There’s no escaping it. ‘Experiential marketing’ has lately emerged as one of the new buzzwords in business, but one needs to analyze how it can be used for their brands? Seeing the brands and the rise of experiential marketing, it is very important for brands nowadays to cut through the noise when consumers are being bombarded with messages and information through a multitude of media channels. With that in mind, one has to ensure and start thinking about how they can get people to experience and talk about their offerings. One has to offer experiences that lead them to communicate; share and advocate your brand to others, who in turn can get interested in your brand.

The consumers of today are more inquisitive and interested. They know what’s happening around them. Experiential marketing by brands, here, can play a great role in engaging with the consumers. Hence, it is growing at a great pace and its significance & benefits are not unknown. While in the process to bring brands to life through experiential marketing, brand managers need to be clear about a few myths enveloping this communication channel!

Here are a few ‘Myths’ which in the process of moving ahead we tend to overlook:

Myth: Experiential is just an event

Experiential is all about creating brand experiences that are not only positive, but are based on high-quality marketing techniques, consumer behaviour and analysis. Though live events get people talking, it is more than just an event. It is more about the specific market that one is targeting. Hence, the essence of experiential is based on the experience that brands create for their specific target audience.

Myth: It’s expensive

Experiential marketing increases overall brand awareness and purchases. And a lot of people think that for an experiential marketing to be effective, it has to be costly. But, this is not the case as one needs to look at the return on investment to know its complete value. One needs to check out:

Increase in the overall sales
Number of attendees of the event or experience
Level of engagement achieved with the target market
Number of clicks and likes achieved. Basically, the overall digital traffic
Coverage of the event or experience (online, offline, TV and print)

Myth: It is only one channel of communication

Experiential marketing is all about creating a bond between the user and the brand by getting them engrossed in a fun & memorable experience. But the communication should not just be this, brand managers and experiential marketers need to come up with new ways to communicate with the consumers. Brands thus, need to create a two-way dialog with consumers to help them feel heard and authenticated. There should be enough flexibility added to your experiential events by combining it with digital, PR and other communication platforms.

Myth: It’s a trend

No, not at all! Experiential marketing is m\not a trend. One cannot avoid the way social media has evolved and how consumers have evolved with it too. Also, nowadays how consumers share their experiences across social networks cannot be ignored. Hence, brands have taken a step to capitalize on this by making experiential marketing an essential part of their brand strategy & mix. In the end, it completely depends on the brand and what message it wants to give out and how!

Myth: They say, anyone can be an experiential marketer

This is not the case because experiential efforts can fail badly if not set in motion with proper planning and at the right time. As known, there are various channels of communication that are used to communicate to consumers, so deciding on which channels to be used very much depends on the industry it is being used for and the target audience. Planning this properly comes from the one who is an expert in the use of experiential marketing. So, anyone can be an experiential marketer is a myth!

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141113013258-11474854-top-5-experiential-myths-busted

Finally, when you design an experiential marketing program for your consumers, make sure it is well integrated with other communication channels, encourages and enhances consumer engagement. Ensure realistic parameters are set that protect brand’s identity across and take care to keep in mind the myths attached with experiential marketing for complete success and long term benefits. Lastly, don’t forget to ‘Have Fun’! Do share your thought with us in the comments below.