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Create Active And Loyal Customers With Experiential Marketing

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Post-Pandemic Marketing

In 2020, in-person events and experiences were suspended, forcing a transition to virtual interfaces. Throughout the pandemic, brands shifted their marketing efforts to focus more on the digital world. We are seeing an increasing number of brands on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and other social platforms. This boom in the digital world means that brands need to find new, unique ways to stand out from the rest.

Consumers have indicated that a brand’s values and culture are huge factors in determining whether to buy its products or services. They are looking for connection and a sense of community when interacting with a brand. It comes down to quality over quantity in terms of brand exposure and interaction. There should be a two-way connection built between you and your audience, enhanced by transparency, authenticity, and inclusivity. Experiential marketing is an excellent way to foster this connection.

Defining Experiential Marketing

Experiential marketing uses real-life experiences to raise brand awareness, build connections, and increase sales. Exposure to your products and services occurs through events, activities, and experiences rather than just ads and social content. With traditional marketing, your customers are passive recipients of brand information, whereas with experiential marketing they are active participants. There are a variety of ways to incorporate experiential marketing into your strategy, including both offline and online experiences.

Augmented & Virtual Realities

Augmented reality (AR) is the use of technology to augment or enhance a person’s perception of their physical environment. This is done by overlaying a digital experience over the top of a physical one. Virtual reality (VR), on the other hand, is a completely immersive digital experience. By putting on a headset, the display replaces your physical environment rather than integrating the two. Both AR and VR connect the real world with the online world, providing interactive experiences immersed in a virtual environment. Using this experiential marketing strategy engages potential customers with your products in a memorable way.

Nikeland: The Nike Soccerverse

Nikeland is a shared digital space built by Nike in the Roblox online platform. You can create a personalized avatar and unlock clothing, accessories, and superpowers by playing games or participating in the Nike Cup Clash. Users are also able to create their own minigames, earn UGC items, and explore the digital world to their heart’s content.

Classes & Workshops

Providing classes and workshops is a great way to connect your audience with the people behind your brand. Establish yourself as an expert by teaching small groups of people how to make or do something relevant in your niche. Leverage your current customer base to create events that complement your products and services while being of interest to your audience. These can be held in person or online.

Wine & Paint Events

Wine and paint nights are a classic example of how you can connect with your audience through classes. During these events, an artist walks the attendees through creating the selected painting for the night. They give step-by-step instructions on what colors to use or blend and how to create the right texture with the brush. The participants have the option to follow along exactly or to create their own variation. Wine and paint nights are fun for the participants, especially if they come with friends, and the artist gets to share their work and skills.

Co-Branding

Co-branding is when two or more companies collaborate on a joint experience that benefits all of the brands involved. These events work best when the products and services of each brand don’t compete with one another.

Joybird & Sherwin-Williams

Joybird is a home lifestyle brand that sells home furnishings and interior decor. They collaborated with Sherwin-Williams, a paint company, on a campaign that combined home furnishing and color palettes. Together, they provided inspiration for customers to easily choose paint colors that complemented their home decor.

Conferences

Conferences are a place for like-minded professionals to gather and discuss industry topics. These conferences typically include live talks, in-person trainings, and networking events. You can share your expertise, educate others, and create personal connections with your target audience.

Social Media Marketing World

For the past three years, our marketing team has participated virtually in the annual Social Media Marketing World conference. During this conference, we participate in live talks with experts in social media marketing and have the opportunity to ask questions during a live Q&A. We have enjoyed attending and learning the latest tips and tricks for marketing on social media.

Product Demonstrations, Samplings, & Trials

Providing demonstrations, samples, and trials appeals to customers because they are able to try out your products or services before purchasing. They can make informed decisions based on their experiences. This is a great way for you to promote brand awareness, generate leads, and increase sales. Be sure to implement a lead- or purchase-tracking system to monitor the results of the campaign and determine if it was a success.

Subscription Boxes

Subscription boxes are excellent for experiential marketing for two reasons: (1) they typically offer a free trial box so you can see if it would be a beneficial subscription for you, and (2) the products in them are smaller sample-size versions of quality items. These boxes work for most industries and products, including food, beauty, home decor, and art supplies.

Tours

Tours provide your audience with a behind-the-scenes experience of your company. Whether self-guided or staff-led, these experiences are ideal for tourists and brand enthusiasts. They get a chance to learn more about your brand, your history, and how products are made, and even try samples of your products and services.

Tillamook Creamery

Tillamook Creamery offers free self-guided tours of their facility. Visitors can learn more about the company’s history and heritage by exploring the Farm Exhibit and Viewing Gallery. During the week, you can watch as employees cut and package the cheese blocks. They also offer a paid touring experience where you can learn about their cheesemaking process and get an exclusive hands-on look at some of their premium products.

VIP Experiences

With these exclusive offerings, a select few people have the opportunity to experience a brand, product, or service in a new and meaningful way.

Philadelphia 76ers

In 2021, the Philadelphia 76ers hosted the VIP Ticket Holders Tent Party. This exclusive event was a chance for loyal fans to cheer and celebrate their favorite team, complete with a 360 Video Booth to instantly share their unique experiences on social media.

Advantages of Experiential Marketing

Experiential marketing presents the opportunity to create meaningful experiences that transform your audience from passive recipients to active participants. This marketing strategy raises awareness of your brand and fosters authentic connections between you and your customers, ultimately driving sales conversions.

If you want to learn more about how experiential marketing can boost your existing marketing strategy, reach out to us today!

Create Seamless Online Shopping Experiences With Social Commerce

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Social media is always adapting, changing, and evolving with consumer trends. Over the years, it has shifted from simple text-based posts to increasingly visual content. The user base on social platforms has also changed. With an increasing number of brands adding it to their strategy, social networking has moved from communicating with friends and family to marketing and sales. From casual connections to social commerce.

We have all seen social commerce in action in one form or another. As you scroll through Instagram, you may come across a sponsored post related to your interests. This post likely has a “View Products” tag that takes you to a product page with pricing, details, and other information. You select your color, size, etc. and tap the “Buy Now” button. A few taps later, your purchase is complete and you go back to your scrolling. All of this without leaving the Instagram app.

That is social commerce. The sale of products directly through social media platforms, with the ability to view products and checkout in the platform itself. This differs from e-commerce in the sense that, while it is still online shopping, e-commerce is driven by ads, social media, or other marketing strategies and ultimately takes the consumer through the full sales funnel. Social commerce, on the other hand, meets the customer where they are (in the social platform) and reduces the steps it takes to get through the sales funnel. This is important because while 92% of active users access the internet through their mobile devices, 86% of those mobile users have abandoned carts. By streamlining the sales funnel, social commerce reduces friction points to create a seamless shopping experience.

If you are looking to add social commerce to your marketing strategy, there are four main platforms to consider: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest. While they all have similar features, it is important to think about where your audience is based and what they are most likely to interact with when it is natively displayed in their feeds. For instance, Instagram shopping allows you to create shoppable posts with tagged products as well as product stickers to include in your stories. TikTok allows for shoppable posts as well as livestream shopping. 

With 70% of consumers indicating that they discover new products through Instagram – or 77% through Pinterest – incorporating social commerce into your marketing strategy is a great way to boost your brand awareness and increase sales. You can do so by focusing on your more popular, lower cost products. When scrolling through social media, users are not likely to make large purchases, so use what you know sells well. Another great strategy is to partner with micro-influencers. They have an established audience that engages with, enjoys, and is influenced by their content, so their followers are more likely to trust their recommendation over a native post by you. Regardless of where and how you decide to add social commerce to your marketing strategy, don’t forget your call-to-action! Let the customer know what you want them to do with the products you place in front of them. This can be as simple as a button that says “View Products” or “Buy Now.”

If you need help with your marketing strategy or want to learn more about social commerce, reach out to us today!

A Closer Look At The Leading Social Media Marketing Strategy: Short Form Video Content

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The year is 2013. You and your friends just finished sharing the newest, funniest Vines with each other, watching these 6-second looping videos on repeat. Fast forward to 2020. While Vines are still referenced, the platform itself has been archived. TikTok is emerging as the leader in social media, causing other platforms to shift their strategy to stay relevant. We start to see Instagram and Facebook Reels, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat Spotlight. Since then, short form video content has become the leading growth strategy across the social media realm and businesses that have implemented this strategy have seen great return on investment. In 2021, the average person watched 18 hours’ worth of video content per week.

But what, exactly, is short form video? Basically, it encompasses any video that’s up to 5 minutes in length, though data shows that the optimal length for engagement is just under 1 minute. The idea is to create small bites of content that are easy to consume, easy to digest, and leave the viewer wanting more.

There are generally five different types of short form video:

  1. User Generated Content: These videos are created by your audience based on parameters set by you. This could involve using a specific hashtag, an original audio you created, or a branded filter. A great example is GoPro. The majority of their content is user generated and submitted through hashtags. Using this strategy is easy and budget friendly, perceived as more authentic than branded content, and provides you with data about your audience (who they are, what their pain points are, how they think, what they like, etc.) which then leads to improved targeting.
  1. Influencer Videos: Influencers have an established audience that engages with, enjoys, and is influenced by their content. Partnering with an influencer can significantly boost your brand’s awareness and reach, as they can place your brand in front of an entirely new audience. An influencer’s followers are also more likely to try products and services recommended by them since a relationship of trust has been developed. For more on influencer marketing, check out our blog post.
  1. Product or Promotion Teasers: These videos are a great way to build intrigue and suspense about an upcoming product or promotion. A common example is musicians teasing the release of their newest single or album. This could be anything from cryptic video clips to hint at what the song is about to soundbites of the song itself. Another example is artists showing a work in progress without revealing what the whole piece looks like.
  1. Educational Content: These videos are excellent for establishing your brand as a knowledge base in your niche by addressing common pain points. Demonstrate a product. Provide a tutorial. Take a blog post you’ve written and turn it into a series. Regardless of what kind of educational content you choose to provide, doing so provides value to your audience and sets you apart from competitors that focus on sales over connection.
  1. Behind-The-Scenes: Speaking of connection, these videos are the best way to show your audience the people and personalities behind your brand. This could include taking a tour of the office, showing off how a product is made, documenting a team building activity, or even doing a blooper video. The point here is to relate to your audience in a likable and authentic way that builds relationships and connections.

As the most popular – and most preferred – form of content on social media, using short form video can increase your brand’s visibility, relatability, and authenticity. Many of the platforms’ algorithms prioritize video content since it is more attention-grabbing and engaging than photos or text posts. To successfully implement short form video into your marketing strategy, it’s important to remember that each platform is different, both in terms of demographics and in terms of how users interact with content. Tailor your content to each platform you use. What works on Instagram may not work on TikTok. That being said, content is king, so any video you put out there is better than none at all!

If you need help with creating short form videos or have any questions about new and emerging trends, reach out to us today for more information!

E-Commerce vs. Online Marketplaces: Which is Better for Your Business?

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In light of the Etsy strike, it’s important to discuss diversifying your sales and why having both an Etsy shop and an e-commerce website – as well as selling through social media marketplaces – is beneficial. Similar to having a marketing strategy outside of social media, you need to have multiple sales strategies for your online business. Let’s go over each so you are better informed on your options going forward!

Etsy Marketplace has a trustworthy reputation, and overall the platform is reliable. It is free and easy to set up, so you can get started selling right away! However, there are listing and selling fees, meaning when you add a product to your shop and when you sell a product, fees are incurred. Additionally, it lacks customizability, so you have limited brand awareness. You have a greater potential for reach and exposure, but the site is highly competitive, so it’s crucial that your SEO is spot on in order to be found. 

An e-commerce website, such as WordPress or Shopify, takes time and money to set up and maintain, but it is fully customizable and you have more control over branding and shop policies. There’s no overhead on your individual products, just payments to register the domain name and keep your website up.

Similar to Etsy, social media marketplaces (Facebook Marketplace, Instagram Shopping, Google Shopping, etc.) are easy to sell on and easy to set up, especially if you already have an active audience there. However, competition is high and it’s easy to get lost in the abyss. Additionally, there are fees for each sale made.

Having an e-commerce site as well as selling in online marketplaces is beneficial because if one shop goes down, you have a backup option and can keep your business running. Or, in the case of Etsy, if fees increase more than you are comfortable with, you can pivot your strategy to focus on your e-commerce website and other marketplaces instead. Ultimately, it comes down to not having your eggs all in one basket and doing what works best for your business.

If you need help with your e-commerce website or have any questions about selling online, reach out to us today for more information.