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

Posted on August 30, 2021September 10, 2021 by Claire Kelly

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 August 10, 2021June 19, 2024 by Claire Kelly

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.