What is Experiential Marketing and why is it Important?

In the age of digitalization, the world is shifting towards digital and real-world experiences than any other time in a few years. Even so, customers are seeking out more experiences. Thus, it is pretty challenging to stand apart without deliberate efforts. The brands that can work with remarkable user experiences will be simply the ones that will stay ahead of others of their kind. 

Well, it's anything but not confidential anymore to execute, as 68% of marketing companies state their organization is progressively expanding from competition based on customers' experience. As customers are looking more for experiences, many businesses are shifting towards experiential marketing to fulfill the demand for those experiences.

However, suppose you are seeking to dive into experiential marketing concepts. In that case, this article will help you investigate what it is, reveal its advantages, and consider the things before you plan your experiential marketing. 

What is Experiential Marketing?

Experiential marketing, also known as engagement marketing, is a marketing strategy that binds customers with a brand through their products and services that they use. To put it plainly, experiential marketing empowers customers not simply to purchase products or services from a brand but to deeply experience the brand. Thus, memorable and noteworthy experiences build an emotional link between the brand and the shoppers. Experiential marketing includes users' commitment yet regularly develops it in process.

The main idea behind this is to make a memorable effect on the customer. One that will convince them to share with their friends and close ones offline and online. The main experiential marketing might include any event, a part of an occasion, or an activation not attached to any event. In general, experiential marketing is tied in with immersing customers in live experiences. It's more a comparable approach you, as of now, use while making your event experience.

How does Experiential Marketing Work?

From the deep down, experiential marketing is mainly about making fun and unforgettable experiences that cause customers to always remember your brand and services. They can assist with adapting your brand and make forever and positive impressions. Thereby, the more innovative your brand would make remarkable campaigns, and the more consumers will discuss you.

However, for ultimate experiential marketing, there are a few aspects that you need to consider before jumping into the mystical world of experiential marketing.

• The initial step of any new strategy involves planning. So, for an impressive experiential marketing technique, you should consider your objectives for this campaign and how you might measure your impact.

• After that, the following essential step is to research. Invest a good time in examining the market and designing your campaign appropriately to get the best reaction from your customers. Hence, you have to figure out how to deal with customers who seek experience, customers' real expectations, and the appropriate way to connect them from an emotional perspective.

• Always remember the value of keeping an active internet presence, whether the main event will be offline. Quick interaction is the way to build any relationship. So, figure out the platforms you will use to share content, time investing on social media content, and track the unique hashtags based on your event.

• Last but least, always try to be bona fide. Make something that you realize customers will appreciate - something extraordinary that merits sharing. Show your consumers that their experience is what matters to you most and that you need them to live it up. Moreover, communicate, motivate and, most importantly, connect with them.

Benefits of Experiential Marketing

If you have clearly understood experiential marketing and how it works. To get more into the details of this concept, let's move towards the key benefits that experiential marketing could offer to you. It will help you to go on with the marketing strategy

1. Personalized Engagement

Nowadays, customers are looking more into connecting with a real relationship with the businesses and their products. However, according to a recent report, around 84% of customers state that dealing with an individual, rather than a number, is vital to winning their business. There's maybe not an ideal method for dealing with your customers like individuals than to immerse them in a thrilling human experience. Moreover, you can also allow them to see firsthand the way in which your brand lifts them.

2. The connection between Product & Emotion

A user always has keen interest to know about your product. Even more importantly, the main thrust behind why they pick your products or services over your other rival might show how your product's item causes them to feel. Therefore, your experiential marketing ought to intensify customers' sentiments when they feel while using your items. This is vital to them, as clients are around 3.7 times more to see consistent transitions between channels as significant vs. irrelevant. Solid positive feelings always attract customers to brands. Thus, ensuring the experience you give makes a solid positive emotional reaction.

3. Make positive Touchpoint

The more influenced touchpoints with customers help build a better experience with them. Furthermore, the more associated those touchpoints, the more impressive and convincing they become. A cohesive experience is vital to winning client loyalty and trust. Even though 70% of clients say, connected processes are vital to winning their business.

4. Social media sharings

Experiences are convincing and robust, and it appears users usually love catching fascinating experiences through video and sharing them on social media and with their friends. Indeed, it's observed that video traffic will generate up to 82% of IP traffic in 2022. Social media is an ultimate tool to spread your words throughout the customers about experiences worth sharing. Situating your brand as the business of a positive experience is a success in spreading your brand's vision and acquiring acknowledgment.

How to Start with your Experiential Marketing?

Getting to know about experiential marketing, its functionality, and the benefits it offers to businesses and brands, a feeling might have triggered in your mind to start with your experiential marketing on purpose. Hitting the nail on the head regarding experiential marketing is more complicated than it sounds. It demands exceptional consideration to guarantee that your brand's experiences are accurate and pertinent. However, before you straightaway jump into this field, there are various steps to take for your experiential marketing event. Below are some of those that play a vital role. 

1. Examine and gather inspiration 

Examine the market and observe what other brands are encouraging unbelievable experiences. To make a noteworthy experience regarding experiential marketing, it assists with being attentive and comprehending which current brand experiences are reverberating with customers. Perhaps, if you notice any brilliant experiential event, keep your eyes open when you're out. Attempt to remember a period where you were amazed by something a brand did. Use of social media or camera roll would be ideal for this.

2. Know about your Potential Customers

Observe what customers love about your brand or what feelings are connected with the products and services. It is equally essential to examine your products and customers to target them with experiential marketing. Moreover, you can also check what products and services customers use the most. This is altogether a vital knowledge that will assist you with sharing the essence of your brand and the feeling behind it. To do this, you could learn through ratings on social media and can conduct small surveys. Thereby, knowing your users and what they love about you will assist you with deciding how to convert new customers into potential ones through feelings and experiences.

3. Define your Goals

For what reason would you say you are doing an experiential marketing occasion? What results in you seeking out from the experiential marketing event, or how would you know about a successful experiential marketing event. In short, before starting, first, define your goals appropriately. You're probably hoping to make a positive brand opinion that prompts new customers' reliability.

For this, you have to ask and find out about a few questions such as, what action do you expect from customers on products? Do you have any sort of interest in spreading your brand on social media platforms, or wish to offer free trials to your customers of your product or services? Apart from these, you should know that you want customers to sign up for email promotions and make them linked to your brand, products, and services forever. 

Simply put, be sure you know what you need to from the event and also make it clear to your partners or employees. There would be a high chance that they'll interface with or share your brand and its services if you give them an outstanding and exciting experience.

4. Decide the value you'll Offer

Another important aspect is to observe the value you will offer to users. Or What kind of significant worth will you give the people engaged with your experiential marketing? Will it be a remarkable photograph or video? Or examine whether it would be an astonishing experience or you are going to give away some products and services. Make sure to examine what feelings you are expecting from customers to feel? In short, while considering all these aspects, make sure to offer some benefit in many ways as could be expected to make unforgettable experiences worth sharing.

5. Offer all Senses Experience

The experience from all the five senses for customers is worthwhile for your brand. Thus, make sure to consider how users will see, contact, and hear from your brand experiential marketing? Thus, it will depend upon the color tones you will use, including music selection. Moreover, giving the customers a hands-on experience will matter the most to them. It will leave a long lasting impression on the customer's mind that connects more than one of their senses, and it'll probably have more effect.

6. Approach your Audience

It is pretty essential to plan your event where users are more consistent. However, if possible, look for a spot in their everyday world. For instance, trade expos are incredible, and they give a simple chance to associate and draw in however surprising experiences, in reality, maybe significantly more effective.

7. A unique experience to Shine the Brand's Spirit

To create a fantastic experience, you'll need to invest some time to truly determine what stands apart from your brand, including products & services from other brands. Additionally, consider how you need it to make users feel and act. Therefore, an ideal experiential marketing event will assist the crowd to always remember your brand and become an essential part of your goal.

8. Examine, analyze, and Improve

To decide how fruitful your experiential marketing efforts are, it is essential to measure and examine the event's effectiveness. Frequently, social media platforms are an extraordinary spot to uncover precisely how broad and effective your experience was. Moreover, you can also create any social media platform where individuals can communicate with the experience. For this, you can even start a hashtag, a website page, or some other online-based channel where you can accurately measure the effect. Perhaps, whenever you examine the data, you'll get to know about some helpful knowledge and reviews regarding what customers reverberate with, and you'll have the option to offer them later on and consistently convey fantastic experiences.

Do You Need Experiential Marketing for Your Brand?

A question must have arisen, do I need experiential marketing for my brand? It is essential to consider when your brand should include an experiential marketing campaign effort into your event. Mainly, it relies upon your objectives, course of events, and assets.

Experiential marketing can assist you with acculturating your brand or a sponsor's and make experiences that leave customers with enduring brand impressions forever. Although these experiences are a reality and in person, you bind them with social and content to intensify your efforts across channels.

It's not just sufficient to offer participants a prize wheel or pool drawing. Even though that sort of interaction isn't experiential, it would help if you made touchpoints to draw in participants surprisingly. That gives an advantage to you, your event, and to your sponsors also if you have any. So, initially specify your budget plan to create an effective experiential marketing event to get the highest output..

Conclusion

All in All, experiential marketing is a spectacular method for drawing in potential customers and associating with them emotionally. Apart from the experiential marketing events, you can also use online channels or social media platforms to enhance authentic experiences and consistently convey excellent experiences with all senses to customers. 

For an influential experiential marketing event, be clear about your objectives, continually learn more about the customers, and measure results. However, if your main aim is on experiences, you might develop into a brand that does significantly more than offer products and services. Consequently, your brand will encourage other companies and connections, flashes feelings, and make more loyal clients.