In the dynamic landscape of modern marketing, the potential of experiential marketing stands as a beacon for consumer brands seeking deeper understanding and genuine connections with their audiences. As we navigate the digital age, where online noise is a barrier to real connection, experiential marketing is a powerhouse for transforming memorable, tangible experiences into long-term brand-consumer relationships.

In this blog, we unravel the impact of experiential marketing, why it’s so important for brands, and how it can help brands scale their strategy and beyond. Join us as we explain how brand experiences become more than just moments—they become the heart of consumer loyalty and brand growth.

What is Experiential Marketing?

Experiential marketing, or engagement marketing, involves directly engaging consumers with active participation through events, activations, brand home experiences, and more. Unlike traditional marketing, which views consumers as passive recipients, experiential marketing emphasizes the memory-building of marketing initiatives, fostering a dynamic relationship between consumers and the brand.

How Does Experiential Marketing Work?

Human beings crave connection in a world of digital noise. The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology noted in their research, “Spending on Doing Promotes More Moment-to-Moment Happiness than Spending on Having,” that across their research subjects, experiences provoked more satisfaction even though people typically spend more time using their material possessions. One possible explanation, the researchers said, is how an experience endures in people’s memories while the perceived value of material goods weakens over time.

So, when you create an experience that brings your brand and its values to life, you create a bond with your consumers that endures.

Increases Brand Awareness

There’s nothing quite like making a splash. Eye-catching and well-timed experiences can boost brand awareness and introduce new consumers to your brand with your best foot forward. From interactive sponsorships to festival pop-ups and even ice cream factory tours, you can count on the first memory to be strong. 

For example, if you want to get people more familiar with your product or more aware, doing a product tasting where your consumers are, like festivals, conventions, or even malls and grocery stores, can convert first-timers to long-timers. This is a great tactic for alcohol, beverage, and food brands like JUST Egg, which use their product sampling to create new consumers and experiences to cement them in their minds.

Improves Brand Loyalty and Perception

In our State of Experiential Marketing 2024 report, we found that overwhelmingly, marketers use experiential to improve brand loyalty. Events and activations are the pinnacle of personalization marketing; by choosing specific locations and events that appeal to your target demographic, consumers can experience your brand for themselves in a way that means more to them than a digital ad. 

We’ve found that the average event conversion rate lives at 85%: The brand conversion rate is the number of consumers who were previously identified as detractors or passives, according to NPS results, but leave your experience as promoters. Detractors think poorly of your brand, and passives are more apathetic. For more on how to measure this and more, check out the blog!

That number is the improvement of perception overall, with a direct correlation to loyalty. When consumers think better of your brand, associating you with positive memories and moments, they’ll feel an emotional connection that results in repeated purchases and even advocacy of your products. After all, there’s a reason that we use brands that we were introduced to as children; they have nostalgia for us and are directly associated with memory. 

Helps Build Ideal Consumer Profiles

63% of consumers view brands as the biggest benefactors of data exchange. 57% of US consumers would rather do without marketing personalization and instead protect their data. So, how do you satisfy consumers enough to encourage sharing? The secret lies in a value exchange.‍

A value exchange is a transaction where something, like goods or services, is traded for something of comparable worth. Although most often found in retail, this principle applies to marketing, too. Loyalty programs, personalized offers, and more are given to consumers in exchange for insights straight from the source or zero-party data. That can be data like demographics, email addresses, preferences, and even reviews.

Events are great ways to exchange physical things, like products or limited edition swag, for a consumer’s information. This helps event marketing teams understand who’s coming to their event, where they’re coming from, and more beyond demographic information like preferences and purchasing behavior.

Propels Marketing Opt-Ins

One important piece of information you can get is a marketing opt-in, where a consumer gives you their email address and gives you permission to reach out to them. This connection is vital for a continued relationship with a consumer, especially when they express interest in keeping in contact. 

For certain retail and CPG brands, marketing opt-ins speak directly to sales numbers and revenue, using their email and SMS strategies to drive purchases. But for many experiential teams, there’s a more immediate use: email recipients who opt-in are more likely to fill in a follow-up survey. 

This is your brand’s chance to learn more about your consumer, their behavior, and more. We have a few favorite post-event survey questions we encourage you to ask, including:

• How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?
• How did you hear about this event?
• What did you enjoy most about today?

You can use this information to improve your event strategy and hone in on what works while improving simultaneously.

Informs Larger Decision-Making Across the Board

No man is an island, and neither is an event marketing team. You’re part of a larger organization and can use your event strategy to help more than just your team. 

Using events to learn key pieces of information, like attendee zip codes and how they learned about the event, can unlock new opportunities for distribution and targeted ad spending. For example, experiential agency Conversate Collective used experiential and AnyRoad to learn new information about consumer buying habits for their CPG beauty client. Check it out here!

The Takeaway 

Events are vital for a well-rounded consumer strategy; they positively impact each stage of the consumer journey, from initial brand awareness to loyalty. The unique personalization of experiential makes collecting consumer information, building profiles, and developing deeper relationships with attendees easier than ever before. 

Cutting through the digital noise is vital in 2024 and will continue into the future. Knowing how consumers think about you and how you can use the information to scale your brand’s growth isn’t just important; it’s critical for a brand’s survival.