We live in a time when online marketing is excelling at a rapid rate, and it is becoming harder than ever to stand out from the crowd. Brands are utilising digital marketing tools like never before and it is hard to imagine a business landscape without this. Yet, it is important to keep in mind that while online marketing is important for business, it is not the be-all and end-all and in fact constructing a memorable hands-on experience is vital for success. Experimental marketing and experiential events provide an experience that is exciting, creative and encourages interaction. It’s a talking point and something that will resonate with your customers and clients, both those that exist already and those you’re hoping to onboard.
What is experiential marketing?
Experiential marketing is taking an event or a campaign, and creating an immersive and interactive experience out of it. It actively encourages customers to get involved, providing a firsthand experience of a product or service. Not only does this increase the chances of people remembering you and purchasing from you in the future, but it can also encourage press and media coverage.
Why experiential marketing is important for brands?
1. It creates a connection with customers
Experiential events enable your customers to engage and interact with your brand in a way that’s different from anything they’ve seen before, creating a strong connection that will resonate. Surveys have found that if a company connects with a customer, 76% of people are more likely to buy from them over a competitor. Over 56% of people will also increase the amount they spend on this brand. These statistics alone show just how powerful it is to create a connection with those that you want to buy your product.
2. It provides a memorable experience
Creating memorable experiences is about every element in the customer journey, put together. From campaign and digital marketing, your live event, interaction with the customer and your follow up – it all happens at the same time. An advert on a phone can be easily swiped off-screen or scrolled past, soon to be forgotten. With experiential marketing, it is something that people will want to experience, stop and sample for themselves. By actively engaging and trying something, they will be much less likely to forget about you and will always associate you with memories of a positive experience. They will also have a great brand affiliation that they will remember when they see your logo going forward and be more likely to purchase from you.
3. It builds trust in your brand
Trust is one of the most important factors for someone to interact with a brand, and by meeting your customers face to face, you can build that trust. They can see your product in real-time, getting to experience it first-hand, rather than just seeing an image or reading about it. Putting on a larger-scale event also shows the belief you have in what you are selling and that you will go above and beyond to innovate and get the word out there.
4. It will have a wider reach
As a business, you want to get the word out about your product and service as much as you can. Experiential marketing is the way to do this. By doing something exciting, engaging and memorable, it will have those that see it posting and sharing it on social media. It could also generate media attention and is an interesting topic for news sites and blogs to report on, making a change from normal advertorials. In the past, experiential events have included the likes of Dulux Paints creating “design rooms and points” complete with decor and smells that are unique.
5. It will encourage direct feedback from customers
There is nothing quite like direct feedback to give you a feel for how your product is going to do. After all, if your target audience doesn’t like what you’ve created, it’s not going to take off. By having an experiential event you can ask people their honest opinions on the day, taking this on board for future projects.
6. It allows you to showcase your product on a larger scale
When using other marketing materials such as social media or blog posts, you are restricted in what you can show. With experiential marketing, the world is your oyster and you can get as big and creative as you want. We often see food and beverage brands station their teams and equipment in different places where they dispense or offer their services and products. It is common to noodles brands and others like put up mobile kitchens hat give customers taste of their products and offerings. Experiential marketing enables you to test your innovation and bring ideas to life that are outside the regular, exciting and sure to keep people talking.
Last line
Experiential marketing is something that can never be replaced by a simple advert or social media post. It takes a customer above and beyond what they might expect, providing them with something they will remember in the future. It can encourage customers both new and old to make purchases and has a higher chance of being shared on social media channels and news outlets.
