Before consumers purchase your products or services, they must be made aware of your brand. For this reason, building brand awareness is often thought of as the first step in the process of converting consumers into customers.

There are countless ways to let customers know that your brand exists, however one of the most effective ways involves experiential marketing. Here’s how to build brand awareness with experiential marketing:

Tell a Story

People would much rather be told a story than be bored with basic facts about your brand. Plus, consumers are much more likely to remember details of a story than facts about a brand. Because of this, it’s crucial for marketers to make their brand more memorable by telling a story about it at their experiential marketing event.

The story can involve how the brand was created, an important moment in the brand’s history, or a specific interaction with a customer. When writing the story, try to incorporate the five C’s of brand storytelling: circumstance, curiosity, characters, conversations, and conflict. Incorporating each of these elements will create a more compelling story that guests will want to hear.

After the story has been written, marketers must decide how to tell it. For brands, storytelling does not mean gathering guests together to read them a story. Many marketers tell their brand’s story through videos or interactive experiences at the event, but it’s up to you to determine the appropriate way to share the story.

Storytelling makes it easier for brands to connect with their audience on a deeper level. After the event is over, guests will remember the people and places mentioned in your story, and thus remember your brand.

Partner With Other Brands

Another effective way to build brand awareness through experiential marketing is to host the event with other brands. Be sure to choose brands that target a similar audience, but do not sell similar products or services. For example, a hair care company could partner with a skin care or cosmetic company since these companies target the same audience, but with different products.

How does this increase brand awareness? Let’s say a hair care company and skin care company partner together to host an experiential marketing event. Both companies will promote the event to their customers. This means the skin care company’s customers will be introduced to the hair care company, and vice versa. Hosting an event with other companies is a great way to expand your reach to a new segment of your target audience.

Encourage Guests to Share on Social Media

Generate free publicity by encouraging guests to share videos and photos of the event with their followers on social media. How? Start by creating a unique hashtag for your event. Every time you promote the event on social media, be sure to include this hashtag. The hashtag should also be included on marketing materials distributed prior to and during the event. Spreading the word about the hashtag will remind guests to post on social media and ensure they use the hashtag when they do.

You can also host a contest or giveaway during the event that encourages guests to post on social media. For example, guests could be required to post about the event on social media in order to enter the contest or giveaway.

The design of the event can also be used to motivate guests to share photos and videos on social media. If there are beautiful backdrops or impressive product displays, social media users will want to take photos or videos to share with their followers. Keep this in mind when designing the event.

Go Over-the-Top

A lot of companies decide to build brand awareness by making a splash with an over-the-top stunt. In 2012, Red Bull sponsored Felix Baumgartner’s free fall from 24 miles above the Earth. Over 52 million viewers tuned in to see Baumgartner fall towards the Earth decked out in a suit covered in Red Bull branding. This wasn’t a traditional experiential marketing event, but it allowed Red Bull to interact with a massive audience. Anyone who didn’t know about Red Bull before definitely knew what the brand stood for after watching this event.

Red Bull isn’t the only brand that has used an over-the-top experiential marketing campaign to generate brand awareness. This is tried-and-true tactic that can get a brand’s name out there fast.

Tap Into Consumers’ Emotions

Consumers are exposed to countless advertisements everyday, so it’s important for your brand to be so unique that it is able to cut through this clutter. One way to separate your brand from competitors is to create an emotional connection with the consumer. Consumers that are emotionally connected to a brand are not only more likely to remember the brand, but they also often become loyal customers.

Lean Cuisine’s #WeighThis event was an emotionally charged experiential marketing activation that resonated with consumers. This campaign tapped into women’s insecurities about their weight, but in a positive way. The goal of the event was to help women realize their worth is not measured by the numbers on the scale. Women who attended this event left feeling more positive about their bodies. As a result, they will probably always associate that positive feeling with the Lean Cuisine brand. Think of how you can follow in Lean Cuisine’s footsteps and tap into your audience’s emotion in a similar manner.

Building brand awareness can be challenging, which is why so many companies turn to the experts at Factory 360 for help. Let our team of skilled experiential marketers plan an event that will introduce your brand to countless consumers!