What is experiential marketing (XM)? Simply put, it is a strategy for building customer loyalty and brand awareness by curating custom experiences that elicit an emotional response, create memories and influence buying behaviour.
When we think about experiential marketing, the first thing that comes to mind are the brand activations at events like SXSW, Coachella and Burning Man where brands invest significant dollars in creating experiences. You might also think of things like the splashy activations that Netflix produced to promote cult series like Squid Game.
It may sound complicated and expensive to even consider experiential marketing, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be as simple as bringing your audience together for a curated activity where they have some fun and get to know you and your brand better. We all know people are more likely to buy from or work with someone they know, like and trust. Experiential marketing is a great way to do that. In 2023 Agency EA, reported that industry professionals ranked experiential events as the most effective marketing tactic at a whopping (38.34 per cent). This is followed by digital advertising at (19.69 per cent), content marketing (12.44 per cent), partnerships/sponsorships (9.33 per cent), and traditional advertising (7.25 per cent).
We are inundated with data all day, every day and it’s sometimes overwhelming. How do you stand out from the crowd? How do you capture attention? How do you make a more tangible and lasting impression?
As event professionals we need to be thinking more strategically about how we are curating the experience of our events to drive engagement and ensure both ROI and ROX (return on experience) for everyone. What can we do to entice our audience, sponsors, partners and stakeholders to:
- show up
- engage more fully
- strengthen their relationships
Increasing relationship value through experiential marketing is not just for B2B or B2C interactions. It’s also incredibly valuable for engaging more effectively with internal teams and within member organizations.
XM can take many forms such as pop-ups, tradeshow booth design, brand activations, workshops, seminars, and one-off events. It isn’t just for selling tangible products, it’s also about shaping the perception of a brand. A favourite example is when we helped an international law firm maintain connection with their clients by hosting a series of hands-on virtual workshops. Clients and lawyers were seated at virtual tables together and instructed on how to build something (a seasonal floral or gourmet charcuterie board) using materials that had been shipped to their homes. There was laughter, learning, camaraderie and maybe some wine involved. This shared experience not only deepened the relationships between the lawyers and their clients, but it also demonstrated that the firm saw its clients as people, not just a bottom line. It was very effective.
The key is that the experience you curate has to both fit the audience and be authentic to your organization. For example, ILEA Canada was exhibiting at an industry tradeshow and wanted a fun and memorable way to engage the attendees and other exhibitors. The audience was primarily made up of event professionals of all stripes, so we created a fun and interactive photo op where attendees could share their “Event Superpower”. We had them don a purple cape and mask (ILEA brand colours), and pose in front of a greenscreen with a wind machine blowing. These event superheroes were then photographed holding a sign where they had written their superpower. Their finished photo had them flying across a blue sky with the statement “My Event Superpower is…”. The activation was very popular, it gave ILEA Canada an opportunity to connect with existing and potential members and demonstrated that the association celebrated all event superpowers, regardless of what aspect of the industry they served. Simple execution, creative storytelling, interactive engagement and memorable relationship building equaled a great return on investment and an equally positive return on experience.
Get creative and explore opportunities to add experiential marketing to your marketing mix – tell your stories in new and engaging ways and make deeper connections.
Kimberly Beaune, CSEP is Owner and Event Storyteller at Creative Twist Inc. a full service design and experiential agency. What stories can she help you tell?
