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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Topic: Boosting business
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Dennis Benjamin
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1445
From: Denton, MD
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 06-13-2006 05:20 PM
Matt,
You need to do the following things:
1) Buy a map of the area your theatre is in that shows zip codes and tack up on your office wall.
2) Establish where your current customers are coming from. You can do this by conducting a zip code survey. If you have Radiant Box Computers, they have a program that allows you to input each customers zip code into the system. Or just have your cashiers ask and write them down.
3) Once you know where they are coming from, you can use that information to (a) look to other areas to market to or (b) go into the zip codes you are drawing from to get more people.
4) Start a grass roots advertising campaign. What I mean by 'grass roots' is cheap. Instead of taking out an ad in a paper, go to all the apartment and condo complexes in the area (hence the zip code survey) and strike up a deal with them. New tenants can get a two for one admission coupon included in their move-in packet. Put up ads on local bulletin boards and the colleges around in the area.
5) Start relationships with your local Chamber of Commerce, Senior Citizen Groups, and Youth Clubs. Market to them exclusively and give them special coupons and deals.
6) Cold Call Day Cares, schools, and companies with large amounts employees to sell VIP or discount tickets to.
7) Once you have done all the above items, GO BACK TO ITEM #1 and start over. This time pick a different area on the map to market to.
I have used this system in Miami, Florida and Las Vegas, Nevada. Both locations were in saturated markets (overscreened). I was able to improve business tremendously at both locations. Ask your boss about it.
Oh yeah - one more thing: Frequently visit your closest competition theatres. Whatever they are screwing up on - make it better at your theatre.
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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 06-19-2006 11:46 AM
I like Dennis' ideas, as they are methodical and measurable, with most of the cost in your time rather than mailing and printing costs.
Another idea is to work with nearby hotels to see if you can supply them with a showtimes list that they can post at their front desk or on a bulletin board. This will attract people looking for something to do on the spur of the moment. When I travelled for business in the past, it was nice to be able to ask the front desk what was nearby to grab a bite to eat at night and if there was anything within a short distance to do.
Also, evaluate any money being spent on advertising, especially newspaper. Many theaters are dumping their newspaper ads, or at the very least reducing them to the minimum, and moving those expenses into other media or realizing the cost savings by eliminating that particular marketing expense. If possible, find a way to measure the response rate of any advertising that you're doing to see what's drawing the audiences, and what's not.
I took a look at your web site to see if there are any clues there for room for improvement.
On the main page, it's nice that you have a list of all the movies playing at the various locations, but there isn't an easy way to find a location if you're not already familiar with the theater's names along the left side. I think that showing a map of Florida with each location push-pinned and clickable would make it easy for people to find the theater nearest them. A likely scenario would be tourists/out-of-town visitors looking for something to do when the weather isn't cooperating. If they do a Google search and land on your web site, are they going to know which theater is close by?
Using your Mizner Park location as a sample, the showtimes are pretty easy to find, but the ability for your customers to leave feedback is not. I think it would be nice to have a link to a feedback form on every theater's page to make it easy for your customers to provide you with valuable information on their experiences.
The message board is non-functional, as all of the forums say they are closed when you try to go into them. The last posts as shown by the main page are from September of 2005. That gives your web site visitors the impression that the web site is outdated and/or poorly managed. Providing a venue to build community but closing that venue off to those actually interested in what it has to offer is a bad move. If the closure is temporary (such as needing to update the phpBB software, which is many versions behind current), then something should be placed there to explain the situation.
While it may not seem that something like the web site can impact an individual theater, it creates an impression on your prospective customers. Anything that touches your customers is part of the movie-going experience, and is worthy of your attention when you're looking to boost business.
Lastly, I'll put in a plug for The BigScreen Cinema Guide. We aren't listing showtimes and enhanced information for any Sunrise Cinema locations yet. According to a quick report, there were 977 visits to the pages related to your theaters in the past four weeks, with very little to be found in the way of information and showtimes. That 977 number represents quite a few people that couldn't find what they were looking for, plus in some cases, it was half the number that some other locations within 10 miles of your theaters were getting.
Take a look at what we do have, and please feel free to send me any corrections to the basic info (address, phone #'s, etc.).
I think you will find that signing up for our Featured Theater Service is a very economical way to build traffic to your theaters. I don't want to use this forum to stump (too blatantly) for my services, so please send me an E-Mail or PM and I'd be happy to send you some details.
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