How Digital Signage Can Max the Movie Theatre Experience

Movie theaters are more than just the movie itself - everything from the coming soon posters to the smell of fresh popcorn contribute to the experience. And while movie posters and ice cream stands are typical cinema features, cinema owners and multiplexes are adopting digital signage for a variety of reasons.

Whether it's upselling your snack deals, or improving the customer experience, these displays can be a powerful tool in cinemas.

So how can you use digital signage for cinemas?

Types of cinema signage

From posters to self-service kiosks, there are a wide range of digital displays and signage you'll find across the average movie theater. Some of the typical ways to use this technology to your advantage include:

Now Playing signage

Displaying movie schedules is one of the original forms of movie theater digital signage. In fact, multiplexes and larger cinema halls have been using TV screens to list todays screenings for decades now.

The ‘Now Playing’ cinema signage display is normally mounted at the entrance to the theater, especially if this is where the ticket office is. You'll also find this signage in the main foyer area near to self-service kiosks.

Video walls

A high impact video wall is often a focus feature in cinemas and multiplexes. These larger screens tend to be mounted on a wall by the entrance, or in the foyer, and often stream a mix of movie trailers or ads for snacks, or sometimes just normal ads.

Video walls offer a genuine wow factor, making them perfect for more impactful signage.

Digital posters

You walk into a movie theater and are immediately greeted by HD movie posters and trailers of exciting movies. These will play action sequences, touching emotional scenes, and comedic gags from yellow minions. And now, you’re considering watching something else entirely…

That’s the power of display boards!

You’ll often find movie poster displays in the cinema’s foyer or hallways, or even the bathroom. When digital signage is worked into cinema foyers, it can be used to get people hyped about current showings and upcoming movies. This is primarily because a digital poster display can be set up to showcase all kinds of promo materials.

Movie theaters can also use their foyer signage to promote deals like popcorn and drink combos, which people can enjoy while watching their movies.

Menu boards

When you walk into a movie theater, one of the first things that usually catches your eye is the menu board above the snack stand. In fact, beyond the movie posters, the food displays are one of the main elements of most movie theaters.

Here, you'll find everything from mouth-watering images of fresh hot dogs, buttery popcorn or fizzy sodas to tempting candy. They also highlight special combo deals, making it easier for you to decide on that perfect movie snack. 

Digital signs offer dynamic content that integrates motion graphics and a wide range of promotional slides. The content can also be quickly updated, which lets your theater promote limited-time offers and seasonal treats.

Read more: Digital Menu Board App Guide for ScreenCloud

Interactive kiosks

Interactive kiosks can make things so much easier for cinema goers and staff alike. These sleek, digital stations offer self-service options like buying tickets and checking showtimes.

For example, with ScreenCloud digital signage software, cinemas can add QR codes to self service kiosks, letting customers complete the transaction on their mobile device. They could buy tickets on your website, see movie showing times, and maybe even pick their seating.

Movie theatres can use these kiosks in many ways, including streamlining the ticket-buying process, reducing wait times, and possibly even improving overall satisfaction. 

Social media walls

In the 21st century, the cinema experience goes beyond the film itself, but often includes the fans too. Social media walls are an increasingly common site in cinemas and other public experience venues and are a great way to build even more of a buzz.

How do you use social media walls on your cinema digital signage?

This can be by sharing customer experience feedback, for example reviews from visitors who have tagged you in their social reviews. Or, you can also aggregate reviews from across the major social platforms for a more general overview.

And yes, you can moderate content before you share it on your digital signage - so no fear of spoilers!

Wayfinding and directional signage

Signs for wayfinding are another great way to use digital signage, especially in larger or multi-use venues. This can mean tablet sized displays next to screen entrances which highlight the current and next screening, and the showing time.

Or, you can also include an interactive map so people can find the bathrooms, the merch store or the exits!

Point of sale displays

Strategically placed signage can be useful to upsell products using Point of sale displays. These can be a smaller dynamic poster display next to the tills which mention meal deal combos, membership packages or even advance purchase tickets for upcoming movies and events.

Billboards

The billboard is typically an external display which is used to draw attention, which, in the case of a movie theater, usually means streaming movie trailers.

A digital signage billboard can easily be linked to your signage network and used to stream trailers or play relevant ads. To do this, you'll either need outdoor TV screens (such as The Terrace range from Samsung) or made for purpose LED billboard screens.

Screens such as the Philips X-Line range are made for billboard style digital signage. But make sure to check local regulations before you mount external screens.

ScreenCloud can be used to manage your signage content, from tablet sized displays to massive outdoor screens.

How to improve ticket sales using digital signage

So you’ve pulled the trigger and adopted a digital signage solution in your movie theater. How do you use the signage to increase footfall, raise ticket sales, and get that ROI flowing in?

Here are some tips that might help.

1. Social media + digital signage = Excited movie audiences

Imagine you’re waiting in the lobby and seeing your tweet about the latest movie trailer featured on the big screen. For many people, that’s instant excitement.

Combining digital signage can turn passive waiting time into an interactive and engaging experience. It can also encourage more interaction with your social media pages, leading to a wider reach and more potential customers.

This is quite easy to set up in your theater too. All you’d need are a few dedicated screens, and using apps like Walls.io, Gallery for Instagram, and Social feed for Facebook, you can show real-time reactions, reviews, and fan art from your cinema’s social pages. 

Read more: Social Media Walls in Retail Stores: Everything You Need to Know

2. Build some buzz

Digital signage is a powerful tool for building buzz and we’ve seen it used countless times, whether that’s to raise excitement through employee engagement, or increase marketing results through social proof.

In a cinema, there are many ways to use your signage to generate excitement, and some of them include:

• Teasers
• Behind-the-scenes footage
• Exclusive interviews 
• Contests to win free tickets

Many movie theaters often show older classic movies like Disney’s back catalog and Arnold Schwarzenegger classics, and the buzz can really help get more people in the door here. Use your screens to excite customers about seeing movies with friends and family and making an experience out of it.

Your screens can also be used to keep the buzz going. A great example is the Barbenheimer cultural event of 2023, where both movies achieved peak buzz.

In the UK, they raised ticket sales, with over 14.58 million tickets sold. Once the experience was over, sales declined to 7.45 million in November (Statistica).

At its peak in August, it would have been weird to walk into a movie theater around that time and find neither trailer playing on a loop.

This is one example of how simply displaying promotional material can help you join the hype and reap the benefits of movie ticket sales. You can let people know the movies are showing by queuing them up in your digital poster displays.

Read more: Promoting events at the Strand Ballroom with digital signage.

3. Support your other marketing strategies

Chances are there are other marketing efforts by the movie studios happening. Or, perhaps your smaller cinema is hoping to attract patrons away from the bigger multiplex? You shop front digital signage can tie into other marketing efforts, or even sell your unique benefits in an eye-catching manner.

This might be through eye-catching slides, digital movie posters, membership deals or displays about upcoming attractions and promotions.

You can add this to other strategies, like word of mouth and social media marketing, to inform new and existing customers about flash sales on tickets, loyalty programs, or even special events.

Read more: Digital Guerrilla Marketing: The What, Why and How?

4. Show what’s showing

Pretty obvious, right? But it’s worth mentioning because "currently showing" signs can be useful for people who could use a nudge on what to see. Movie theatres could display detailed schedules, trailers, and posters to basically say, “Here’s what looks good” or “Check this one out.”

The best part of using digital signage here is that you can quickly update screens in real-time to reflect changes in schedule.

5. Make special screenings worth it

Most people come to the cinema to see the big blockbuster, or to catch a movie that's been promoted heavily. This usually means you’ll need to work extra hard to promote things like midnight showings, film festivals, or themed movie nights because your business is the only source of that information.

So, put your digital signage to work by promoting these events. Use a combination of movie trailers, posters, countdowns, and eye-catching slides to build excitement and anticipation.

Promoting these events weeks and months in advance can also ensure that enough people see and are aware of them. That can diversify your audience and possibly increase the number of people who show up during the event.

6. Highlight concession promotions

Everyone loves a good deal, and when it comes to more affordable movie snacks, more people are likely to take the deal. Use your digital signage and TV screens to display menus, special offers and deals using bold imagery, clear text, animated graphics and mouth-watering images.

Whether it's better ticket prices for members, drinks promotions or loyalty programs, make sure you highlight services and products on your digital poster display.

7. Improve the overall experience 

A digital display in the right place can improve the less-than-great parts of the cinema experience, such as waiting for your movie to start or standing in queue for your ticket.

Your screens can reduce perceived wait times by displaying promotional materials for upcoming movies or even great deals that customers can enjoy once they get up to the concession stand.

Read More: Using Salon Digital Signage to Improve Customer Experience

Launch your cinema digital signage with ScreenCloud

Movie theaters often have to sell an experience to customers, and it extends from the time they walk in the door to even after the movie has finished. Well-placed digital display screens can make this easier to achieve.

ScreenCloud's digital signage software is excellent for movie theaters looking to engage their customers, build anticipation for current movies, or keep them entertained while waiting for their movies.

Our CMS lets you load movie trailers and HD movie posters to all your screens in little to no time, and you can create playlists or schedule content so the screen displays the right visual at the right time. There is also a wide range of other features, including dozens of apps and integration options, custom design templates, and the ability to manage screens in multiple locations.

Sign up for a free trial, or request a demo to find out more.