To create an experience that truly makes an impact, it’s not just about sponsoring the biggest sporting event around or throwing the most extravagant party in town; it’s about creating a personal connection with your brand that leads to an emotional bond with the consumer. There are many things to consider when thinking of creating relevant and impactful experiential marketing — what will attract fans? What will they be willing to talk about on social media? How can we get this right and have fun at the same time? To find out more, read on!
Personal connection through experiential marketing helps to strengthen brand loyalty and ignite the passion that drives your business forward. Just as a live performance relies on the dynamic interaction between performer and audience, so does an experiential marketing experience. The art of making a personal connection requires that you listen to what your audience wants — even when they’re not sure they want it themselves — and give it to them anyway, knowing that they’ll appreciate what you’ve done in the end.
What is experiential marketing?
Brands have begun to see the importance of experiential marketing, understanding that it can provide a personal connection with consumers. Celebrity endorsement is a form of experiential marketing, but this type doesn’t just include celebrities, but also influencer marketing and event sponsorships. These types of experiences must stimulate an emotional connection and reinforce the essence of the brand.
Why is creating personal connection important?
While events and sponsorships are important, they often lack the emotional connection to a brand that experiential marketing can provide. Influencer marketing and celebrities can help create a personal connection between the consumer and the event, but it’s important to make sure that you have the right celebrity or influencer on your side. So asking the question “what celebrity would you want someone to see as an extension of your company?” Is a great starting point to finding your north star. Management agencies like Metallic INC, Insanity Group and YMU group or similar are where you would like to be looking at first if you are in located in London, Los Angeles and South America.
But But… How can I create a personal connection?
Personal connection is essential to experiential marketing. It can be done through influencer marketing and event sponsorships, but it’s also about making a personal connection with the consumer. It’s about creating an experience that stimulates an emotional connection and reinforces the essence of the brand. The way you do this is by asking consumers what they want from your product or service, understanding their needs and responding to them with personalised experiences and products. Using a brand activation platform like Momento stream lines this process for you and allows you to customise, rebrand and set a variety of rewards to increases the likely of receiving quality insights and data.
Examples of experiential marketing!
At a glance, experiential marketing can include:
- Business events, festivals, award ceremonies
- Activities and kiosks at trade shows
- Samplings or demos
- Unique experiences that fit with the brand
- Retreats
- Ways for brands and loyal customers to do social good together
The Benefits of Experiential Marketing?
Ah thank we thought you would never ask! Experiential marketing can take place anywhere along the customer’s journey. Experiential marketing helps your team build:
- Brand awareness: Get your name out there! Brand activations are a great avenue for this.
- Brand affinity and loyalty: People purchase products based on their emotions — building positive experiences moves them closer to conversion.
- Offer a way for prospects to try your product: Not all channels let prospects touch, feel, or taste products. Experiential events do.
- Expand cross-channel efforts: Give people something to talk about on social media with a fun activity and a hashtag.
- Lead generation: Gather contact information and data on future prospects.
Short on Time? Here Are Some Key Takeaways
As a quick recap, here’s a look at some of the main lessons we learned from these stunning experiential marketing examples.
- The experiential strategy does not always have to involve the product. As long as the result is a powerfully positive brand association, the strategy is worth it.
- Be mindful of the pop culture trends and think of ways to incorporate them into your experiential strategy.
- Experiential marketing is all the more impactful when it offers something of actual value to the consumer, whether it be a free product or newfound knowledge.
- Never be afraid to think big and push the boundaries. Experiential marketing is meant to leave an impression so constantly push yourself and test the limits of your creativity.
- Remember that an experiential campaign can consist of multiple forms of engagement. Don’t restrict yourself to only one channel of interaction with consumers.
Great! Now get out there and show your audience how much you love them by using Momento for rewarding them by sticking by your side!