There is a lot of debate on the declining effectiveness of conventional marketing and advertising tactics. It’s time for firms to modify their approach and rely more on experiential marketing, a tactic that centres the customer in a unique and interesting brand encounter. After participating in a brand experience or interaction, 91% of consumers were more likely to purchase the good or service, and 40% of consumers reported feeling their brand loyalty had risen as a result, according to a 2021 EventTrack research study.
The phrase “experiential marketing” came into existence over time as companies began experimenting with cutting-edge techniques for staging events to market their goods and services. As a result, it is a marketing tactic that encourages customers to participate in a brand experience. In traditional marketing, customers are viewed as passive recipients of a brand’s message.
In experiential marketing, a brand engages with the consumer directly and frequently offers a window into how the marketing campaign is being developed. Businesses foster ties with their customers by allowing them to take part in campaigns and follow them from beginning to end. Customers who are involved perceive your brand differently because they feel engaged rather than marketed to.
The way you standardise, gather, evaluate, and analyse data across departments and geographies is paved by considering experiential as part of your larger omnichannel strategy (much like social, direct mail, or email).
The strategy comprises organising a range of offline events, such as product launches, in-store promotions, and sampling, to help organisations engage with customers, better understand their requirements and problems, gather useful information from them, and develop relationships of trust with their audience.
Experiential marketing has a variety of advantages for brands.
- Leads and customers are engaged in a variety of activities.
- By introducing a brand and its goods to potential clients and consumers so they can test them out, increasing client loyalty, and promoting the good or service.
Guidelines for creating an experiential marketing strategy
Knowing your audience is important because some companies put all of their work into creating something unique, memorable, and interesting while ignoring the most important factor—their target market. Therefore, a brand’s marketing and sales team should have enough time during the planning stage to research your potential clients and the media they like. As a result, one will be able to appeal to the audience’s interests, preferences, and wants by being aware of them.
Communicating a clear message: When deciding on an appropriate message, make sure that it supports the brand’s marketing plan and encourages strong connections among consumers.
Creating a campaign that offers value: When developing an immersive campaign, keep in mind that it must provide some sort of value.
If a campaign is able to educate and benefit its target audience, it is considered successful.
Take advantage of modern technology: People always want to try things on to make sure they meet their demands exactly before making a purchase, whether it be clothing, eyewear, footwear, or furniture. Using augmented reality apps, customers may want to virtually test out everything they need and judge whether a product fits.
Conclusion
Experiential marketing thus has a wide range of forms. Guerrilla marketing, brand activation, event marketing, and retail installations are the ones that stand out. Experiential marketing is unquestionably gaining popularity in the advertising industry, but before launching an engagement programme, firms should carefully weigh their possibilities.