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Category: Tips

How to Integrate Experiential Marketing in Your Omnichannel Strategy

Posted on by Claire Kelly

Experiential Marketing

In today’s fast-moving world, you need a multi-dimensional marketing strategy that can engage the tastes of modern consumers. While traditional media marketing still has its functions, it pays to stay on the cutting edge when developing a new campaign. Taking the time to invest in a proper experiential marketing strategy can yield an excellent return on investment, and help boost your brand’s name recognition and organic growth.

What is Experiential Marketing?

Experiential marketing is a marketing strategy method that involves direct communication and interaction with potential consumers, allowing them to engage with your brand’s product or service first-hand. This creates the opportunity for potential customers to form a personal connection with your brand, and foster a positive association through the experience you have designed. Having an experiential marketing strategy is vital to engage younger demographics, where consumers are far more likely to ignore traditional advertising methods. 

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But there isn’t just one style of campaign when it comes to experiential marketing. The composition of your particular experiential marketing strategy will help differentiate your brand from your competitors. Make sure to carefully choose what type you move forward with, and which style will work best for your unique brand. 

How do you use Experiential Marketing in a campaign?

Developing your experiential marketing strategy starts with selecting what sort of experience you want to give consumers. The goal is to create a 3-dimensional engagement that allows potential customers to actively participate, as opposed to the 2-D interaction involved in a traditional piece of media marketing.

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Here are three different types of Experiential Marketing strategies:

Brand Booth

Setting up a brand booth is a great way to show potential consumers who your brand is, and the benefits you offer. Choosing a high-traffic event like a convention, fair, or any other populated gathering, allows you to get a higher level of experiential activations. Once you have your location selected, make sure to design an experience that lets people see the unique benefits associated with choosing your brand over others in your industry. It’s also vital to select proper brand ambassadors to run your brand booth. Brand ambassadors are the staff members you have chosen to show your product or service. They will be wearing your logo, talking about your products, and in essence, representing your brand. Make sure they are friendly, knowledgeable, and aesthetically in-line with how you wish to present your brand to potential consumers. 

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Mobile Tours 

Mobile tours combine the advantages of a brand booth with the addition of serving as essentially a moving billboard. A mobile tour involves having a branded vehicle travel through areas populated by your key demographic, making stops in hand-picked areas to engage with consumers.

An essential component of this experiential market strategy is to make sure you do significant research into where your key demographic resides. You want your brand vehicle to be moving through population zones where you have the highest chance of being seen by potential consumers. The same goes for each stop in the tour; though not as focused as when using a brand booth, each stop should be somewhere guaranteed to produce valuable activations and connections. 

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Virtual Showcase 

If you design it properly, a virtual showcase can achieve the same level of customer engagement as an in-person event. If your product or service exists in the digital space, this is all the easier. Allowing a consumer to utilize a free version of the product, with possible guidance by an experienced ambassador, can achieve similar emotional connections to a brand booth or mobile tour. While this isn’t as efficient as a physical event, many of the same principles that work with any other experiential marketing strategy still apply.

Can I integrate my digital marketing strategies into these methods?

Digital and experiential marketing strategies can be successfully integrated to boost the effectiveness of any of these methods. Any type of experiential marketing strategy can benefit in the visibility added when you involve influencers relevant to your industry. For example: If you are an exercise related brand, find a fitness influencer on instagram to become involved in promoting your virtual showcase or mobile tour, or even participate directly in your brand booth. 

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You also want to make sure to digitally telegraph the location of your brand booth, any stops in your tour, or the release date of a virtual showcase, depending on which method you choose. Creating searchable events on social media increases the odds that those who show up will be directly interested in your service or product, and reduce the amount of time wasted on participants who are less likely to connect with your brand.

Who does Experiential Marketing work best for?

Experiential marketing works best for brand’s whose product or service benefits from hands-on use, and the guidance of a brand ambassador. So, for example, if you have a physical product like a food or beverage, your brand would benefit greatly from utilizing an experiential marketing method. Brand ambassadors could pass out small samples, and give those trying your product a colorful presentation about what ingredients your brand uses, and where they’re sourced.

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Experiential marketing strategies are also advantageous for those who want to make lasting activations. Experiential marketing activations can form longer lasting emotional bonds between the consumer and your brand. But what exactly are these activations?

What is Experiential Marketing Anyway?

Experiential marketing activations are characterized by the level of brand recognition you receive from your experiential marketing strategy. So for every person that interacts with the brand experience you have designed, an activation would represent someone who connected personally with that experience. The more of these activations, the higher chance of conversion, and the greater increase in long term brand awareness and adoption.

Why experiential marketing works

The efficacy of traditional marketing has declined with younger generations for some time now. Millennials and Gen Z are willing to pay extra money just to avoid watching advertisements, and streaming companies have built revenue streams entirely on the elimination of traditional ads. That’s the reason many marketing companies are beginning to research how direct interaction connects with these demographics, and they’re seeing a much higher rate of success.

When a consumer gets to interact with a brand and product directly, a more genuine connection can be formed. Traditional marketing can be a little bloodless: the modern customer is aware that an ad is there simply to get you to buy. When someone interacts with a real person who is offering not only a free experience, but is available to answer any questions they may have, it humanizes your brand. Because at the end of the day, brands are made up of real people; experiential marketing makes it easier for the consumer to understand that, and connect with those people on a genuine level. 

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Street Marketing: How to Speak Directly to the Customers and Win Them Over

Posted on by Claire Kelly

Experiential Marketing

Times are changing fast, and your marketing strategies need to change with them. Consumers aren’t won over by glittery commercials or sultry radio ads.They understand how products work, and what they want from a brand. 

Modern consumers have access to a wealth of information, and aren’t going to fall for cheap ploys. You need to speak to them directly, show them respect, and win them over with proven marketing tactics. 

That’s why it’s time to try something new. When traditional marketing fails, the world of guerrilla marketing usually has an answer. In this case, that answer is: Street Marketing  

What is Street Marketing?

Street marketing is an alternative way to market the products or services your business is offering. With print media dying and television ad spots stretching budgetary limits, sometimes it’s best to think outside of the box. So does this mean delving into the digital world of social media marketing? Not exactly. 

While digital and social media marketing is incredibly useful, it is also incredibly oversaturated. Today’s consumers are used to seeing ads line the sides of their facebook and instagram, and have learned to tune them out. 

Street Marketing is exactly that: marketing on the street. No, not big billboards or ads on the side of buses. Street marketing involves fliers, posters and coupons, handed directly to the consumer. This should be done by someone knowledgeable about the business, and the reason for that is simple.

Speaking directly to the customer

Don’t hire just anyone to hand out a flyer or coupon. Have someone who can engage customers on their level, and answer questions they have about the product or service. This is the advantage of street marketing. 

With street marketing you have the opportunity for clear and instant feedback. Without even trying a product, customers can let you know what they think about certain aspects. Two major aspects they could give feedback on is price and appearance.

Price

With a flyer or coupon, you are showing the price of the product or service to the customer. Make sure to closely study their reaction. Do they laugh at the idea of paying that much? Do they question why the price is so low? Without lowering confidence in what you are selling, try to gauge where your price falls. From here, you can make adjustments.

It can be difficult to place a value on certain products or services without speaking to customers first. In this way, you get a feel for what the people think, and what their budgets can account for. Overpricing a product can doom it to sit on shelves, while underpricing can cause irreparable damage to your bottom line. It’s important to take the time, use the feedback, and use street marketing to find out what works best.

Appearance 

Another aspect you can receive criticism on is the appearance of the product, or even the flyer. Does the potential customer find the flyer visually appealing? Do they look at the flyer with confusion, or disgust? Again, monitoring their reaction during the entirety of the interaction is vital.

Now, what about the product? Ask a couple of questions if they have the time. Do you enjoy the look of the product? Does this look like something you would spend money on? What do you dislike? All of these can help influence future design decisions.

Time to start

There isn’t much left to do but begin the strategy for your street marketing campaign. Decide what form of physical handout you will have, what will go on it, and who will handle the direct customer interaction. Not only is this method incredibly cost effective, but it has been proven to be very efficient. Get the feedback you want now, and optimize your business’s output ability today!

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Experiential Events vs Brand Events: Pick the Most Effective Street Strategy

Posted on by Claire Kelly

Experiential Marketing

Picking an effective street marketing strategy for stands, food trucks, or other street-based businesses can be intimidating. How do you utilize your foot traffic, brand, and social presence to the max?

This is exactly why more companies are utilizing experiential marketing strategies. Experiential marketing means fostering a positive customer experience and increasing customer retention. Creating a memorable experience with the help of experiential events can increase your customer retention instantly and generate more buzz than a more traditional marketing strategy.

What is an Experiential Event?

Experiential events are exactly what they sound like: an experience! They are a way to engage consumers with your brand through an effortless and entertaining brand experience. Typically, the more subconscious and effortless these experiences are, the more effective. 

Event marketing companies focus their resources on providing clients an event that represents their brand in a way that gets their consumers excited. That means no more boring seminars and slideshow presentations – your brand can be represented in an entertaining way no matter what industry!

Why are Experiential Events Effective?  

Experiential events force consumers to associate your brand with an event. This strategic marketing tool can be extremely effective because they immerse your consumers in your brand without making them feel lost or suffocated in branding, like they might in a brand event. 

From workshops and masterclasses which give hands-on experiences to consumers, to simple pop-ups like sidewalk food stands, experiential events are the way to give your consumers an opportunity to engage with your brand without feeling forced into it. 

What is a Brand Event? 

Brand events are a way to generate awareness about your brand (and, as it were, brand). Typically, these events have no theme aside from the brand and are overloaded with brand attire, decorations, memorabilia, merchandise, and freebies. 

Everything about a brand event revolves around the brand, often making them less memorable – and less effective for customer retention than an experiential event.

Why are Brand Events Less Effective? 

Brand events are less effective than experiential events because they focus on the small scale rather than the larger picture. In brand events, marketing teams will center the event around the brand and not the customer, while an experiential event is structured the other way around.

The Differences Between Experiential Events vs Brand Events 

There are many key differences between experiential events vs brand events, but the most important difference is what your customers will get out of your event.

An Experience Versus an Event 

Experiential events give a full experience of your brand, whereas brand events only offer a quick glimpse of your brand. Although both events aim to form brand awareness, the overall outlook for these two types of events is different because of the way marketing companies approach them.  

Experiential marketing companies view their events as a long-term project, where the end goal is to obtain higher customer retention and brand recognition.

Crafting a memorable and lasting experience that creates returning customers is the point of experiential marketing. Experiential marketing teams – often outsourced – take time to collaborate with your brand to bring your unique vision to life and foster a better consumer-business relationship.

Brand events typically last for a single day, whereas an experiential event can last however long it needs to!

Experiential Events are More Impactful 

Successful brands have a lasting impact on their consumers. When you use experiential event marketing, you are much more likely to make a lasting impression on your consumers because you are creating a memorable experience. 

Science tells us that the more impactful an event is, the longer it stays with us. Spending the time to create a truly impactful event – like a pop-up axe throwing stand, a beer tasting, or a sponsored rodeo – can lead to loyal customers for years, if not decades.

Brand Events Have Freebies 

While offering free merch with your brand and logo on it certainly won’t hurt anything, it’s important to note that this is one of the least effective marketing strategies in terms of ROI. 

Unless your freebies encourage consumers to give you more business, then they can be a huge waste of money.  

Experiential Events Are Typically More Memorable 

Making your event memorable is the only way to build brand recognition which is one of the many reasons why experiential events are typically better than brand events. Experiential events create a lasting, memorable experience for consumers that they can forever associate with your brand!

Strategic Brand Representation with an Experiential Event.

Experiential marketing is advantageous to any company looking to promote its brand.  Experiential events eliminate the anxiety of deciding how you will be represented at a brand event by instead creating a consumer experience that they forever associate with your brand! That means no more deciding on small things like freebie bracelet colors or background decorations nobody is going to appreciate. All lasting business relies on word of mouth – and an unforgettable experience with your brand will have your customers talking about you for years to come.

In Short

Giving customers a clear vision of your brand’s mission is important, especially when it comes to building brand awareness. Many people are turning to experiential events to create lasting, impactful experiences that their consumers will never forget! 

The purpose of experiential events is to reflect your brand through a memorable experience! With companies like Food Truck Promotions, key elements of your brand will be utilized to create an unforgettable brand experience. 

Through experiential event marketing, you create a unique experience that empowers the consumer while bringing your brand to the next level.  

 

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The Pros and Cons of Experiential Marketing

Posted on by Claire Kelly

Experiential Marketing

An understanding of the pros and cons of experiential marketing can shape your company’s success when execution time comes around. 

Let’s start with the good news: experiential marketing has gained popularity for its success when properly executed. Positioned correctly, the benefits of using an experiential marketing strategy can produce monumental returns on investment (ROI). There are several pros and cons of experiential marketing and in understanding these, your business can prepare to gain the maximum ROI.

Digital & Experiential Marketing – What’s the Difference?

Ever-changing and evolving, the marketing industry has delivered its fair share of buzzwords. The latest – experiential marketing. We’ve heard it, but what is it?

A close relative to digital marketing, experiential marketing is a niche approach to enhance a company’s success. While nearly all companies can benefit from a scaled digital marketing plan, not all companies are in a position to take on an experiential approach. Like any marketing tactic, experiential marketing comes with both valuable pros and undeniable cons that can shape your understanding in implementation.

 

Pros of Experiential Marketing 

#1 You get to keep it real. Your audience loves real. 

Experiential marketing allows your target audience the unique ability to dive in and directly interact. The audience gets an actual experience, hence the name. In using an experience-focused tactic, your audience interacts with the advertisement directly as opposed to traditional marketing where your audience only views it. This creates a connection in the minds of your audience, one often referred to as “brand recognition.” 

Utilizing more senses than just sight creates a lasting impact on your target audience. Adding an audio aspect pulls in another sense and in the process, positive emotions are created in the viewer’s mind. In time those positive emotions will directly connect to the brand and vwa-lah, a new mental connection to your brand is created.

#2 Genuine Connection 

In practicing experiential marketing, brands get the unique opportunity to directly interact with their audience. A look behind the curtain can establish a connection that many traditional marketing tactics cannot.

A tangible and successful example of this tactic in action was seen at SXSW by Anheuser Busch. They created a new experience that used virtual reality to grant viewers a tour through their brewery. The 4-D immersive experience gave their audience a chance to connect to the brand behind the scenes and offered an unforgettable look into a rarely seen corner of the beer conglomerate.

#3 Smarter Spend 

By investing in experiential marketing, when done right, you can gain the maximum return on investment that greatly outweighs the money spent. Using tactics like press-covered events that require physical participation, the return on investment raises and these emotionally-backed experiences lead to increases in conversion and an overall lifetime customer value.

#4 Good Experiences Travel Fast

Word of mouth referrals are not a new concept, we have been portraying ourselves and our businesses in the most positive light possible for exactly that. However, in the world of technology and social media that we live in today, that good news travels even faster. 

Giving your customers a notably great experience that is memorable and notable can grow your social media following and an audience that raves about the products you provide.

#5 Go Deep 

Experiential marketing gives your company a chance to know your audience on a deeper level. Much like traditional digital marketing, data-driven approaches and deep knowledge of your target audience is the recipe for high returns on investments. Taking the time to get to know your audience on an emotional level only adds to this opportunity. 

A poignant example of this was seen in Google’s “Impact Challenge” in San Francisco. Google was awarded over $5 million dollars to donate to 10 non-profits committed to bettering the San Francisco community. What Google did, broke the mold and pulled their audience in on an emotional level. Google created interactive digital posters throughout the city that served as a voting booth of sorts where locals could choose which non-profits they wanted to see impacted by Google’s funds. The concept of shared ownership and mutual engagement, even if not directly selling the product, creates a permanent and powerful relationship between your audience and your brand.

Potential Cons of Your Experiential Marketing Approach 

As with any marketing strategy, cons are inevitable. However, knowing those cons can put you and your company ahead of the game.

#1 Not living up to the hype

If there is a disconnect between your experiential marketing tactics and your audience, typically expectations were not met because they were not properly managed. To run a successful experiential marketing campaign, expectation management has to be at the forefront of strategy or you run the risk of a new negative association between your audience and the brand itself. It is crucial to have a clear understanding of your capabilities in regards to budget, timeframe and available support.

#2 ROWhy? 

As with any unique strategy, the risk is inevitably involved. Return on investment is critical when your company invests in marketing and the reality is, measuring the ROI for an experiential campaign is much more difficult to measure than traditional methods. Key performance indicators of experiential marketing look a little bit different. 

For example, long term loyalty or positive brand association cant properly be measured. What you are really gaining in the investment of an experiential campaign is insight. Any marketer knows the more audience insight you have the better return on investment can truly be just as valuable as return on insight. Appropriate investment into experiential marketing, that doesnt send your relied upon ROI plummeting, is the balance your company must find as you dip your toes into the experiential marketing pond.

Using Experiential Marketing Effectively Allows You to Gram the Maximum ROI

It’s clear that if you get it right, experiential marketing’s pros far outweigh the cons. Experiential marketing gives your brand the coveted opportunity to get in front of fresh new audiences, establish a deeper brand connection, long-term loyalty, audience loyalty, and positive correlations that carry your brand successfully through social media channels. A clear knowledge of the pros and cons of experiential marketing will set your brand up for long-term success. Understanding the new generation of key performance indicators allows you to understand how to gain the maximum ROI. 

Experiential Marketing Experts

So what are you waiting for? Contact us today to learn more and get your experiential marketing campaign started.

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Offline Marketing Ideas That Are Innovative and Original

Posted on by Claire Kelly

Experiential Marketing

Brands that succeed do so because they implement a multi-channel marketing strategy. What does that mean? They use a combination of online and offline marketing ideas. But amid the height of the pandemic, digital marketing supplanted in-person events to sustain reach with consumers staying indoors. For a time, it almost appeared offline marketing would become obsolete. 

Yet as the world turns, so does the reversal of fortune for live events. Luckily, 2021 marked the rebirth and return of in-person activations. Let’s look at offline marketing ideas that are imaginative and guaranteed to WOW audiences.

What Is Offline Marketing?

Offline marketing is any form of marketing that occurs outside of the Internet. While that’s a broad definition, it distinguishes a vast landscape between marketing on the web and marketing in the real world (like billboards and trade shows). But just because it’s the 21st century doesn’t mean the world is wholly connected online. According to the FCC, 19 million Americans still lack access to broadband services. That’s 6% of the U.S. population, and your brand shouldn’t ignore them. This statistic proves how and why offline marketing is still a crucial component of the modern world— even in the Digital Age. But not all offline marketing ideas are created equal. They come in many forms. Some offer higher rates of engagement, while others help you segment your target audience. Regardless, it’s worth exploring the options at your disposal to decide which ones are right for you.

1. Community Engagement

Consumers want companies to show their support for causes they believe in. Modern brands face far more pressure to be a force for good in their local communities and the wider world. Community engagement— or cause marketing— allows businesses to create experiential marketing campaigns aligned with consumers’ consciousness around pressing issues impacting society. Younger generations especially prefer supporting brands that are ethical and socially responsible. There are many ways you can take offline marketing ideas like community engagement and make them a reflection of your values. Whether it’s launching a social media campaign raising awareness or hosting an in-person fundraiser, your brand can project compassion while increasing its reach. 

In 2019, Quaker Chewy partnered with AdoptAClassroom.org to get kids in NYC ready for the new school year. With a branded food truck— and star power provided by Neil Patrick Harris— Quaker Chewy gave away over 500 assorted boxes of Quaker Chewy Bars. Plus, Quaker Chewy donated $1 to AdoptAClassroom.org for every box purchased nationwide as an additional element to its community engagement.

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2. Turning Influencers Into Brand Ambassadors

Influencer marketing centers around partnerships with social media personalities who have loyal followers. It’s become an increasingly important strategy, with 93% of brands currently using some form of influencer marketing. However, these relationships should be more than just product placements and endorsements. Influencers who team up with you should be brand ambassadors. Essentially, they should be advocates for your business, promoting its value, why they choose you, and— in turn— why their fans should also.  

The best example of a successful brand/influencer partnership is one of the oldest. When the country’s most famous NCAA basketball player turned pro in 1984, he teamed up with a scrappy athletic brand to launch his own sneaker. Nearly 40 years later, that company— Nike— is now one of the world’s most valuable brands. As for the athlete? Michael Jordan became a global cultural icon (and the partnership earned him an estimated $1.3 billion— and counting). 

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3. Surprise Consumers With Guerrilla Marketing

While challenging to execute, guerrilla marketing can reap huge returns. The challenge comes not from cost (it’s one of the most cost-effective offline marketing ideas) but because it’s difficult to predict its results. What does it take to ensure success? It takes brainstorming original ideas, having a strategy that matches your customers’ values, and the energy to execute with little room for failure. Why? Because the best guerrilla marketing activations are the ones that go off without a hitch. 

With its roots tracing back to the 1980s, guerilla-based tactics created a shift from traditional print, television, and radio marketing. Today, there are four sub-categories, and each is markedly different depending on your needs:

  • Indoor guerrilla marketing takes place inside public areas like retail stores, hotel lobbies, and museums.  
  • Ambush guerrilla marketing happens without prior permission at large-scale events (like festivals, concerts, and sporting events). 
  • Experiential guerrilla marketing includes pop-up stores and mobile showrooms to create an immersive experience. 
  • Street guerrilla marketing takes advantage of outdoor public spaces and inserts a brand into an existing atmosphere. 

4. Work With the Media

One of the most effective offline marketing ideas to promote your brand is to leverage media relationships. Whether it’s a company announcement or product release, you can receive free exposure through earned media. But effective doesn’t also mean easy. Once you open the door to reporters to cover your business, you’re under a microscope. It’s all about the optics. So, attention to detail is crucial to put your brand in the best possible light. 

While press releases are the general method for reaching journalists, a media event or press conference attracts more coverage for many reasons— from the in-person action to the vibrancy of speakers and attendees. Live events are also an efficient way of getting out your brand’s news or message at once. Organizing and executive a successful media event requires proper planning, but there are bulletproof tips you can follow that’ll help you capture the right attention for your brand. 

5. The Value of Cross-Promotions

You’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase, “you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.” In a nutshell, that’s cross-promotion, and they’re often what offline marketing ideas are built on because they build rapport. Moreover, cross-promotion means you can lean on the reach and visibility of another brand to strengthen yours. 

When Adidas released their Original P.O.D. sneakers, they engaged in cross-promotion with award-winning chef and author Eddie Huang, who created one of the line’s designs. Ahead of its official launch, Adidas stationed a branded food truck in the heart of Times Square that fed hungry customers bao buns from Huang’s legendary Baohaus. Using Adidas’ name recognition and Huang’s celebrity, over 500 pairs of sneakers were sold in a matter of hours.   

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Engage Your Customers With Creative Offline Marketing Ideas

Great offline marketing ideas take energy and commitment. They also take time to plan and execute. But, when your brand is consistent, sticks to its goals, and stays ahead of the consumer guessing game, it can drive success. Offline marketing offers a personal way for your brand to engage, delight, and differentiate itself. So, get out your thinking caps, get started, and see how offline marketing can take your business to new— and exciting— heights.

Food Truck Promotions

FTP specializes in offline marketing. Read more about what we do and contact us today to learn more & get started!

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