The initial gain of hosting an experiential marketing event is creating a memorable experience for your customers, but the benefits stretch far past this. A positive physical experience can help build brand awareness, perception, increase sales and create months of content to share before and after the event itself.
Not only does it create content for you to share, visitors will share their own images across social platforms. This kind of coverage is invaluable, hitting the awareness part of the marketing funnel and acting as brand testimonials. A huge 98 percent of consumers create digital or social content at events and 72 percent say that friends’ posts about branded experiences make them more likely to buy from that brand.
Creating an environment and event that people want to share means free advertising and reviews for the brand, similar to word of mouth but with a greater reach and impact. As The Verge recently wrote, “It’s not about who you know, but who you follow.”
Social media holds huge power so creating an experience that will encourage people to capture and engage with your brand on these platforms is important. Which is probably why 80 percent of marketers believe live events are critical to their company’s success.
From engaging concept stores to interactive showrooms and large exciting flagship stores, the definition of ‘store’ has changed. Rather than just a place to sell products, they are evolving into a destination. The ability to ‘buy things’ simply isn’t enough for the modern shopper – they can do that online.
Image credit: Fashion Network
“Social media holds huge power so creating an experience that will encourage people to capture and engage with your brand on these platforms is important.”
Consumers of today are all about experience and interaction so experiential marketing events are especially good for businesses primarily based online. Consumers seek physical experiences because digital interactions are so common and readily available. Because of this, it’s important for these businesses to translate online experiences into physical ones to give more dimensions to their brand.
As well as brand perception, experiential marketing events can actually increase sales. After attending events, a massive 98% of users feel more inclined to purchase. These types of events really give your brand a chance to demonstrate the power of your product. 80 percent of attendees said that free samples and live demonstrations help define their purchasing decision. They allow consumers to feel closer to your brand and give them a holistic view of your product, allowing them to buy with confidence.
Image credit: Topshop
“Physical retail has become rich and inventive and this has created a hunger for more experiences like this.”
Physical retail has become rich and inventive and this has created a hunger for more experiences like this. This means that now is the perfect time to host an experiential marketing event. Spark interaction with your brand and build relationships with customers by creating an unforgettable experience. Encourage purchases and educate consumers about your products in a fun way. Use the opportunity to create content and encourage visitors to share their own content on social platforms, use a branded hashtag and publicize this around your event to make sure people use it. One event can greatly improve your brand perception whilst creating content and driving social followers.
If you’re thinking of hosting something more permanent you can read our recent blog post, Is now the perfect time to open a physical store?
Header image credit: Lyft