Experiential marketing creates a live or participatory brand experience that people can attend, use or respond to. Online buzz grows when the event gives participants a specific story or result worth sharing.
Experiential marketing invites an audience to take part in a live or interactive brand activity. Formats range from product sampling to events and demonstrations. The experience gives participants something concrete to use, discuss or share beyond a conventional advert.
The world’s a competitive arena nowadays, and brands are continuing to struggle with creating long-lasting impressions on their target audiences in the digital era. Experiential marketing provides brands with the opportunity to leave a lasting impression and engage consumers successfully. Businesses realize that to create an effective campaign; it’s essential to prioritize customers and put them at the forefront of everything. It’s the key strategy brands need to employ to bridge the gap between them and their audiences.
Many big brands, such as Coca Cola have used experiential marketing time and time again to create immersive experiences for their customers. In 2018, for the FIFA World Cup, Coca Cola created augmented reality experience outside Zurich’s train station. Participants had the chance to show off their skills on screen with Switzerland’s Xherdan Shaqiri and take a photo with the Powercube and enter a competition to win an official match at the World Cup.
So, here’s how brands can do this:
Build hype
Video marketing is one of the most effective ways to convey and communicate with the audience. It’s the way forward brands to build engaging content.
Brands can use videos to promote their next event or an upcoming product to their intended audience. If the event has already passed, then you can create a video with highlights and communicate your brand’s main messaging to create a holistic experience to your consumers.
Be a part of the bigger picture
Brands can take advantage of any event that’s about to be big in your industry by becoming integral parts of it. For instance, as sponsors of events, brands can create immersive experiences for local audiences and give yourself the chance to be memorable. Additionally, brands can also set up micro popup events where brands can provide their customers with different activities that allow them to create a deeper connection with their audience.
Clue your audience In
Another way brands can engage their audiences is by providing them with a peek behind the scene. This marketing strategy works across different industries and can help you engage consumers by giving them a look at what goes on.
For instance, if your brand is planning an event, then you can showcase how that event comes to life and how your team comes together to pull off the event. Additionally, you can create social media frames and cover your event live to drive traffic to your digital channel and expand your audience’s reach by giving your customers the chance to live through the experience. It’s definitely an effective way for a brand to try and test the amount of buzz it can potentially generate.
Conclusion
Experiential marketing provides businesses with a wide variety of opportunities to generate buzz for any upcoming promotions or event. It doesn’t matter whether you employ large or small scale efforts; experiential marketing of any sort can easily be implemented onto social media campaigns or regular marketing campaigns.
Teams should base the experience on a clear audience need and campaign goal. They can test the concept with a small group before committing to a costly build. Participation, follow-up visits and qualified actions give a stronger measure than the number of social posts alone.
Plan the online path before the event opens
Teams should decide what participants can share, where interested viewers can learn more and how consent works for recorded content. A branded hashtag may organise posts, but it does not measure business value. Registrations, qualified visits and follow-up actions give the campaign a clearer connection to its goal.
