Boost Your Experiential Activations with Event and Digital Marketing

Here at Craftsmen Industries, we talk a lot about the experiential marketing vehicles that we create for our customers (and really, can you blame us?). But what exactly is experiential marketing? While it’s a pretty broad concept that encompasses a lot of marketing techniques, there are still a few key elements that must be considered when planning an experiential marketing campaign for it to be successful.

For something to be considered experiential marketing, it should involve a target audience that a brand aims to create or strengthen a relationship with in the campaign. Think of experiential marketing as a personal interaction between a brand and a consumer that leaves a lasting impression on the consumer, creating brand awareness and brand loyalty. 

Many people tend to associate event marketing and experiential marketing, while understandable, isn’t entirely accurate. The former can certainly be an element of the latter, but it doesn’t encompass the full extent of experiential marketing, which should be a longer-term strategy rather than a one-time event.

Event marketing allows consumers to see, touch, taste, smell, and hear in active participation that elicits positive emotional responses. These hands-on experiences create personal bonds that digital marketing struggles to achieve on its own; however, digital efforts can easily build on the foundation laid by branded experiences.

Many experiential marketing campaigns involve social media in some capacity to encourage consumers to stay connected with the brand online and to create and share user generated content. An easy way to incorporate this is by giving your campaign a hashtag that your audience can use when talking about your brand online. The inclusion of digital efforts increase exposure, create word-of-mouth marketing, and encourages continued interaction with participants. 

It’s not easy to plan an effective experiential marketing campaign, but the outcome is worth the effort and money spent. According to one 2016 study by EMI/Mosaic, 74% of consumers say engaging with branded event marketing experiences makes them more likely to buy the products being promoted. As with any marketing campaign, it is important to define your goals before getting started. Many brands use experiential marketing and custom shipping container trailer alternatives to achieve goals such as educating their target audience about their products, building brand awareness, and offering an opportunity to recruit or network with people in their industries. 

A few questions to consider when beginning your experiential marketing campaign plan: Do we have a new product to introduce? Do we simply want to increase brand awareness? Do we want to push a specific demographic further in our sales funnel? What audience do we want to target and where are they located? What key messages do we want to highlight to this audience? Take your answers and create specific measurable goals. 

Once your goals are set, it's time to sit down and get creative. How do you take all of the unique values of your brand and put them into an engaging experience that reaches your goals? This is where your deep knowledge for your brand and creative mind comes in handy, but we know it's a lot to take on; so, feel free to reach out to our team of experts during your planning process. With nearly 40 years of experience, we can bring a whole new mindset to your brainstorming sessions.  

When your campaign is planned, an online invitation or promotional post for your experiences is a good start to inform your audience and begin the hype. From there, you can stay connected with your guests through a specific site or social media account. To garner more engagement leading up to your event, consider partnering with influencers that will get your guests excited about the occasion.

To motivate your guests to share content of their own, provide photo opportunities if your event is in person, or photo prompts that relate to your campaign if it’s virtual. This kind of user engagement is invaluable because people tend to trust their friends’ endorsement of a brand far more than if it was coming from a stranger or the brand itself. Finally, make sure to give your new followers a reason to stay connected to your company. Post new content, share pictures from your event, and offer promotions through your social media to keep your followers engaged.

Find inspiration below in a few great examples of experiential marketing done right.

Barefoot #MarchOnward
As part of their #MarchOnward campaign, Barefoot Wine made appearances at Pride Festivals nationwide in their pop up lounge that offered photo ops, a chance to learn about Pride history, and, of course, their line of Barefoot Wine. Their event was fun, engaging, and a hit online! 

Monkey Shoulder Monkey Mixer
The Monkey Shoulder Monkey Mixer is a brand-centric experiential marketing unit. A cement mixer turned cocktail shaker complete with a dispenser, sound system, and DJ. The mobile party traveled across the United States to cocktail festivals and other events, showing their audience a whole new (fun!) side of whisky. 

Sony PlayStation Road to Greatness Tour
Sony took the PlayStation 4 directly to gamers at festivals, game conventions, and music venues across the country for their Road to Greatness tour. The tour, hosted in a double expandable trailer with nearly 1,000 square feet of interior space, allowed players to experience new games firsthand while connecting with others sharing similar interests. 

Papa Murphy's Tailbaking
2020's football season lacked typical tailgating experiences, so Papa Murphy's brought excitement to gamedays at home with delicious pizza delivered directly to fans in their #Tailbaking van. An awesome way to connect with fans in a socially-distant style.

If you think Craftsmen’s experiential marketing vehicles may be a good addition to your upcoming experiential marketing campaign, reach out to us to get a quote or learn more.