Experiential Marketing Is Imperative In The Modern Marketing Mix

by Sujain Thomas, Guest Contributor

In the dawn of experiential marketing, the tactics were simple. In fact, some of the consumer packaged goods companies used free samples to attract new customer groups. Right now, pivoting an entire marketing endeavor on freebies seems dangerous and quite ridiculous. People will think twice before considering a similar distribution of samples and free goodies engagement marketing. Experiential marketing, right now, relies heavily on technology. There is no way a marketing event can succeed without leveraging the latest tech.​

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What is experiential marketing and why do you need it?

It was only about fifteen years ago that the digitization of experiential marketing began. Right now, it is unimaginable to think of a campaign that does not involve digital promotions and social media mentions. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the three main pillars of any high-tech activation campaign. Pop-up shops, interactive displays, and virtual reality kiosks have little to no impact without the intervention of social media and its entourage. Some of the most memorable experiential campaigns involved names like Oreo, IKEA, Volkswagen, and Toyota. These brands not only mobilized millions of followers all across the world, but they managed to collect data from each of them in real-time to make a mark.

How does experiential marketing attract customers?
That is the beauty of experiential marketing. It allows you to interact with an audience directly and it enables you to record their responses about the event, your products and the brand in real-time. It gives you enough actionable data to spearhead necessary changes and to create something new for the consumers. Experiential marketing takes away the chance to brag about your products and services. It no longer means paying for airtime for TVCs and no more booking spaces for newspaper ads. Experiential marketing is more covert, sophisticated and smart than that.

Why does event marketing work when traditional forms don’t?
Consumers have become smart. They dislike blatant promotions of brands and their products. They install ad-blockers to watch music videos and their favorite TV shows without interruption. They prefer Netflix and Amazon Prime to regular TV because the former options offer binge-watching without commercial breaks. Consumers are not just avoiding ads. They are also paying to avoid ads in all forms. Whether it is a simple Android application or subscription to a streaming platform, all 21st-century consumers want their experience to be personal, unique and ad-free. It is indeed difficult to please a smart new-age customer with old formats of marketing. Visit the Roots3 Productions experiential marketing agency for more details on the different ways you can employ marketing strategies to reach new customers.

Event-based marketing has the power to capture the human essence necessary to form real bonds. Emotional connections with the consumers are imperative for any brand to survive the market competition right now. Since your audience is always attending concerts, trade shows, art exhibits, and sports events, it is easier to approach them there and build a connection of trust. Approaching an audience within their comfort zone gives you the chance to become more visible on their radar. Since they are not coming to you, but you are going to them, your brand is at liberty to offer them with a new experience, and they are always less likely to decline.

Why should you think about event marketing this year?
87% of your consumers believe that a brand should act with integrity at all times. Further studies show that consumers value authenticity more than product quality and utility. The popularity of a product still contributes to a brand's success, but some other factors including consumer interactions, customer relations, and brand trustworthiness have come into the big picture. More customers are interested in educational experiences that add value to their purchasing journey. They are no longer happy with free products and discount coupons. Customers have finally evolved, and they want to experience that sellers personalize for them. Our research shows that when a company plans an experiential marketing campaign correctly, they gain over 74% more engagement and positive reviews than those who still rely on the old marketing means.

Why aren’t more brands doing experiential marketing?
The only caveat of experiential marketing is the cost involved. Unlike digital marketing, PPC and social media marketing, experiential marketing budgets are quite steep. New brands are still struggling to gather the resources necessary to kick-start their event marketing campaigns. Monitoring the metrics, gathering consumer data and arranging the events can cost between a few thousand dollars to millions depending on the scale of the events and the reach of the brands. You can pioneer a brand awareness campaign with tour trucks and pop-up shops that will be will in your budget, or you can think about creating your own version of Tomorrowland, the liberty remains yours. It will take some time for the new companies to hop on board due to the expenses involved, but we are gradually seeing more companies allot the lion’s share of their marketing mix to experiential marketing.
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Author bio:

Sujain Thomas is a data expert. She has been working with complex database architecture and big data analytics for almost eight years now. She has been helping many leading corporations optimize their customer service and product introductions as per big data analysis and predictive analysis.

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