Experiential marketing ( engagement marketing ) is the use of strategic and inventive content to engage people and create meaningful interactions over time, and motivate their interest in a brand.
In a society where people see around 3,000 messages every day, consumers are learning to tune out. Of the 3,000, a person will remember, at the end of the day, an average of four. People don't like marketing, and they ignore paid ads; So what's a marketer to do?
Today, every business owner needs to have an elaborate advertising strategy in order to connect with potential customers in a meaningful way. This is not just a new marketing strategy ; it's a new way of thinking about how the brand communicates with its audience.
Various advertising tools and strategies, such as email advertising , content advertising, social media advertising, and marketing automation , all go into a good go-to-market plan. When you have a good strategy, and it is well executed, this promotional philosophy will increasingly become the only effective way to communicate with consumers in the digital age.
What is not
Sometimes the best way to understand something is to understand what it is not . This is not a distortion of the advertising phenomenon. In fact, it is exactly the opposite. So- called interruption marketing is anything that appears or interferes with during the day. It pushes sales pitches instead of attracting buyers, and tries to trick decision makers into paying attention to a message, instead of trying to gain attention. It is sophisticated and loud, while modern marketing is reliable and cold.
It is not an instant income generator . It's measurable and you can set up schemes that will determine important KPIs like ROI, but it's not the goose that lays the golden eggs. The entrepreneur is building a potential audience, fostering relationships and establishing experiences. Exploiting all this takes time.
Nor are we talking about a marketing strategy as a niche market . It is not an SMB strategy. It spans industries and expertise, because buyers and customers everywhere are tired of being spammed . A third of Fortune 100 companies have blogs on their websites, and Coca-Cola's Content 2020 initiative is a great example of a global company driving change.
Why should a company's marketing mindset change ?
The Internet has changed the way people do business, revolutionizing traditional sales and buying cycle models. Today, 2/3 to 90% of the buyer's journey is self-guided, away from the sales team.
A brand must be able to reach the people who are entering the sales funnel; they are looking for exactly the type of information that the brand is uniquely positioned to provide.
Consider:
- B2B brands that blog generate 67% more leads than those that don't.
- b) Businesses with 30 or more landing pages generate 7x more leads than those with fewer than 10.
- c) Relevant email advertising generates 18 times more revenue than broadcast emails.
- d) Event triggered promotion can potentially save 80% of direct mail budget.
- e) Businesses that use automation to nurture prospects experience a 451% increase in qualified leads.
- f) Consumers spend an average of 79 days gathering information before making a major purchase. During those two or three months, they are also developing relationships with the brands and influencers who are constantly providing the information and support they need.
Top Questions Marketers Ask
How fast will results be seen with experiential marketing ?
It is impossible to say. Results will be seen, and they will be measurable and reportable, but how quickly you begin to measure positive ROI depends on a number of factors: the size of the company, the size of current demand, the scope of the industry in question. , the current condition of the website, the influence capacity of social networks or the current state of the email dissemination strategy, among others. Remember that this is a background strategy.
2. How is experiential marketing related to SEO? It's the same thing?
An effective SEO strategy is fueled by inbound marketing . In SEO it is about getting the attention of search engines so that a website ranks well in the results; and search engines are looking for a website that offers a good user experience. Clever and useful websites are the ones where users stop, click, link and return, which is why modern digital marketing requires good SEO.
3. Is experiential marketing the same as social media marketing ?
Social media can be an important component of this advertising philosophy, as your audience is already engaged on social sites like Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. A strong marketing strategy will include a plan for the social media channels that best represent the brand's target personas.
4. When does experiential marketing not work ?
Some advertisers and executives are skeptical about engagement marketing , and others have seen times when it seems like this marketing strategy just isn't a good fit for their business or industry.
5. It won't work because the audience isn't looking for the product or service.
Even if a company is selling a new product, complementary service, etc., it is possible that their target market is not being tracked on the Internet. People don't look for answers to questions they don't have, after all. Brands in these types of industries feel that they should at least start with interruption advertising strategies to get the shopper's attention and generate interest or some hunger for their product.
However, that loss in marketing disruption assumes that decision-makers and consumers pay attention to PPC ads, but the statistics on traditional advertising's declining effectiveness don't change by industry. It may be true that ideal customers don't know they need it yet, so they're not looking for it, but rather they're looking for something.
Engagement strategies can be used to generate attention and gain trust by answering the questions they have, and helping users make the decisions they need to make. Many real estate professionals, for example, choose to share resources and content based on their geographic area. Insurance professionals reach potential clients by sharing other ways to save money and protect your most valuable assets.
There is still some value in PPC ads and similar marketing strategies , but beyond just capturing a user's initial attention, content marketing is better suited to building relationships and gaining trust.
- Experiential marketing doesn't work because the product is boring
If a company makes energy drinks and hosts extreme sporting events, it's easy to attract demand, but if a company sells office supplies or accounting software , participation can be more elusive. Here marketers recognize that they can't blog , entertain social media, or spark interesting conversations online about auto deposits or copy paper, so inbound marketing wo n't work.
It's true that not every store will work for every brand, but if current and potential customers are online, they can be found. However, if they're not satisfied, then they don't need to dawdle on Facebook, although a blog can answer their questions and ease their concerns about making a change.
Office managers who are bored with phone calls will appreciate office humor about office life and disappearing copy room supplies on social media.
Demonstrate passion for your product, service, or target audience through the channels that best fit, and you'll discover creative ways to be interesting. If a hotel chain and a scissors manufacturer can host engaging blogs , any company can.
New marketing for the new market
The market is changing as shoppers take more and more of their rides, and the sales funnel continues to transform into just a funnel. Beneath the prevailing mistrust of traditional advertising, experiential marketing helps brands find a new way to engage decision makers, establish a respectable reputation, and earn market trust.
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