Experiential marketing, a potent tool in marketing, is an engaging strategy that builds emotional connections with potential customers through interactive experiences. A successful experiential campaign requires understanding the target audience to identify objectives, channels, and formats that resonate with customers. The power of experiential marketing lies in its ability to create an emotional connection with the customer, boost brand loyalty, drive word-of-mouth advertising and user-generated content, provide brands with customer data and profiles, and potentially lower costs than traditional marketing media.
Advantages Given by Experiential Marketing Campaigns
Experiential marketing campaigns can raise brand awareness, create search demand, and create a bond between a brand and its audience. They deliver authentic in-person experiences, capitalise on the fear of missing out, boost product or service trial, and drive sales conversions. In today’s digital age, they also leverage social media engagement, virtual reality, and augmented reality to reach a wider audience.
- Raise brand awareness
- Create search demand
- Create a bond between a brand and its audience
- Deliver authentic in-person experiences
- Capitalize on the fear of missing out
- Boost product or service trial
- Drive sales conversions
Why Consumers Enjoy Experiential Marketing Campaigns
When creating a fun and engaging experience for customers, remember that they want to engage with the brand and try it for themselves. This approach is the perfect way to demonstrate all the benefits of a product or service and how it can solve a customer’s problem. It can even increase customer enticement towards a product, making sales more likely.
What are Involved in Experiential Marketing Campaigns
Experiential marketers should deliver immersive brand experiences to raise brand awareness and drive engagement. These experiences can be offline, such as:
- Live Events
- Trade Shows
- Demo Day Showcase Event
- Hybrid Events
They could also be online activities like:
- Webinars
- Streamed Conferences/ Events
- Virtual Reality
- Augmented Reality
How to Formulate an Experiential Marketing Strategy
Research and Understand Your Target Audience
The first step in creating a successful experiential marketing campaign is to understand your target audience. This involves researching their preferences, behaviours, and needs.
For instance, a business aiming at millennials may discover that this demographic prioritizes experiences over material goods, influencing the design of their experiential marketing campaign.
Align the Campaign with Brand Values and Objectives
our experiential marketing campaign should reflect your brand’s values and support your overall marketing goals. For instance, if your brand values sustainability, you might create an experiential marketing campaign that highlights your eco-friendly practices.
For instance, if your brand values sustainability, you might create an experiential marketing campaign that highlights your eco-friendly practices
Design and Execute Memorable Experiences
The core of experiential marketing is creating memorable experiences for your audience. This could involve organizing in-person events, creating interactive experiences, or leveraging virtual or augmented reality technology.
For example, a small business might set up a pop-up shop where customers can try out products in a physical space, providing a hands-on experience that wouldn’t be possible with traditional marketing.
Measure and Evaluate the Results
After executing the campaign, it’s important to measure and evaluate the results. This can help you understand the effectiveness of your campaign and make necessary adjustments for future campaigns.
For example, you might use post-event surveys or digital marketing tools to measure customer engagement and satisfaction during and after the event.
How to Measure Experiential Marketing Success
Measuring the success of an experiential marketing campaign involves focusing on the right marketing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to reflect the goals of your campaign and messaging strategy. Here are some steps you can take:
Define Your KPIs
Before you start your campaign, define your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). These should be obtainable, trackable, and data-led. Your KPIs should reflect what a successful campaign means to you.
Use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Typical KPIs for experiential marketing campaigns include:
Monitor Campaign Results
Set a schedule to monitor campaign results. Use a marketing dashboard to present your results. Additionally, consider monitoring your social media, and reviewing sales reports, during and post-campaign execution.
Benchmark Your Performance Data
Evaluating the success of your campaign involves comparing your current performance data versus historical data from previous campaigns or with industry benchmarks. This process allows you to identify areas where your campaign excelled and areas that may need improvement.
Leverage Satisfaction Surveys
Use satisfaction surveys to get direct feedback from your audience. This can provide valuable insights into how well your campaign resonated with them.
Analyse Your Experiential KPI Values
This will determine the return on investment (ROI) and provide a clear game plan for moving forward. A positive ROI indicates that the campaign was profitable, while a negative ROI suggests the campaign cost more than it returned. For instance, if a particular strategy resulted in a high ROI, it might be worth investing more in that strategy in future campaigns. Conversely, strategies that resulted in a low ROI might need to be re-evaluated or discarded.
Examples of Powerful Experiential Marketing Campaigns
IKEA Sleepover event
IKEA seized an opportunity presented by a fan’s Facebook post suggesting a sleepover at their store. Embracing this idea, they organized a contest where the winners were treated to a fully sponsored sleepover at an IKEA store. When customers feel a sense of belonging to your brand, they are more likely to return.
NIKE SB Skate Barge in New York City
Nike created a massive floating barge acting as a skateboarding park. Nike uses companies like BeCore to create rich, engaging experiences that captivate consumers and immerse them into the world of the Nike brand.
Coles – Little Shop 2 AR App
The Little Shop collectibles can be said to be one of the most successful campaigns by leading Australian supermarket chain, Coles. The campaign consists of a set of mini figurines of iconic food items which customers can purchase in Coles
The End Goal of Powerful Experiential Strategies
Experiential marketing has become increasingly important because it allows businesses to connect deeper with customers. The key difference between experiential marketing and other types of marketing is that an experience takes place in “real” life. The main advantages of experiential marketing include raising brand awareness, creating search demand, creating a bond between a brand and its audience, delivering authentic in-person experiences, capitalizing on the fear of missing out, boosting product or service trials, and driving sales conversions. Make your brand a part of your customers’ lives.
Remember, the goal of experiential marketing is to create memorable experiences. Marketing efforts should be impactful, meaningful, and emotional experiences to get the audience’s attention. While some sentiments are tougher to measure than others, focusing on the marketing metrics you can track and analyse will help improve performance.