You are at a party and you try to engage with a ‘person’ who is quite frankly dull. This person will not look you in the eyes or tell you anything out of interest. How likely is it you will remember this person and walk away satisfied with your interaction?
People want to connect with each other. The same applies to brands. You would most likely not purchase or recommend a ‘faceless brand’, a brand who will not give you anything to identify it with or a experience for you to talk about.
A ‘faceless brand’ is boring.
Do you want to be seen as a positive brand. A brand that is approachable and trustworthy?
Face to face communication is the ideal way to accomplish this.
A survey by Meeting Professionals International (MPI) states that 40 percent of prospects converted to new customers through face-to-face meetings and 28 percent of current business would be lost without face-to-face meetings.
Whilst this is in business contest, it does give us some key insights.
The benefits of real conversation vs online
With the influence and popularity of social media and online conversations marketing has increasingly become harder. Consumers can easily do research into a product or a company and they are also more aware of advertising, which leads them to ignoring them. This might leave you thinking face to face marketing is retiring…
Besides not wanting to be seen as a ‘faceless brand’, this is another reason why face to face communication and creativity is now more important than ever and this is where experiential marketing comes into play.
Let’s look into exactly why face to face communication and experiential is the key for successful brand marketing.
Stronger relationships
The value of face to face communication is incredible. It is the most effective way to build a strong relationship and engage with consumers. This is hard to attain through social media and technology. Virtual communication is more challenging and a lot of it will go unnoticed in a consumers busy everyday life. An experience will not.
Face to face connection is a tool social media can not compete with. Getting to know your consumer on an individual level forms a stronger and more meaningful relationship. Something as a simple eye contact will engage a consumer and can potentially lead to new business opportunities.
Even people that are wrapped up with social media need a personal relationship with your brand and a face to face connection.
Humanises your brand
Face to face connection gives the impression of honesty and credibility. The more eye contact you have with a consumer the more trust you will gain and the more likely it is that a consumer will buy into your brand.
With face to face communication there is an open dialogue leaving the consumer feeling they can trust you and if there any objections or queries this is your chance to deal with them.
Creates awareness
With face to face communication you don’t just get a chance to connect, you also create an awareness of your product that easily could be ignored online.
Gives your brand a character
Similar to meeting a new person, you will most likely remember a brand that gives you something to talk about. Presenting your brand in a memorable manner is powerful! Your consumer will walk away and tell other people about their experience, generating business for your brand.
At Hotcow we understand the value of face to face interaction and the strong bond will forms. With our successful experiential marketing campaigns we have helped our clients build strong and long-lasting relationships with their consumers.
Your marketing shouldn’t rely on social media but equally you shouldn’t neglect it. Face to face communication and experiential marketing should combine with social media for maximum effect.
Combine experiential marketing with social media
With virtual communication you can make your consumers aware of your next campaign, which can help drive traffic and generate quality leads. You can also participate in discussions online within your industry and let consumers get time understanding your offer.
Besides promoting your campaign before it has taken place, social media is also a great tool to combine with experiential marketing campaign on site and post event. On site, you can share news with your consumers who could not attend and post event you can show virtual demonstration of your product launch and share photos, videos and other media with consumers who you couldn’t connect with on site.
By following our advice your company will be seen as exciting and engaging, not boring and faceless. So what are you waiting for? Let’s get the experiential party started and make you stand out in the marketing field!
Hotcow is a multi-award winning Experiential Marketing agency. We get brands in front of consumers in ways that persuade them to buy. We fully implement our ideas; nothing needs to be farmed out. For more information or free consultation, contact us.
