eCommerce Reporting

Experiential Marketing 101 | How to do it on a Low Budget

8 minutes read

Modified on February 27, 2023

eCommerce

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Experiential marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on creating immersive, interactive experiences for customers. It involves engaging customers in a way that allows them to personally interact with a brand, product, or service in a meaningful way.
Experiential marketing can take many forms, such as live events, product demonstrations, pop-up shops, and interactive installations. The goal of experiential marketing is to create a strong emotional connection with customers, rather than just selling a product or service.

Here are a Few Real-Life Examples of Experiential Marketing:

Nike’s “Breaking2” event: In 2017, Nike hosted a live event called “Breaking2” in which three runners attempted to break the two-hour marathon barrier. The event was live-streamed on social media and featured interactive elements, such as a virtual reality experience and a social media hub.
Red Bull’s “Red Bull Stratos” event: In 2012, Red Bull sponsored a live event called “Red Bull Stratos” in which skydiver Felix Baumgartner jumped from a helium balloon 24 miles above the Earth’s surface. The event was live-streamed on social media and featured interactive elements, such as a live Q&A with Baumgartner.
Warby Parker’s pop-up shop tour: In 2013, eyewear retailer Warby Parker embarked on a pop-up shop tour that took the company to different cities across the United States. The pop-up shops featured interactive elements, such as a photo booth and a custom eyewear bar, and allowed customers to experience Warby Parker products in a physical retail setting.
Google’s “The Wilderness Downtown” interactive music video: In 2010, Google created an interactive music video for the band Arcade Fire’s song “We Used to Wait.” The video allowed users to enter their childhood address and watch a personalized music video that incorporated Google Maps street view images of their neighborhood.

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Types of Experiential Marketing

4 types of experiential marketing include:

Live events: Companies such as Nike and Red Bull have used live events, such as concerts and sporting events, to create immersive experiences for customers and drive brand awareness.
Product demonstrations: Companies such as Apple and Microsoft have used product demonstrations and workshops to allow customers to try out products in person and see how they work.
Pop-up shops: Companies such as Warby Parker and Casper have used pop-up shops to allow customers to experience products in a physical retail setting and create a sense of exclusivity.
Interactive installations: Companies such as Google and Samsung have used interactive installations and exhibits to engage customers in a more immersive way and create a memorable experience.

Overall, experiential marketing is a powerful tool for companies looking to create a strong emotional connection with their customers and drive brand loyalty. By creating immersive, interactive experiences, companies can engage customers in a way that goes beyond traditional marketing efforts and helps to create a lasting impression.

Five Benefits of Experiential Marketing

Five benefits to using experiential marketing:

Increased brand awareness: Experiential marketing can help companies increase brand awareness by creating memorable experiences that customers are more likely to remember and share with others.
Improved customer engagement: Experiential marketing allows companies to engage with customers in a more personal and meaningful way, which can improve customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Greater customer loyalty: By creating positive and memorable experiences, companies can foster greater customer loyalty and encourage customers to continue doing business with them.
Enhanced customer experiences: Experiential marketing allows companies to create personalized and immersive experiences that can improve the overall customer experience.
Increased customer retention: By creating positive and memorable experiences, companies can improve customer retention and reduce churn.

How can eCommerce Brands Leverage Experiential Marketing

Combining with Influencer Marketing

Experiential marketing and influencer marketing are both effective strategies for eCommerce companies looking to engage with customers and drive business growth.

Experiential marketing involves creating immersive, interactive experiences for customers, while influencer marketing involves partnering with influencers to promote a brand or product to their followers. Both strategies can be used effectively by eCommerce brands to engage with customers and create memorable experiences.

Here are a few examples of how eCommerce companies can use experiential marketing and influencer marketing together:

Virtual events: eCommerce companies can use virtual events, such as webinars or online workshops, to engage with customers and create immersive experiences. They can also partner with influencers to promote the event and encourage their followers to attend.
Product demonstrations: eCommerce companies can use product demonstrations or unboxing videos to allow customers to see products in action and understand how they work. They can also partner with influencers to promote the demonstration and encourage their followers to try the product.
Pop-up shops: eCommerce companies can use pop-up shops to allow customers to experience products in a physical retail setting and create a sense of exclusivity. They can also partner with influencers to promote the pop-up shop and encourage their followers to visit.
Interactive installations: eCommerce companies can use interactive installations or exhibits to engage customers in a more immersive way and create a memorable experience. They can also partner with influencers to promote the installation and encourage their followers to visit.

Using a Data Warehouse

Consolidating data in a data warehouse can be a useful strategy for eCommerce companies looking to use experiential marketing to engage with customers. A data warehouse is a centralized repository of data that is used for analysis and reporting. By consolidating all of a company’s data in a data warehouse, it becomes easier to analyze and understand customer behavior and preferences, which can be useful for experiential marketing efforts.

For example, an eCommerce company could use data from a data warehouse to understand which products or marketing campaigns are the most popular and generate the most customer engagement. This information could then be used to inform experiential marketing strategies, such as virtual events or product demonstrations.

In addition, a data warehouse can help an eCommerce company better understand the customer journey and identify opportunities to improve the customer experience. For example, an eCommerce company could use data from a data warehouse to understand how customers interact with different channels (e.g. website, social media, email) and identify areas where the customer experience could be improved.

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Can you do Experiential Marketing on a Limited Budget

It is possible to do experiential marketing on a low budget, although the specific strategies and tactics that are used may be more limited than those used in larger campaigns. Here are a few tips for doing experiential marketing on a low budget:

Focus on a specific target audience: By targeting a specific audience, you can create more targeted and effective experiential marketing campaigns that are more likely to resonate with your target audience.
Use social media and other online platforms: Social media and other online platforms, such as YouTube and Instagram, can be effective channels for experiential marketing on a low budget. These platforms can be used to create interactive experiences, such as live streams and virtual events, that are accessible to a wide audience.
Partner with influencers: Partnering with influencers can be an effective way to promote experiential marketing campaigns on a low budget. Influencers can help to promote your campaign to their followers and drive awareness and engagement.
Use guerrilla marketing tactics: Guerrilla marketing involves using unconventional tactics to promote a brand or product. Examples of guerrilla marketing tactics include flash mobs, street art, and surprise events. These tactics can be effective for experiential marketing on a low budget because they often require minimal resources and can create a lot of buzz.

It’s important to note that while experiential marketing can be done on a low budget, it can also require a significant investment, depending on the scope and scale of the campaign. In order to create a successful experiential marketing campaign, it’s important to carefully consider your budget and allocate resources wisely.

Here are a few additional tips for doing experiential marketing on a low budget:

Start small and scale up: It’s often more effective to start with a small, targeted experiential marketing campaign and then scale up as needed. This can help you test different strategies and tactics without committing a large budget upfront.
Use existing resources: Instead of creating new resources from scratch, consider using existing resources, such as social media accounts, email lists, and physical locations, to promote your experiential marketing campaign.
Leverage user-generated content: User-generated content, such as social media posts, reviews, and ratings, can be an effective way to promote an experiential marketing campaign on a low budget. Encourage customers to share their experiences with your brand to create buzz and drive engagement.
Focus on creating a memorable experience: While a large budget can be useful for creating elaborate experiential marketing campaigns, it’s important to remember that the most effective campaigns often focus on creating a memorable experience for customers. By focusing on creating a unique and memorable experience, you can create a strong emotional connection with your customers and drive business growth.

Conclusion

In today’s market, experiential marketing and social commerce have become increasingly important for businesses. However, measuring success and allocating budgets for these initiatives can be challenging without accurate data. To overcome this challenge, Saras can implement a modern data stack to provide the foundation for growth analytics. With this data-driven approach, businesses can better understand their most profitable customers and develop strategies to attract, convert, and retain them. This will ultimately lead to more successful marketing initiatives and a stronger bottom line.

Instead of directly addressing consumers, as is done in traditional marketing, experiential marketing creates an experience for the target audience. One of the finest methods to engage with customers is to provide a pleasant and unique experience that makes them curious about the company and what it has to offer. Experiential marketing allows companies to engage with their customers in meaningful ways that traditional advertising cannotThis method typically involves some sort of interactive exercise meant to pique people's interest and get them involved. This type of advertising is frequently implemented in conjunction with, or as the event itself. Experiential marketers are the people who take on such endeavors.

Indeed, experiential marketing has shown to be very successful. Attendees at live events and other forms of interactive marketing can forge personal associations with the brands they love. Customers are more likely to continue interacting with your business or make a purchase when you're able to relate to them on a personal level and give them a delightful experience that also demonstrates the value of your goods. Although experiential marketing has been around for quite some time, it has undergone significant development and transformation in the recent years. The global pandemic and the evolution of workplace culture are two major contributors to this trend. Experiential marketing allows viewers to participate from the convenience of their own homes by streaming the events live or on-demand on their computers or mobile devices.

Experiential marketing may be seen in the creation of events that feature and draw attention to branded products and services through their physical presence and demonstration. Attraction to branded goods could be facilitated through the use of entertaining family activities and unusual games at this event. In most cases, this strategy entails engaging in endeavors that may effectively advertise themselves. People are more inclined to do their own research on the product or service and use it if they find the display or event to be entertaining and informative. It's important for experiential marketing concepts to adapt to the changing preferences and lifestyles of modern consumers. In the past, most people stuck to 9 to 5 business hours every day. However, in the modern era, many people do not have the luxury of attending an event during traditional business hours because they work from home or have other obligations that prevent them from leaving the house.

Experiential marketing has a number of advantages. Think about the ways in which you may help your clients stand out by offering them a novel way to reach out to and connect with their ideal customers. The following are some of the advantages of using experiential marketing. Increasing brand recognition is a formidable task for any company. The more the public's familiarity with a brand, the more likely it is that consumers would recall the brand's name when making a purchasing decision. Increasing brand recognition through a marketing event like this is an excellent strategy for drawing attention to a product and encouraging customers to buy it right then and there. The success or failure of a company depends on how well it can cultivate a loyal consumer base. A brand's ability to remain competitive in any given market depends on its ability to not only connect with its intended demographic, but also to foster an atmosphere conducive to generating revenue and producing satisfied, repeat buyers. Furthermore, repeat buyers are much more inclined to recommend a brand to their friends, family, and coworkers. Advertising through word of mouth is still powerful, and it works even better when it's fueled by a dedicated customer base.

Experiential marketing is based on the principle of increasing participation. When consumers have a good time interacting with a brand, they are more likely to buy into the product or service. This method is excellent for showing the value of a product or service and how it can solve a customer's issue. In addition, if done right, the consumer will have fun at the demo or event and feel connected to the business. Traditional experience marketing tactics were simplistic. In-store demos and freebies were the mainstays of these events. In their prime, they performed admirably. However, modern advertising requires a viral impact.