As a not-for-profit festival and event producer, I’m constantly looking for ways to help my events become financially sustainable. After years of producing events, I’ve realized that there’s a revenue stream that often gets overlooked by event organizers: experiential marketing or XM. Experiential marketing can help your bottom line while creating incredible experiences for attendees.
What’s the Difference Between Sponsorship and XM?
Traditional event sponsorship is a true partnership with comprehensive marketing benefits for the sponsor including pre-promotion, PR inclusion, social media, and naming rights. Examples of these sponsors include title sponsors, presenting sponsors, stage sponsors and food and beverage sponsors.
Experiential marketing is less about a partnership and more about brands interacting directly with your audience through hands-on activities, product samples, and interactive experiences onsite at your event. These companies are less concerned with pre-promotion and logo benefits and more focused on creating positive brand awareness and recall with visitors of your event.
The beauty? XM companies mostly just want access to your audience, and they’re willing to pay for that privilege.
Here are five ways that XM activations can enhance your event:
1. Revenue: Period. By selling onsite space to XM brands for their activations, you create a direct revenue stream for your event. These brands pay you for the opportunity to engage with your audience, which helps your event’s financial sustainability while giving attendees more activities and experiences – a true win-win.
2. Entertainment and Activities: XM activations often have games, giveaways, samples, contests etc. The more things people can do at your event, the longer they stay and the greater your economic impact. Some even come with mascots and entertainment which could save your bottom line on programming costs.
3. Branded Photo Opportunities: Perfect for partners who don’t have physical products to hand out. Help brands create Insta-worthy installations at your festival that increase brand awareness while giving attendees more things to do and better photo ops and selfie spots.
4. Fulfill Attendee Needs: Think about what your audience needs onsite: water during hot days, charging stations for phones, snacks while people wait in line. Reach out to brands that align with your needs to help enhance the visitor experience. Brands love to solve problems because it creates positive associations with their products.
5. Infrastructure: This benefit is more unique, but some XM activations can provide essential infrastructure for your event. I’ve had partners bring branded DJ booths, picnic tables, lounge spaces, and even stages – all items we needed in our budget anyway. When the stars align and these partners already have elements that fit your event needs, it’s like getting free infrastructure while they get branded exposure.
Now that I’ve convinced you XM is a great revenue and programming opportunity for your next event, how do you actually secure them?
Make sure you have great data! Agencies need to see that your attendees match up with their clients’ target audiences. Collect survey data from as many attendees at your next event as possible if you’re not already doing so. You don’t have to spend much money on it, paper surveys are just as good. There are also many free QR code generators that you can use to go to a free Google Form. It doesn’t matter how you get the data, just ensure that you are. It will be the number one thing agencies and brands ask you for when you connect with them.
How to get started and where to find these agencies:
1. Research Local Agencies: Make a list of XM, PR, and marketing agencies in your area. Find real contact names rather than generic emails.
2. Create a Compelling Pitch Deck: Include demographics, attendance figures, and compelling visuals. Keep it concise but impactful.
3. Request Discovery Sessions: Let agencies share their client objectives instead of guessing what they need.
4. Stay Organized and Persistent: Maintain detailed contact lists and follow up consistently. A “no” can be as valuable as a “yes” because you understand their reasoning.
The Bottom Line
Experiential marketing activations create win-win situations where brands get meaningful audience engagement, attendees get enhanced experiences, and you generate additional revenue streams to make your event financially sustainable.
The most successful activations focus on surprise and delight moments that enhance rather than distract from the core event experience. Start small, track everything, and remember that brands are looking for authentic ways to connect with your audience.
Victoria Mahoney is director of partnerships and marketing at Harmony Marketing and co-producer of the Toronto Waterfront Festival & Sugar Shack TO.
