CINEMA FACEBOOK ANALYSIS

While theatres have been utilizing Facebook for a while now, what does it all actually mean? Joe Edick presents an encouraging straw-poll analysis, while suggesting that we’d probably be doing better still, and quicker, if we learned to share our findings.

Back in Screentrade September 2011 issue, I noted the rise of social media among exhibitors, and impressed to make sure that, once begun, people stayed committed to the task. My purpose was to encourage exhibitors to keep working on it, even if, initially, it didn’t seem to be working out as planned.

During 2011, I also attended many of the social media seminars presented at NATO functions in the U.S. Much of the material was terrific and the dialogue engaging. Still, does anyone really know how the industry is doing with it? Well, if they do they’re certainly not letting on.

So, in an effort to get an inside look at the effectiveness of social media among movie theatres, I put together and emailed a simple ten-question survey to 850 theatre owners, executives and managers. 62 (or 7%) responded and the results proved most interesting. While this is a small sampling, it is still enough to warrant analysis and reflection. And while I will only touch on a few components of the survey here, more complete results and analysis can be

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Not surprisingly, 87% of respondents reported having a Facebook page for their theatre operation. I also spoke with one executive whose chain does not operate a Facebook page because he believed it lacks control: As “negative posts would be seen by everyone,” he believed it to be better to operate with email lists and e-Newsletters, and thus keeping any negative comments private. Clearly this is a minority opinion within the industry, but it merits further discussion – especially when you consider that 92% of respondents stated that no more than 10 hours-per-week is spent managing their site. In point of fact, 74% spend less than five hours per week.

MEASURE
One alarming statistic unveiled in this survey is that of how theatres attempt to gauge the success of their social media endeavors. 54% measure their success based on how many fans, or “Likes,” their site receives. Still 26% use other metrics such as coupons returned, comments posted, or perhaps a combination. What remains? A full 20% which stated that they actually have no system in place for measuring their social media success. What!

Another surprise – to me, at least – is that of how well theatres believe their Facebook page works for them. Only 15% feel their site not to be working very well. Conversely, 45% believe their site “works okay,” whereas a whopping 40% think that it works very well. High praise indeed for a marketing discipline still in its infancy.

So, what can be learned through this survey beyond the mere percentage figures, here? For me, I’ve realized that it requires more study. I’d love to see the responses again – say, this time next year – and with more respondents to defray the margin of error.

Social media success is good for the entire industry if it means more people can be motivated to go to the movies, or to go more often. For this reason, I believe theatres need to open up and share their “Facebook best practices” with others; and, to this end, maybe an “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours’” approach will be a good start.

“Social media success is good for our industry if it means more people going to the movies, or more often… to this end, theatres should be willing to open up and share their ‘Facebook best practices’ with others.”

Joe Edick
Pelican Productions
www.pelicanproductions.com