Experiential marketing is a form of advertising that focuses primarily on helping consumers experience a brand.   Staging events with interactive experiences enable your customers and prospects to relate to your brand in a way that creates a memorable, long-lasting impression.  As a result, this type of emotional connection sets your brand apart from competitors, increases brand loyalty and drives sales.

Determining how to bring the event to the people and create a buzz-worthy interactive experience with your audience may seem like the biggest challenge of the planning phase, but in reality it is only the beginning of the discusson.

• How will you advertise the event?
• How will the event integrate with the larger marketing initiatives?
• What social media channels can be used to reach the highest numbers of target consumers?
• Which branded products should be used before, during and after the event to support the brand message?
• Which emotion are you trying to associate with?
• How do you keep the buzz going after the event is over?

The answers to those questions are different for every company, but the discovery phase is not.  Involving your expert corporate partners in the planning sessions is imperative to a creative and memorable event.  Your marketing team may know the demographics for your target audience, but may be less informed in the best content marketing strategy for your social media campaign or have little understanding of the best products available in the promotional merchandise industry to carry your brand message.

Once your planning team has been assembled, the driving mentality behind every suggestion should be how to connect your brand to the senses of the customers.  The booth should stand out; the experience should be creative, but natural (no cream pies in the face, please); and brand ambassadors should exhibit energy and enthusiasm in a professional manner.

Experiential marketing is the fastest growing category of the events sector for a reason.  Do it well and you’ll create brand advocates who will further spread your brand messages through word of mouth advertising, and become a loyal customer for life.