4 Steps to Managing Social Media for Movie Theaters

There’s nothing like watching a movie on the big screen with comfortable seats and all your favorite snacks. As movie theaters are ready to thrive again, you need to get the word out about your business.

Today, most people get a lot of their information — news, updates, even business reviews — on social media. And if you’re not there or your pages aren’t performing well, you’re missing out on bringing in new customers every single day.

There’s no way around it — social media has to be a part of your marketing strategy. Luckily, WebFX knows exactly how to do it, and we’re here to show you how you can find social media success in four easy steps. So sit back, grab some popcorn, and let us help revolutionize your social media campaign. Then, sign up for more tips through our Revenue Weekly newsletter!

1. Make a marketing plan

If you want your social media marketing strategy to be effective, you need to go into it with a plan. Your marketing plan can determine which social media sites will be most helpful for your goals based on the audience your cinema appeals to.

Find your target audience and create buyer personas

If your movie theater has been around for a while, you likely already know your target audience. Is your clientele mostly older, or do you host a lot of young kids and families? If you’re a new cinema, however, you may have to do a bit of inferring. Take a look at the movies you’re playing or want to show in the future. Are they indie films? Action flicks? Consider the demographics most likely to appreciate your offerings.

Then, create a few buyer personas. Buyer personas are profiles of fictional people who would be patrons of your theater. Give them a name, age, occupation and other features. Dig deep — understand their hobbies, where they like to shop, and what motivates them. Use these personas to develop future posts that appeal to your target audience.

Determine the best platforms to use

Once you know who you’re posting for, you can see which platforms will have the most impact. While Facebook may be an excellent choice for older adults and parents with small kids, your posts might not perform as you’d hoped if you’re trying to reach young adults, who opt for sites like Instagram and Twitter.

Do some research about where your buyer personas would go online, then place an emphasis on those platforms in your strategy. It’ll likely be two or three platforms, allowing you to expand your reach even further.

Set goals for your campaign

Finally, to see results, you have to have a goal in mind to achieve. What do you want your audience to do when they view your posts? Check out movie times? Buy a ticket on your site or sign up for an email list? Goals give you a tangible way to measure your results and see what you may need to do to improve them.

2. Start posting content

Now that your plan is in place, it’s time to start posting! The type of content you post depends largely on the platforms you’ve chosen, but most platforms give you the ability to post:

• Text or captions
• Images
• Videos
• Live video streams

As you develop a posting strategy, you’ll want to consider:

• How often you’ll post: You should post on social media at least once a day, but a couple of times per day is better if you can manage it. However, while posting regularly is essential to maintaining your online presence, posting too much can annoy your viewers. Have a calendar of posts or schedule your posts in advance to ensure you maintain a balance without going overboard.
• Using paid ads: Some platforms, like Facebook, will prioritize posts from users’ friends over business posts, meaning fewer and fewer businesses are organically appearing in people’s feeds. Paid ads make sure your content gets seen despite algorithm changes.
• Using search engine optimization (SEO): SEO isn’t only for your website. Catering your social media content to what people are searching for can be as effective in getting new views, just like using hashtags.
• Partnering with influencers: Influencers know how to market — it’s how they’ve built their brand. They have a large audience and can reach people who may have never heard of you otherwise. Plus, with extra profiles posting about your movies and events, you’ll get double the exposure without increasing your workload.

3. Engage, engage, engage!

Social media is unique from other forms of marketing because it’s not just one-way communication. Once you post, people will respond — and it’s up to you to engage with them further.

Engagement is the not-so-secret weapon of social media marketing. When you engage directly with viewers, you develop relationships and make them feel like an important part of your business model — because they are! You create a sense of community and loyalty, making them more likely to seek out your services and stick with them in the long run.

The best ways to interact with your followers include:

• Replying to comments and private messages.
• Creating a unique brand voice.
• Asking questions or creating polls, perhaps about future movies or favorite films.
• Hosting giveaways for movie tickets, concessions, or movie posters.

4. Evaluate your campaign and find places for improvement

As your social media campaign gets underway, you want to ensure you’re getting results and a suitable return on investment (ROI). Analytics are crucial to understanding viewer engagement and seeing how your efforts are coming to fruition.

Most platforms have built-in analytics monitoring for business profiles, but for even more information, try out Google Analytics. Google Analytics allows you to set custom analytics so you can cater to the information you want and determine what’s working and where you can improve your strategy. 

Contact WebFX to develop your strategy

While social media is a must for developing new leads and staying in contact with your patrons, taking care of it doesn’t have to be your full-time job. At WebFX, we’ve worked with cinemas like yours and gained incredible results thanks to our award-winning strategist team. We only succeed when your movie theater does, so we do everything we can to increase your viewership through our social media marketing services.

Our services cover everything we’ve mentioned above and more, giving your theater the best chance at going viral. You stay focused on bringing the best new releases to your screens, and we’ll make sure you have full theaters to show them to.

Call us today at 888-601-5359 or contact us online so we can start planning your best campaign yet!

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