The Three E’s, Two I’s.
What is it?
Encouraging. Engaging. Experiencing. Interacting. Inviting.
Those are words that perfectly describe Experiential Marketing. It simply defines as a type of marketing that engages consumers with a brand by encouraging them firsthand through physical interaction.
How it works: Experiential marketing relies heavily on engagement with the brand. Obviously. It is crucial to receive feedbacks directly at point-of-purchase. You might wonder how does it usually work? What do people do in experiential marketing?
Well, It’s basically held at certain events, or most call it “activations.” It’s self explanatory, a brand would have a booth at an event and there would be a couple of brand ambassadors promoting a certain product for people to experience. Most often, there are samples, free giveaways, cool premiums, and of course excited brand ambassadors informing you about their brands!
I’ve done activations for about 3 years on and off. The engagement and participation makes everything so much fun. I’m able to network with people, make friends with them, and learn from consumers’ feedbacks and perspectives. About 60% of the consumers I encounter have said that activations make them more prone to purchase a product. I would ask them why and they indicated that because they get to experience the product itself directly, they’re able to make decisions about the product almost immediately.
Brands need to invest more on experiential marketing. From my perspective, brands think that it’s old fashioned and they need more innovative ways to advertise their products. Don’t get me wrong, I love technology! And I admit experiential advertising is a little old fashioned, as it is sort of like guerrilla marketing and you would assume it does not require digital tools. Nope, you are totally wrong. You can always add a digital aspect to activations. At any events, there are always tablets available for people to browse the app or the website of the brands that they’re experiencing. Right then and there, consumers can even purchase a certain product through the app with just a touch of a button. But as if that’s not impressive enough, people may enter giveaways by filling the information in the tablets provided at activations. You can’t go wrong with bribing customers with giveaways and premiums, so they’re aware of your brand. All that matters is consumers leaving the activation with a smile on their face, with brand awareness, free stuffs, and a little reflection about the product they just experienced.
Let me give you statistics on why experiential marketing works! I received this source from Factory 360’s article “4 Experiential Marketing Statistics You Should Know” (link: https://www.factory360.com/4-experiential-marketing-statistics-you-should-know/). Check it out and you’ll understand!
According to the article, 98% indicated that consumers are likely to purchase the product through those activations because they’re able to use their five senses to create their decisions at point-of-purchase. I definitely mentioned that regarding my experience being a brand ambassador for different brands. 81% of people are excited about receiving free samples or premiums and even giveaways. But anyways, you should check out the article for more information regarding those statistics!
What do you think? Should brands invest more on experiential marketing? or forget it? Comment down below or email me at ni.made.yunirika@gmail.com. I’d love to start a conversation with you about this topic!
Sources:
Photo: http://www.ernestoverdugo.com/5-core-attributes-of-experiential-marketing/
https://www.factory360.com/4-experiential-marketing-statistics-you-should-know/
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