Reaching Your Audience with Experiential Marketing

In a world of media overload, there is one marketing approach getting stronger to stimulate people to action. It may be the most effective marketing channel in 2017 – it is experiential marketing. And by "experiential marketing," you could communicate your messages to your audience with live and interactive brand experiences.
Experiential marketing is defined as “creating unique, face-to-face branded experiences” according to Boston-based 451 Marketing. Instead of just sending a message to your audience -- digitally or otherwise -- you’re creating an opportunity to connect with your audience in person.
Different from traditional advertising (radio, print, television) which could communicates the brand and product benefits verbally and visually, experiential marketing is to immerse the consumers within the product by making good use of human senses. In this way, experiential marketing includes a variety of marketing strategies from individual sampling to large-scale guerrilla marketing. Some of the main benefits of experiential marketing are listed as below:
1. Generate sales and leads
2. Allow consumers to immerse in the products/services with their senses
3. Brands are able to interact directly with consumers
4. Help brands convey their values and mission
5. Make social media more powerful
6. Attract earned media and influencers
When doing experience marketing, you should also consider:
1. Preferences of your customers
2. Positioning of your brand
3. Creating an experience that is mutually beneficial (often through establishing an emotional connection to show your care to customers and display your products at the same time)
In 2017, as consumers increasingly crave for real experiences with brands, experiential marketing will become more important than ever before. The new challenge is about how to interactive with consumers in a more creative way. Some of the ways we could see in the market now include livestreaming, meeting customers where they are, QR codes, VR, etc.
You must encourage participants to share their experience with their friends online via social media. Considering social sharing when making your marketing tactics will surely help you expand your reach. As your consumers create a closer bond with your brand, you’ll be rewarded ten-fold.