Selling in a world that is saturated with material has been quite the challenge over the past few decades. But the tide is turning thanks to social media. Today materialism is dying out and experientialism is becoming the new trend. Then, your status was represented primarily by what brand of watch you wear and what car you drive. Unless you spoke with someone, they would never know you had a one of a kind hike in the mountains or took an inspiring business trip to New York. Today only a select few will see your new Benz or Louis V handbag, but with all of your friends and followers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter it’s more likely people will know that you went to that Bears game, vacationed to the Bahamas, or just killed a WOD.
Experiences have become more visible. They’re superior to material goods at expressing one’s identity, and more likely to contribute to your status. This is why experiential marketing is becoming so effective. The idea is that consumers buy based on how they personally connect with whatever the company sells, that is the experiences of the consumer that result in brand loyalty. The goal of experiential marketing is to appeal to a person’s emotional and rational sides, so the consumer has a truly memorable product or service experience.
How can you implement this type of marketing? Here’s a list of how to get the job done.
1) Make the whole experience awesome: from start to finish. Every component should be well thought-out and engaging.
2) Make every interaction between your brand and audience connect on an intellectual, emotional, and physical level. Yet another reason new companies are shifting to Social Entrepreneurship and have been successful doing so.
3) Make it so customers leave with stories they can’t help but share. After all, there is no easier sell than word of mouth.
4) Make ephemeralization (doing more and more with less and less) the focus of what you do: reduce your material inputs and costs, while increasing the experiential outputs and benefits. This not only makes you greener , but you’ll generate community and spark conversation.
The bottom line: If you, your brand, and your business can help people find those things through experiences rather than stuff, you are more likely to connect with them, and sell to them in the future!
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