Guest post written by Johnny Crosskey, SEO & Content Specialist, The Sports Facilities Companies.
Have you ever wondered what your guests were thinking? Of course, you have! As a venue operator, understanding the thoughts, wants, and needs of our guests is key to providing a superior experience. It also helps increase spending while they are in your venue. One of the most powerful methods for gathering this data is crowd sentiment analysis. It uses a variety of tools to gather and analyze data related to customer emotion and behavior during all interactions with your venue both online and in person. Crowd sentiment analysis not only measures guest actions, it measures the context behind these actions, including situational cues and the tone of communication.
Several tools are emerging that use sensors to measure emotions in real time. These tools measure crowd temperature, vibration, facial cues, and noise to get a complete picture of audience engagement. Data gathered from crowd sentiment analysis tools can be used to determine their level of enjoyment at events as well as the type of messages that resonate most with consumers.
How It Works:
Crowd sentiment analysis allows venue operators to understand customer pain points and take preemptive action to avoid it. For example, if sensors detect frustration upon entering a playing field, it may be an indicator of a negative reaction to the walk from the parking lot to the field. Operators can combat this with more definitive wayfinding or positioning greeters in certain areas on the path to fields.
Crowd sentiment analysis can also detect potential security issues by detecting elevated heat and motion fluctuations in seating or common areas. These indicators can give staff an opportunity to come to a specific area to monitor or abate interactions.
Benefits:
When used correctly, crowd sentiment tools can be a secret weapon for venue operators. With time, certain patterns in behavior that lead guests to purchase concession and retail items, join interactive contests, or express positive and negative emotions about their experience will be discovered. This data can help venue operators generate timely and targeted promotions, especially when this technology is coupled with apps and/or geofencing technology.
Crowd sentiment analysis allows venue operators to understand customer pain points and take pre-emptive action to avoid it. For example, if sensors detect frustration upon entering a playing field, it may be indicator of a negative reaction to the walk from the parking lot to the field. Operators can combat this with more definitive wayfinding or positioning greeters in certain areas on the path to fields.
Crowd sentiment analysis can also detect potential security issues by detecting elevated heat and motion fluctuations in seating or common areas. These indicators can give staff and opportunity to come to a specific area to monitor or abate interactions.
Obstacles To Entry:
To make use of this treasure trove of data, the operator must have the ability to understand it and detect patterns between emotions and desired or undesired actions. This can be quite challenging if you don’t have extensive operational experience. It can also be time-consuming, and it may not pay off immediate dividends.
