
“Engagement marketing”
“Live Marketing”
“Participation Marketing”
“Experiential Marketing”
Whatever you may call it, it’s a critical marketing strategy to the future success of your brand. It can break the barriers traditional marketing can build between your audience and your message. Defined, Experiential Marketing is creating a memorable and emotional connection between your consumers and your brand. In short, Experiential Marketing = Brand Loyalty. It’s something that has turned distant brands into close connections. Here’s how you can do it, too.
1. Build the Hype
We’ve spoken to the importance of video implementation time and time again. It’s the future of digital marketing and a way to put your brand in motion. Try using video to tease your next event or promotion to your targeted audience. If your event has passed, put together a video recap highlighting your presence and your brand’s message to make your experience come full-circle for your consumers. Here’s how MJ2 turned an annual event for a client into a shareable experience online.
2. Be a Part of the Bigger Picture
If a large event is approaching in your industry, find a way to be a part of it. For example, as a sponsor of the 2012 Olympics, Samsung capitalized on the buzz surrounding the event by creating local experiences. They set up micro pop-up events where users could play with the company’s app with an Olympic theme or have their photo turned into a badge. It was an opportunity to create that close connection between a brand and their audience.
3. Clue Your Audience In
Industries across many verticals can apply this concept to their marketing strategy. Engage your consumers by immersing them in what goes on behind-the-scenes. Our client, Face Forward, the Catholic Diocese of Columbus, holds an annual event called The Discipleship Walk. This hike is a great opportunity for the community to come together and talk firsthand with seminarians about vocations and what they do behind the scenes. We also incorporated social media throughout the event using foam board social media frames and live event coverage:
Influence purchase decisions, drive traffic to your digital space and increase your audience reach by allowing your consumers to “live” the brand. Try creating an experience on behalf of your brand and see how much buzz it has the potential to generate.