The Ultimate Guide to Experiential Marketing

No longer can businesses rely only on adverts. Consumers want more. They want memorable experiences. Viral moments. Commercials just don’t cut the mustard anymore. Indeed, with ad blocks now ubiquitous, many people go days or even weeks without ever seeing an ad. That’s led to the rise of experiential marketing.

After all, the goal of marketing is to be unforgettable.

To educate, excite, inform, and engage consumers – so that next time they need something to buy, it’s your product that springs to mind. Or even better, you trigger an instant desire for the product or service.

That all sounds expensive. But trust us – it’s got one of the best ROIs in all marketing.

We’re here to guide you through the basics of experiential marketing. Are you planning your next big company event? Do you have a product you need to launch? We’ll discuss how you can transform your events into the biggest marketing date in the company calendar.

Let’s get started!

What is the experiential marketing definition?

Experiential [ex·pe·ri·en·tial]: relating to, derived from, or providing an experience.

While in recent years – with the onset of social media – companies can market to consumers more easily than ever. And yet, they’ve found themselves lost in the white noise. With so many online ads buzzing around, consumers blank them all out – or they just block them.

Nothing makes a lasting impression anymore.

The solution was to go offline: back to the real world. Here, consumers are engaged in real-life interactions with a product or service. They can poke, prod, pry, and play – it’s all about them experiencing the product.

Experience unites us all.

These events bring brands to life. But don’t think of them as just another event. They’re experience-led. That makes an experiential marketing campaign a bespoke event. Not off-the-peg but tailored and unique.

Through an experiential marketing agency, you can harness public interaction to boost your brand. You’ll both spread your message through word of mouth, but also, you’ll capture some fantastic, genuine clips you can share on social media. It’s a win-win opportunity.

Struggling to visualize how an experiential marketing event works? Experiential marketing can differ wildly. They’re generally based in a physical setting. But increasingly, they also have a virtual component – driving the hype and buzz into cyberspace.

Hashtags and shares are the media by which experiential marketing events ripple into the wider world. But what kind of events generate buzz in the first place:

• Business events, festivals, awards
• Samplings or demos
• Stalls or demonstrations at a trade show
• Unique, imaginative experiences
• Retreats
• Brand loyalty activities that create a social good

Any ideas sparking yet?

Here are a few mind-blowing experiential marketing examples:

1. Airbnb and “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”

To celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the legendary tv show the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” the homeowners teamed up to open the famous mansion to the public for only $30 per night.

Exclusive. Sure. Experiential. Most definitely. The story generated extensive coverage for Airbnb – it also shaped their public image.

1. Google Impact Challenge

In 2015, Google put aside 5.5 million dollars for ten non-profits throughout the San Francisco Bay area. But Google wanted locals to have a say.

Around the Bay area, Google set up interactive posters as voting booths. Locals simply clicked on the non-profit they felt was most important. Then, once the votes were tallied, Google split the money based on the number of votes.

Social responsibility can be at the heart of experiential marketing.

1. Coca-Cola: Small World Machines

Coca-Cola isn’t synonymous with world peace. Yet, in 2013, they set up two “small world machines” in shopping malls in Pakistan and India. The machines were linked, and participants could see the other person. The goal was to work together and solve a cooperative task.

The message: peace is possible.

The campaign was a huge success. But it was also a risk. Taking overtly political messages is in vogue at the moment. However, if you pick a controversial topic, you risk alienating part of your customer base. Still, when it works, it works.

Here are the biggest takeaways from this guide:

1. Experiential marketing is defined as an interactive, engaging event in which customers take part.
2. There’s no single way to do experiential marketing – all it takes is an original idea.
3. Experiential marketing creates a broader impact through original customer social media posts.
4. You can truly push the boundaries with an experiential marketing campaign. Just remember to always relate your campaign to the product.
5. Customers prefer to interact with a product before they buy it. That’s why all experiential marketing campaigns should be engaging, educational, and interactive.

That’s it—your complete guide to experiential marketing. If you’ve got a product to sell, market, or hype up – try experiential marketing. We’ve got extensive experience transforming marketing campaigns into events customers never forget.

Put your brand on the map.  Be unforgettable.

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