Experiential Marketing: New Opportunities and Challenges for the Events Industry

Experience is currently one of the hottest marketing trends. Brands are shifting more of their marketing budgets from traditional advertising to experiential marketing, and agencies are adapting to this shift. What can events industry professionals do to stay at the forefront of the experience trend?

Experience is not just a marketing buzzword that everyone overlooks. It is rapidly becoming one of the most popular methods for driving sales, awareness, and brand advocacy, backed by a wealth of data. For the events industry, this is good news, because if anyone knows how to create a great experience that leaves a lasting impression, you only need to look at the events industry.

Traditional Advertising Is Heading for the Graveyard

Forgive our sensational headline, but it's no secret that nobody likes being bombarded with ads. More importantly, people are engaging with media in different ways. Fewer people are watching cable TV, listening to the radio, or reading newspapers. Instead, they consume only what they want, when they want it. This shift in audience habits is forcing advertising to change at all costs. Even popular internet ads are becoming painful, as people either turn a blind eye to them or use ad-blocking software. This is bad news for brands and marketing agencies. Have consumers lost their love for brands? Absolutely not. They are simply seeking more meaningful and memorable interactions.

What Is Experiential Marketing?

Simply put, experiential marketing is the convergence of marketing and events, aimed at building long-term, meaningful relationships between brands and audiences through one-on-one experiences.

Different types of events, from small installations and pop-ups to exhibitions and music festivals, each activate an experience. If you are an events professional, you are preparing for this every day.

When done right, experiences leave a lasting impression. People remember and talk about experiences that make them feel good. For any brand, that impression is worth paying for.

Why Is Experience So Important for Events Professionals Now?

Brand marketers are beginning to truly notice the value of experiences in nurturing and developing a brand's audience. A recent survey by Freeman (2017) showed that 59% of marketing directors acknowledge that brand experiences create ongoing connections with key audiences in their target market. Additionally, respondents believe that brand experiences are particularly effective for lead generation and sales growth.

The same report also found that an increasing number of marketers expect to allocate 50% of their marketing budgets to experiential events within the next three to five years.

What Are the Main Challenges Facing the Events Industry?

1. Competition from Marketing Agencies

As an events industry professional, you might think you can take a break because budgets are shifting from traditional advertising to your field, but that would be a terrible mistake. Extra budgets bring extra competition—many PR, advertising, and marketing agencies from around the world are joining in to get a piece of the pie. Remember, not every experiential event requires a large-scale exhibition or a big-budget event.

2. The Complexity of Planning and Executing Events

Planning an event with a "just do it and see" attitude is not applicable. Like any marketing activity or other type of event, you need to start your work at the strategic level. When planning an experiential event for a brand's razor, before deciding to move a barbershop to Grand Central Station, consider what you truly want, who your audience is, and what they want.

Depending on the event or stunt you plan to implement, think about how you will attract people to the venue and how you will guide them to participate. After the event, how will you (or the brand you work for) continue to amplify the event's impact?

While experienced event planners may revel in the complexity of events, this complexity, combined with increasing competition, is enough to deter some brands. This is particularly evident in the publishing industry, where many brands, including The Guardian and The Telegraph, seem to be cutting back on events.

Or to put it another way: events are like sausages—you don't want to see how they are made. (This is an English idiom implying that something is complex or unappealing to learn about.)

High Costs

An important part of determining your event strategy is having a completely clear concept of your budget. Like any event, there are labor costs, construction or equipment costs, technology costs, and many other costs. Not to mention the small things you forget... Ensuring the budget is clear and always building in contingency for unexpected events are all costs.

In some cases, such as trade shows, conferences, and festivals, some costs can be recovered through ticket sales and merchandise, but this may not apply to smaller events aimed at building brand affinity.

Conclusion

Experiential marketing is where smart money is flowing, and many clever agencies are following it. This means that while the market is growing, competition is also intensifying, with many marketing and advertising agencies shifting toward event planning.

For some, the entire marketing world's coveting of the events industry may seem a bit intimidating, but with a larger market opportunity, combined with the wealth of industry experience that seasoned event planners already possess, they should have a first-mover advantage. For many marketers, this is a brave new world. For experienced event planners, it's just another day at the office.

Event planners, experiential marketing is your turf.