Don't Get Left Behind From the Experiential Marketing Wave
Think Outside the Box with Experiential Marketing
The world has become a much more interactive place over the last decade. The rise of social media has us connecting with one another in ways that have never before been possible. The notion of "staying in touch" has taken on a whole new meaning because of improved video and audio technology fused into the fabric of virtually every social media platform! With this interactivity surge, the world of marketing has also received a violent shove into the present as well. Say goodbye to everything you thought you knew about what works in marketing and welcome the dawn of the age of experiential marketing.
Experiences That Create Brand Loyalty
Steve Olenski writes for Forbes that experiential marketing creates "lasting impressions" that will lead customers to experience and share those experiences with others creating brand loyalty. This marketing strategy is designed to let the public see and utilize the potential product or service themselves. They "experience" whatever is being sold and can then speak to what they experienced. Historically marketing efforts were geared toward making someone believe that a product or service may benefit them. Experiential marketing allows them to believe that it will benefit them based on evidence.
Examples of Experiential Marketing
Marketing executives have begun to think outside the box when it comes to their partnerships. As a result sometimes it is hard to visualize what experiential marketing may look like. Generally anything that can allow a person to become involved with something is an experience. When a specific brand becomes involved in that experience, it becomes experiential marketing. Some examples of how this strategy is being used include:
Augmented reality stations with a featured product.
Events for children to play and explore featuring a specific brand or character.
Grocery and department store demonstrations.
Partnership with events including free sampling
Better Data for Companies
The world of marketing depends greatly upon data. This helps to define whether marketing dollars are being spent wisely and companies are earning more dollars than they spend as a result. Some of the advantages to using experiential marketing come from getting real time observation of customers or potential customers interacting with a product. This point-in-time data becomes some of the most valuable information a brand can receive. As Olenski writes in Forbes, the anecdotal evidence that comes from watching the consumer interact with a product or brand is extremely valuable. When they receive information immediately, brands can adjust or make changes even faster to improve their product or service.
Brand Ambassadors Everywhere
When a potential customer takes advantage of an experiential marketing event, they engage with a product and are much more likely to become loyal to the brand or specific product. When this happens, the old saying that word-of-mouth is the best advertising starts to take over. Imagine an experiential marketing event that could potentially yield dozens of brand ambassadors. These people are positioned to be able to speak authoritatively about a brand because they experienced it first hand. This is perhaps the best advantage to the experiential marketing movement. When you include the impact of people using their social media accounts to talk candidly to their friends and followers about their experiences with a brand or product, it's an even greater recipe for brand awareness and marketing success.
Without a doubt, experiential marketing is a new frontier in the marketing and advertising world. Because we are all more connected than ever, this becomes a golden opportunity for creating experiences that will tie people to virtually any brand or product. Contact us to discover how to make experiential marketing work for your brand or product.