Sending a Showtimes Broadcast

In this article, we cover how theaters can use broadcasts to send individual messages to users in a marketing list. A broadcast is typically a weekly newsletter, enabling theaters to share showtimes and other events with subscribers. This article focuses on the Showtimes Broadcast and other API-triggered Broadcasts (Premieres and Last Chance).

Broadcasts allow theaters to send individual messages to users in a marketing list. They are typically used to share weekly showtimes or as a monthly newsletter. To access your broadcasts, log into Customer.io and click on the Broadcasts tab. There are two types of broadcasts theaters can send: Newsletters and API-triggered Broadcasts. This article will focus on the latter type.

An API-triggered Broadcast is a quick and low-effort way to share showtimes, continue reading to find out more. There are three types of API-triggered broadcasts INDY can set up when onboarding a theater for Customer.io:

Showtimes

Sends subscribers a list of films being screened that week

Premieres

Sends subscribers a list of films which have their first showing that day*
​*Configured for Wednesday and Thursday premieres only

Last Chance

Sends subscribers a list of films that are ending soon (recommended: send on the final day)

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Example of how a showtime is displayed within an API-triggered broadcast

Open the INDY Admin Tool and go Operations > Website and Marketing > Broadcasts. Or type "Broadcasts" into the search box.
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Always send a test broadcast prior to sending a broadcast to a mailing list to ensure the details are correct. You can do this by clicking the button labelled "TEST BROADCAST" next to the broadcast you plan to send.

The draft email will be sent first to Customer.io. This step can be skipped (and the draft email sent direct to your inbox) if you amend the sending behavior of the Showtimes email. Go to Broadcasts > API Triggered Broadcasts > Showtimes Broadcast > Workflow. Select the email and change the sending behavior from Queue Draft to Send Automatically.

If sending behavior settings are changed to send automatically in Customer.io, take extra care when clicking the Public Broadcast button in INDY Admin.

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By default, INDY sets up Showtimes, Last Chance and Premieres emails to Queue Draft to allow theaters to first check them within Customer.io. Only change this setting if you do not want this additional safeguard and feel confident with sending API-triggered broadcasts.

If the sending behavior in Customer.io is still set to Queue Draft, you can find the triggered email in Drafts (Customer.io). Go to Broadcasts > API Triggered Broadcasts > Showtimes Broadcast > Drafts.

Once selected, you can preview the email in Customer.io or click the purple button labelled "Send Message" to forward to your inbox.

When the broadcast is ready to send to your mailing list, click the "public broadcast" button. If the sending behavior is still set to Queue Draft, you will need to re-access the broadcast's Drafts in Customer.io and select "Send All":

There is currently no scheduling feature for API-triggered broadcasts. If you need to schedule an email for a specific time, please set up a Newsletter.

If you have multiple cinemas in a workspace (i.e. theaters who operate as a chain), please be aware that you can only trigger and send one broadcast at a time per cinema. The footer's unsubscribe link does not need to be amended because the API sends data about the marketing list. For newsletters which are not triggered by the API, the footer will need to be manually updated with the unsubscribe link that matches the marketing list.

To switch between sites, go to INDY Admin, click the Site dropdown menu and select the cinema you want to change to. If you are already on the Broadcasts tab, INDY Admin should display the broadcasts for the new site.

To edit an API-triggered Broadcast, go to Broadcasts > API Triggered Broadcasts > Showtimes Broadcast > Workflow. Select the email and a new menu will appear on the left-hand side. Click the purple button labelled "Edit Content" and this will open up Customer.io's content editor.

The HTML used for the API-triggered broadcasts' showtimes are standard templates developed by INDY. Theaters are able to make changes to the code to alter its appearance and layout. However, this is only recommended for people with a good understanding of HTML and Liquid.

We further recommend saving a copy of the HTML block prior to editing it. If accidentally deleted, please create a support ticket.

More comfortable with a drag-and-drop editor? Theaters can also make changes to a broadcast by adding new content blocks (e.g. text box, titles, images) above and below the showtimes HTML.

This is a great way to share information outside and above the weekly showtimes (e.g. special announcements, upcoming events).

Please be aware that if you have included any additional content blocks to the broadcast, these will need to be manually updated prior to sending a test or public broadcast from INDY Admin.

For API-triggered Broadcasts, the audience is controlled within INDY Admin in Operations > Website and Marketing > Broadcasts.

To change the audience of a broadcast, click the "EDIT" button next to the broadcast you want to edit. This will bring up the Edit Broadcast menu. Select the Marketing Subscription dropdown menu and choose the new marketing list.

If a marketing list is too broad, you can filter the audience further by adding a Customer.io segment. By default, broadcasts are set up to filter out invalid email addresses.

Example Use Case:

A theater only wants to send an email to users in the Showtimes list if they have opened or clicked an email within the last 30 days.

A new segment will need to be set up in Customer.io which checks for users who have opened or clicked an email within the last 30 days. If this segment is also being used for Newsletters (not triggered by the API), the theater should add a condition which confirms they are opted into the marketing list.