Experiential marketing involves creating an interactive experience that’ll get people talking about your product and your brand.
With a bit of imagination you can really grab people’s attention and encourage them to try you out and recommend your products. It’s guerrilla marketing at its best, but if you’re more used to traditional styles of advertising, there are a few things to consider if you want to make sure your campaign doesn’t fall flat.
1. Make it relevant.
No matter how innovative and off the wall you decide to go, it’s essential that you tie your campaign in with either a specific product or your brand (depending on your ultimate aim).
Any experience that targets prospective customers needs a ‘sales’ aspect to it, as well as the entertainment factor. You want people to feel motivated to either try the product there and then – or if your experience isn’t through the use of the product itself, you want to encourage people to investigate further and then buy it.
2. Get creative.
If you’ve decided to go with an experiential marketing campaign there’s no point holding back. An innovative and imaginative campaign will have the most impact – and it doesn’t have to blow the budget.
In fact, some companies have spent millions on campaigns and failed, simply because their angle is unoriginal. You just need to capture people’s imaginations and engage them with your brand.
3. Keep it simple.
An imaginative event doesn’t have to be complex or convoluted. If you want to have the most impact then keep the experience simple.
Inspiring people’s emotions and making them ‘feel’ something is so much more impactful and effective than a long-winded, intricate campaign that takes people ‘out of the moment’.
4. Make it shareable.
If you can make people feel that they simply must share your experience and your product, then you’re onto a winner. You can aim to draw in a crowd who want to watch the event, or create an experience that’s even better when shared with others.
If you can add a competitive element so that people feel compelled to get stuck in, then that’s even better.
5. Listen to what customers have to say.
Even the most fun and entertaining campaigns can get people talking about products in ways that you might not expect. So listen to feedback and learn from it. Find out what does and does not resonate with your audience in terms of keeping their interest and then make your next campaign even better.
Hotcow is a non-traditional creative agency that specialises in experiential marketing that goes viral. Our campaigns generate buzz through crowd participation, PR and content sharing. Contact us on 0207 5030442 or email us on info@hotcow.co.uk.
