Don’t live on a whim anymore. Have more cinema summers like 2019’s box office.

by Shauna Farrell, usheru.

Customers are saturated with options for viewing film. TVs and sound systems are of a higher quality and lower cost than ever before. This isn’t new information, but it is an increasing challenge to draw people from the comfort of their couch to the cinema. Even still, this summer’s box office was undoubtedly a success, with an increase in revenue in the UK of 7.8% compared to 2018.

So, how to maintain these figures, or even push them higher?

Cinema owners know their regulars. Movie studios have big marketing budgets but little to no ability to finely tailor their advertising, or target a select audience. This is causing a knowledge gap that, if closed, could increase and maintain box office revenue.

There are already ways that cinemas close the gap - e.g. using studio marketing materials in social media posts written in a way local customers will respond well to. But how else can cinemas maximise their reach to new audiences?

One game changer is technology which enables cinemas to seamlessly integrate the box office at their cinema to distributor-funded websites. ‘Distributor-funded’ meaning the distributor is paying, and not the cinema. Still the cinema can benefit from new cinema-goers being brought to the cinema by the pounds and pennies of the distributor. This gives cinemas direct & visible benefit from the otherwise disconnected campaigns of film studios. New and untapped customers discover your venue and from there you have the ability to turn them into regulars. Loyalty is where cinema marketing really shines.

Let the distributors take on the cost of acquisition of new customers, and once the new customer discovers your cinema, you have the opportunity to make them a loyal regular.

This is a key way that success stories like the Summer of 2019 will become standard - but without having to live on the whims of just ‘seeing how it goes’.

Disclaimer​. usheru builds and sells this very technology, and Shauna Farrell works there. So she may be a little biased.