blockbuster premier.

How do you let your loyal customers know about the next incarnation of Luke Skywalker or the latest Disney live action adaptation? Do you promote the next blockbuster film on your movie theater’s Facebook, or do you send out frequent tweets to keep your target audience engaged? Are emails an effective tool at selling advanced movie tickets? Though these traditional digital marketing tactics work just fine, the most powerful way to market movies and grow your customer base it by incorporating SMS marketing into your business model.

Text marketing is how you push your movie theater into the proverbial spotlight.

Important Benefits of a Texting Platform

A rapidly growing number of movie theaters are using texting as a digital marketing strategy to boost sales. In addition to promoting upcoming smash hits, what other benefits come with running a text message marketing for movie theaters campaign? Read on to find out.

Grow Customer Loyalty

Running a well-thought-out texting campaign will make your subscribers feel like they have inside information about upcoming releases, as well as providing them with practical information like changes in how your movie theater does business. You can also use text marketing to promote midnight showings, special events, discounted ticket prices, and guest appearances. SMS messaging represents the most personal form of digital marketing, and yes, that includes any type of social media promotions. Keeping your subscribers in the information loop enhances customer loyalty because of the trust you build.

Increase Sales

When you give your subscribers a heads up about soon-to-be-released blockbusters and when tickets go on sale, you increase your profits and drive ticket sales. Releasing information about ticket discounts or group rates also encourages movie goers to buy more tickets. For throwback nights or other niche events, you can target specific SMS users with customized campaigns to ensure all the seats are filled. Additionally, and perhaps just as important, you’ll also increase the sale of high profit margin items at the concession stand.

Affordable and Convenient

Whether you’re a one-theater town or a nationwide chain, movie theaters operate on tight budgets. From trying to manage fixed costs such as rent to keeping wildly changing variable costs like utility expenses under control, there’s no room for a marketing platform that can’t deliver its value in savings. Text marketing doesn’t require a high financial investment, either from you or your subscribers.

How to Get the Most Out of SMS Marketing Software

Building a texting platform requires your movie theater to enter a business partnership with a highly rated provider. You need to have a wide variety of features at your disposal to meet your theater’s unique marketing needs, as well as around the clock customer service to handle any issues. After you sign up with an experienced provider, follow the tips below to get the most out of your SMS broadcast software.

Thank Subscribers for Signing Up

First impressions matter, and what better way to make a positive first impression than by warmly welcoming new subscribers to your texting service. Not only do you want to thank new subscribers, you should also give them a little taste of the high-value offers that go to loyal customers of your movie theater.

Speaking of Offers...

We already mentioned that text message marketing for movie theaters keeps your subscribers in the loop when it comes to new releases and other important information. But you can also make your subscribers feel special by offering a wide variety of general incentives to visit your business. From discounted tickets to complimentary concessions, there are plenty of promotions to entice people to your theater, no matter what movies are playing.

Create Short, Memorable Keywords

Keywords are how subscribers interact with your SMS messages. Subscribers text back to your short code to claim rewards or special deals. Keywords can be any combination of letters and numbers, but should generally be short and easy to remember. For example, to enter to win free tickets for the next Marvel movie, users could reply back using the keyword SUPERHERO.

Increase Your Subscriber Count

Remember one important rule of texting: You can never have enough subscribers. Here are a few ways to increase the number of subscribers:

• Include information about your SMS service before previews
• Place opt-in instructions strategically throughout the lobby
• Post messages about your SMS service on social media
• Include SMS opt-in incentives in your emails and newsletters
• Place an opt-in widget on your website or contact page
• Verbally mention your SMS service during sales at the ticket booth

Optimize Your SMS Movie Marketing Campaigns

Optimize your SMS campaigns to enjoy the full benefits of text message marketing. Rather than just launching a general campaign for all your subscribers, customize your campaigns to better drive sales and maximize your rewards. Below are some ways to optimize your campaigns.

Send Targeted Campaigns

Promoting upcoming blockbusters is sure to fill seats, but what about other movies? What about holiday film festivals, oldies nights, and creature features? With SMS, you can still make sure your theater is packed by using targeted SMS campaigns. Instead of sending out generic texts to all your subscribers, target subscribers based on certain fields like age or location. For example, older movie goers in a small town might appreciate a ‘50s flick, while enthusiasts in an urban city might appreciate new foreign films.

Use Analytics Tracking

To effectively gauge which campaigns are the most successful, use analytics tracking. Analytics tracking comes with detailed reporting features to show you which campaigns are most effective, such as response rates and keyword reports. Continue running successful campaigns, stop running campaigns that don’t have a high ROI, and tweak campaigns that have potential but just aren’t quite meeting performance expectations.

Offer Better Customer Service

One of the problems with online reviews is that they’re public. Everyone can see complaints and bad reviews when they search your theater online or visit your website. Using SMS texting, you can settle customer issues in private. Address negative feedback and provide complimentary movie passes or another gift to apologize for the inconvenience and strengthen your brand image.

Similarly, you can also proactively address negative reviews by soliciting feedback from recent visitors and subscribers. Include an incentive to prompt increased response rates, such as a voucher for free popcorn. Use the autoreply to thank users who submit feedback. Then, review the feedback and contact subscribers who had bad experiences to address their concerns and offer complimentary vouchers.

Make Dash Notify Your SMS Marketing Software Partner

Movie theaters should use every marketing advantage to push ahead in the crowded industry. For years, Dash Notify has customized SMS marketing software to meet the unique needs of businesses operating in a wide range of sectors. We offer scalable features, global coverage, lightning-fast throughput, and 24/7 customer support. Contact us today to learn about how Dash Notify can help your business drive sales.

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