Experiential Marketing
Have you heard someone tell you to buy experiences and not things? Why are concerts, cross country trips and personal experiences being valued over physical products? There’s something about experiences that cause us to feel inspired or satisfied. Plus, memories of unique experiences just seem to stick. Because experiential marketing can help tie your product or service to live events, online and in-store experiences with your audience, it’s the perfect time to incorporate it into your marketing strategy. Want to know more?
Let’s break this down:
What is experiential marketing, exactly?
A loose definition of experiential marketing is “messaging you can touch, feel or view in a physical space.” Experiential marketing ties an experience component (such as through an event) to your marketing strategy in order to connect to your audience in a way they’ll remember. Why are experiences so important?
Are experiences or products more valuable?
There’s a current discussion today around experiences been perceived as more valuable than products. According to a study fielded by the Event Marketing Institute, “98 percent [of consumers] say a live event motivates them to buy a product. They also share the experience with others—almost half tell someone about a live event while they’re attending”
Another study conducted by Harris and funded by Eventbrite reaffirms that idea and found that that “72% [of millennials] say they’d like to increase their spending on experiences rather than physical things in the next year, pointing to a move away from materialism and a growing appetite for real-life experiences.” Reflection question: Can consumers associate your product to positive experiences? Where are they discovering and using your product?
What Does Experiential Marketing Look Like?
So how can we connect consumers with experiences to make products part of memorable, positive experiences? It starts being aware and truly understanding your brand and your audience, and reaching them in those meeting places that matter. Experiential marketing can include in-store displays, live events and face-to-face marketing. You already know experiences are valued more than products, so make your product part of an experience.
Click over to the Good Solutions Group website for an overview of successful experiential marketing campaigns that paired brands with their target audiences in memorable events. GSG has been named a Chief Marketing “Top Shop” for the 2nd year in a row in 2016, and has been awarded 2 EX Awards for experiential marketing!