Unleash the Potential of Experiential Marketing to Boost Brand Awareness

Building brand awareness is not an easy thing. Many businesses want to achieve it but have no idea how to measure it, and are sometimes even unsure of how to start. To address these challenges, experiential marketing is a powerful tool. 

Brand awareness is the first step to making people know your brand exists and turning audiences into customers. Furthermore, according to Hootsuite, brand awareness is a crucial first step toward brand loyalty. It is even better if your brand is highly recognizable, stands out from competitors, and becomes top of mind when people think about the category of products or services.

Forbes notes that building awareness might not be that easy. First, it's because of the massive amount of competition in the market. Everyone is exposed to so much information and advertisements every day. Second, brand awareness cannot be measured with quantitative metrics, and there is no specific method to increase it. 

It may be true, but according to Wordstream, one of the factors that determine whether a brand is successful is when customers choose your brand over competitors, even if the other brands offer a more affordable price. In addition, customers are actively searching and looking for more information about your brand because they know your brand exists and deem it interesting. At the end of the day, customers will decide to purchase from brands that they recognize and are familiar with. 

With this in mind, Promotion1 explains that a brand needs to try different techniques, channels, and experiences to generate more responses from customers. If the brand is focused and consistent in building brand awareness, it will lead to increased profit and market share over time. This is because customers will eventually be attracted to authenticity, transparency, trustworthiness, and brands that have a soul. 

All things considered, Factory360 concludes that one of the most effective ways to build brand awareness is by involving experiential marketing. Aspects that are built around experiential marketing will make your brand connect on an emotional level with customers and make your brand more memorable. In addition, the experience offered by experiential marketing will allow your brand to showcase the brand’s core values in a way that will resonate with your target audience. 

For more details, here are several special traits of experiential marketing that will help your brand build brand awareness successfully. 

Get Out of the Standard Ad Type

Creating experiences for customers is the main purpose of experiential marketing. At first, experiential marketing is not necessarily about selling products or services. It can either be an event to showcase the product or to let people test it. However, it is also okay if it has nothing to do with the product. 

In fact, experiential marketing can simply be about reinforcing the story of your brand. This will allow your customers to experience your brand's emotions while getting to know your goals on a deeper level. This is why experiential marketing seems to leave more lasting impressions than usual advertisements or promotions. 

Make the Brand Stand-Out from the Clutter of Advertisements

Nowadays, with gadgets and the internet becoming an integral part of everyone's daily lives, people are exposed to thousands of advertisements every day. Experiential marketing is one of the ways to break through these ad clutters. 

Experiences and hands-on activities are the cornerstones of experiential marketing, but they can also provide immersive and multi-sensory activities. When a brand focuses on this, the activities and experiences can be very memorable for customers. This will convince them that your brand is the best choice over other competitors regardless of how many ads or promotions they receive daily.

Tell the Authentic Brand Story Live and Directly to the Customers

Brands usually tell their story through social media, or by having a brand ambassador. This might be working, but there is a more effective way. By using storytelling in experiential marketing, you don't have to rely on other people to tell the story of your brand. Instead, you can let your customers experience it for themselves.

You need to make sure you give your customers a worthwhile story and an unforgettable experience so they can appreciate your brand's core values and substance. Nowadays, a lot of customers, especially the younger generations, are making their purchase decision based on the story, principles, and personality of the brands.

Can Have a Potential Impact on Online Presence

Experiential marketing is focused on face-to-face experiences, but that doesn't mean it doesn't impact the brand’s online presence. When designing an experiential event, keep in mind to create something that is shareable on social media. Consider an iconic backdrop, product display, layout, or ornament. 

Something that is stand-out, unique, and iconic will motivate people to take photos or videos to share on social media. Also, you can make an event hashtag or use social media mentions or tags as a requirement for joining your brand's experience. This way, awareness of your brand will be extended to people who didn't attend the event as well.

Also Read: Incorporating Influencer Marketing and Experiential Marketing: Why and How?