Ideas for Experiential Marketing Events

What You’ll Learn

The Human Element
The Main Benefits
Engagement
Hybrid Experiential Events
Great Experiential Events

No matter how creative and innovative ads can be, they remain a passive way of promoting your brand and products. There is a limit to the level of engagement and emotions a billboard or online advertisement can generate in your target audience.

That’s why many businesses and marketers are increasingly shifting their focus to experiential marketing, that is, building actual experiences that appeal to the customer’s feelings by providing full immersion in the brand.

Such experiences come often in the form of unique events that generate a high level of personalized engagement and emotional connection, with a significant impact on the event’s ROI.

According to AgencyAE, a Chicago-based company specializing in brand experience, 75% of B2B businesses consider experiential marketing and activation events the most successful of their marketing tactics.

Let’s explore ideas for experiential marketing events and create unique and memorable activation events that boost your brand’s visibility and positive associations.

Human Interaction is Crucial to Effective Experience Marketing

On the market side, your success as a business is ultimately the result of the trust your brand manages to inspire in both your current and prospective customers. Positive and rewarding relationships based on direct human interaction are notoriously one of the most effective ways to generate trust in people.

Imagine that you’re a young parent walking through a mall and you see a billboard or video advertisement for a new baby skincare brand. You have a short, positive reaction to the ad’s visual elements and keep walking.

Ten minutes later you find yourself in an area of the mall where a competing brand is holding a baby care workshop event. Not only is the visual and sound environment very appealing but the event’s personnel are also thoroughly and competently answering multiple baby health questions by inexperienced first-time parents.

Both consciously and subconsciously, the second brand will end up generating a higher level of trust in prospective customers who regularly walk through that mall, which will boost the company’s sales. Even more so if such events are held regularly in the same mall.

This is a clear example of effective experiential marketing in action. To see some other real world experiences, check out XOS Trucks’ Product Launch, Weber Metals’ Grand Unveiling, or Calik Denim’s International Art Expo featuring their product.

Creative Ideas for Your Product Launch - Use Storytelling

The Main Benefits of Experiential Events

Numerous surveys have highlighted that being treated like a human being (rather than like an ATM) is one of the most important traits customers seek in a business and that it has a significant role in determining which brand they eventually choose over the others. Design your ideas for experiential marketing events around the human factor of your product or service.

Engaging your prospective customers in a personalized way by immersing them in a gratifying and helpful experience is a very powerful way to communicate that you deeply care about their needs as humans.

Going back to the baby skincare workshop example, young parents will come out of the event feeling that behind the brand there aren’t just factories and advertisers but people who really know what’s best for their babies and their health.

Experiential events also allow your brand to create a direct link between the products your brand offers and the positive feelings it seeks to inspire.

Take the grand unveiling of a new, record breaking piece of equipment that needs to move investors, partners, and consumers in a big way.

That is exact what Weber Metals was looking for during the unveiling of their 60K ton press. A 40×40 foot LED backdrop was erected on a track with a custom event fabrication: a stage built in front. Thousands of feet of pipe and drape transformed their warehouse into a theater. Guests watched carefully curated video designed to take them on a journey through the story and creation of the company and it’s record breaking press. In the end, the 4K HD screen felt almost 3D in its realism. So much so that attendees and YouTube viewers alike could not believe that the virtual vault doors actually slid open as the screens parted on the track!

Virtual product launch event ideas - coordinate in person and virtual rooms

Social Media Shareability Ideas for Customer Engagement

In 2022/3, the number of social media and live-streaming platforms people use every day has reached unprecedented levels. We now live stream most of our corporate events to allow those attending virtually to feel included.

People and influencers love sharing their most memorable moments with their friends and audiences on social media networks. It is estimated that more than 90% of event attendees create social media content during events.

We suggest providing dedicated areas for taking pictures and videos that are shared on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest. Be sure to include your custom hashtag on professionally printed signage throughout the venue to get the maximum benefit.

Know what your wow factors are and prepare to utilize those moments for additional exposure for your brand. A carefully placed logo can make all the difference in furthering your reach on social platforms.

A branded holographic entrance is a great idea for experiential marketing – its new, fresh and a hot spot for photos.

want really creative product launch event ideas - give it over to artists

Hybrid Experiential Events Are on The Rise in 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the spread of events that incorporate both live and remote aspects. In these so-called hybrid events, a part of the audience attends the event in person while the rest participates through digital channels.

Most experiential marketers believe that reaching non-physical audiences is essential in determining an event’s success nowadays.

As the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies increases, it becomes easier for remote attendees to engage in experiential events fully.

Among the most coveted experiences for virtual reality users, we find traveling to far-away places, participating in music events, and being inside of a movie or a sporting event. Companies that operate in these industries should take notice and consider using these new technologies to reach remote audiences for their hybrid events.

Luxury fashion brands like Chanel and Dior have also used AR and VR tools to allow remote attendees to access the glamorously themed areas of their experiential event locations. Other companies are also reeling in the ROI from the engagement that VR and AR offers. Taking a tour of the inner workings of a product, taking a virtual “test run”, and other applications can be personalized to your activation event.

In hybrid experiential events, attendees can influence the event by requesting on-demand content, participating in polls, and interacting with special guests or live participants through video conferencing tools. The reduced need for travel also makes hybrid options sustainable corporate events that are sure to impress your attendees.

Experienced Organizers Are Behind Great Experiential Events

Studies have shown that more than 60% of brands see a direct relationship between their experiential marketing activities and sales, as well as lead generation.

Successfully incorporating experiential marketing in your event is easier when you’re working with event organizers and managers that have extensive previous experience in this field.

Event Solutions will help you convert your experiential marketing event ideas into feasible realities and make sure the right messages and feelings are conveyed to your attendees and prospective customers.

From choosing the right location (or transforming an alternative party venue) to theming it effectively to including the activities and interactions that are more likely to generate the desired response in participants to promoting the event effectively. All while differentiating your brand from its main rivals with promotional product ideas for an event that wow attendees.

As we have seen, uniqueness and memorability are essential traits of unique brand immersion experiences so you want to make sure attendees leave the event with a mix of positive energy and increased trust that will set your business apart from the competition.

And that’s exactly what Event Solutions will help you achieve. If you are ready to start planning your activation event, contact us below:

Ideas for Experiential Marketing Events

What You’ll Learn

Human Interaction is Crucial to Effective Experience Marketing

The Main Benefits of Experiential Events

Social Media Shareability Ideas for Customer Engagement

Hybrid Experiential Events Are on The Rise in 2023

Experienced Organizers Are Behind Great Experiential Events

Contact Our Event Agency

Read More:

Incentive Trips with Purposeful ROI

How AV and Production Services at Activation Events Can Boost Sales and Marketing

10 Ways to Improve Networking at Business Events to Boost Sales

Nationwide Locations

Latest Projects

Best of the Best

Resources