How to create a (MORE) EXPERIENTIAL EVENT

Experiential marketing reigns as king of all forms of marketing in terms of its ability (when done right) to evoke positive emotions, and in so doing build brand loyalty and generate repeat customers.

For example:

• 70% of consumers become repeat customers after an experiential marketing event.1

• 85% of consumers are likely to buy after participating in events and experiences.2

• 98% of consumers create digital or social content at experiences and events.1

• 100% of consumers share the content they create.1

• 65% of customers say that product demos and live events helped them understand the product better than any other advertising method. 2

• 91% of consumers have more positive feelings about brands after joining events and experiences.2

• For consumers, the top three advertising methods to understand product benefits are company website (44%), events and experiences (41%), and physical retail stores (29%). 2

1 EMI

2 Event Marketer

Visit financesonline.com if you’d like to see all 89 experiential marketing statistics.

Events Are Innately Experiential

Events are essentially one form of experiential marketing, specifically in-person events where attendees are physically present and by default will be engaging with your event’s brand and content. However, by understanding this concept, and how to use it well, planners can elevate their events from a solid ‘good’ to a fabulous ‘great’, and convert attendees into fans who will actively help to market future events.

Side note: You could argue that business events are different to consumer events, and these statistics are for consumer. However, we are still talking about people at the end of the day, and how we respond to things is innate. When Lebo attends an industry conference and has an immensely enjoyable experience while achieving her work objectives, don’t you think she will be more likely to want to attend again next year, and tell her colleagues and peers about what a great event it was?

You bet.

A HOW-TO GUIDE

Considering that many professionals may attend hundreds of events in their career, the pressure is on to make your events the ones that are the most memorable. Here are some guidelines, but remember to apply them with creativity guided by insights into who your audience is.

#1 Have a goal

Always, always make sure your experiential tactics help you to achieve your event’s objective/s. Otherwise, as fun or innovative as they might be, they will serve no purpose and possibly leave your attendees a little confused or, worse yet, detract from your goals.

#2 Think about all the senses

Martin Lindstrom, a business and culture transformation expert, shares that brand impact increases by 30% when more than one sense is engaged, and by 70% when three senses are integrated into the brand message.

Events are by default sensory experiences, so it’s important to keep all five senses top of mind, from sight and touch to taste, sound and even smell. For example, what colours match the mood you are trying to create? What type of music, at what volume, should welcome your guests when they arrive? What textures can you choose for the furnishings? Will freshly brewed coffee or fresh cut flowers add to the effect you are trying to achieve?

#3 Keep it social

Most if not all of your attendees are likely on social media, so give them lots to post and share on their profiles. (Remember the earlier stats – 98% of consumers will create digital or social content at events, while 100% will share the content they create.) From food art to photo walls and interesting centre pieces or art installations, there are plenty of ways to do this. Don’t forget to prominently display your easy-to-remember hashtag so that you benefit from this goldmine of usergenerated content.

#4 Encourage interaction

Help your attendees become active participants rather than passive viewers. If you have a speaker, brief them to ask and take questions regularly, and not only in the last five minutes when the MC is worried about running over time. (On that, also brief your MC not to cut interesting Q&As short.) There are some great tools to help make this a seamless and easily inclusive process, such as live polling, upvoting the questions delegates most want to hear, and sentiment word clouds.

You can also include interactive activities or ‘build your own’ food stations, while Adrian Segar, founder of Conferences That Work, advises some level of gamification: “By including a few simple games in your meetings, attendees will apply creativity and ingenuity, making the entire experience more engaging.”

Networking is also an invaluable business event interaction. Find new ways to facilitate it. For example, use smart badges that light up every time a person comes close to a profile match. It’s a great ice breaker and can be used in conjunction with an event app to ensure contact details are seamlessly shared.

#5 Create a varied programme

Pauses in the programme allow people to take everything in. Packing in too much – even of a good thing – can become a bit too intense and exhausting. Not the effect you are going for.

Victoria Matey, a consultant and co-founder of Matey Events, shares the following brain-friendly event design examples that make for more memorable events: balancing the agenda with more and better quality breaks; spreading out event content over time (including pre- and postevent); and integrating emotions into your design intentionally (think surprise moments, humour, anticipation, and anything else that can be relevant to your audience).

#6 Don’t forget pre- and post-event engagement

The way attendees experience your event begins long before they walk through the door. Think about how you communicate with them pre-event, and what you can do to build excitement leading up to your event. You can also facilitate networking pre-event by digitally introducing attendees, possibly through an app or social media group, so that people coming to your event already have a list of contacts they would like to speak to.

Post-event communication is equally critical, not only to thank attendees and send a feedback survey, but to cement the relationship you have now formed. Spot Me suggests tactics such as reminding them about the event highlights, making some or all content available on-demand, hosting a follow-up networking event, having an exclusive offer or running a competition – all of which should ideally be personalised to the relevant audience segment.