What Is Experiential Marketing?

Learn how to connect with consumers by offering them a unique and dynamic branded experience.

• Consumers are immediately engaged via experiential marketing through interactive events.
• Customers tend to feel closer to brands and companies who use unconventional marketing strategies.
• Before beginning any experience marketing campaign, be sure your objectives, analytics, and plan are solid.
• Small company owners interested in developing an experience marketing strategy should read this post.

There is a lot of talk about how traditional advertising and corporate marketing strategies are losing their effectiveness. Nowadays, consumers are more likely than ever to choose commercial-free streaming services over live TV, fast-forward through commercials, and have ad blockers installed on their PCs.

It could be time for your company to shift course and turn to experiential marketing, a strategy that puts the customer at the center of a distinctive and engaging brand experience.

Live events, installations, product launches, seminars, and trade exhibitions can all fall under this category. A 2021 Event Track research study found that 91% of customers were more inclined to buy the good or service after taking part in a brand experience or engagement, and 40% of consumers claimed they felt increased brand loyalty as a result.

What is experiential marketing?

Consumers are actively engaged in experiential marketing, also known as engagement marketing, which invites them to take part in a brand experience.

According to Esther Sauri, a marketer at Linkilaw Solicitors, “Experiential marketing is, in its simplest definition, a style of marketing built on providing memorable and inventive customer experiences to develop deep emotional ties between the customers and the business.”

Consumers are seen as passive recipients of a company’s message in traditional marketing. In experiential marketing, a brand interacts directly with the customer and frequently provides a window into the development of a marketing campaign. By letting customers participate in campaigns and follow them from start to finish, businesses may build relationships with their customers.

Why is it so effective?

We are emotional beings, which is why experiential marketing is so successful, Sauri claimed. We don’t just buy something when a brand emotionally resonates with us; we also stick with them and become devoted consumers.

Customers who are involved in the tale feel engaged rather than sold to, which makes a big difference in how they see your business.

Consider the #WeighThis campaign from Lean Cuisine as an example. Women were asked to “weigh in” on some aspect of themselves that was significant besides weight. After being compiled and painted onto individual scales, the replies were subsequently placed on a gallery wall at New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. Responses ranged from “I am back in college at 55” to “I care for 200 homeless children every day.”

The company then produced a promotional film that addressed women, discussing what they had written and why.

No one was ever provided a Lean Cuisine product, which was a key component of the marketing. Lean Cuisine relied on the gallery wall itself to attract people in and built an interactive experience around the idea that women are more than a number on the scale. The exhibit was prominently branded with the company’s Twitter address and the hashtag #WeighThis. The campaign garnered more than 204 million impressions, proving its effectiveness.

How to plan an experiential marketing campaign

1.Look at your customer base.

Look at your current consumer data to see what kind of experiential marketing might be effective with your audience before you start any planning. You can even gain insight into new markets from this study. To identify the clients who interact with your company most favourably, take into account customer segmentation.

2.Solidify your goals.

What do you want to accomplish with this campaign? discover new clients? marketing a fresh product? getting started in a new market? You may begin preparing for your campaign after you have determined your final objective. The plan must be focused on your target market and quantifiable.

At this point, it’s crucial to identify your brand. Know exactly what you want this experience to say about the culture and values of your brand.

Identify KPIs.

It is crucial to comprehend what success looks like before the campaign. Consider your desired objectives, the most effective way to track your key performance indicators (KPIs), and the information you hope to collect from clients during the campaign. A wonderful way to get detailed information about customers and ask participants for direct input is through experiential marketing.

1.Create a budget.

A marketing budget is essential when organizing any new kind of campaign to guarantee your return on investment. This is especially true in experiential marketing, which frequently has more moving components and goes beyond conventional marketing strategies while simultaneously utilizing them.

2.Implement a cross-channel marketing plan.

Your experience marketing may be shown at a physical venue, depending on your objectives. Keep in mind that there are many different ways to interact in experiential marketing. You may advertise, broadcast, and tag your experience on social media. While still providing clients outside the region with a chance to interact with your company, such as through email, SMS, or social media, you may segment your audience to market to those who may be at the physical place.

What to avoid in your campaign

If used properly, experiential marketing may be a gold mine; yet, if not, it can be a land mine. Since experiential marketing is popular and very engaging, many businesses will try it for fun. However, without adequate planning and research, a campaign may quickly go awry.

The biggest mistake in experiential marketing, according to David Jacobson, founder and CEO of TrivWorks, is to make the event feel overly commercial. Attendees don’t want to feel like they are in a sales pitch, says the speaker. If you are overly pushy, they will be turned off or, worse still, they may complain about their bad experience.

Businesses ought to make an effort to design experiences that reflect their values. While experiential marketing is mostly used to promote brands, Ashley Pontius, print campaign manager at News & Experts, said that it could be made more brand-being.

While experience marketing is undoubtedly becoming more of a focus in the advertising industry, businesses should carefully consider their options before beginning an engagement programme. Does this fit your company’s needs? Are you willing to invest the necessary time, money, and effort? Do you have a specific objective in mind? If so, an experience marketing strategy can help your company get off the ground with satisfied customers and pleasant interactions.