Pop-ups are short-term stores designed to serve the temporary needs of a business. The sudden appearance of these pop-up stores, paired with the hands-on approach to marketing, makes them perfect for experiential marketing. While you may not be familiar with the concept, it’s very likely that you’ve seen and possibly even interacted with a pop-up.

Pop-ups are only temporary, so the limited-time urgency really gets consumers to want to interact before it’s too late. Could this approach work for your product or service? Of course! Before you dive in, check out these things you didn’t know about using pop-ups in experiential marketing.

Pop-ups Draw Crowds

Experiential marketing brings a personal, effective experience to the consumers who are actively looking to learn more through an experience. The experience must draw and hold attention if it’s going to be effective. The more people that participate, the busier a pop-up becomes. All it takes is one person to stop and spread the word.

Birds Eye Picture House opened a pop-up restaurant with the goal if inspiring people to cook meals at home using Birds Eye products. To do this, the pop-up restaurant offered a free meal where patrons don’t have to pay. In lieu of money, people simply needed to order a meal, upload photos of their meal to Instagram, and dine free.

You Don’t Have to Push Sales

Yes, you want a sale. If you push too hard, you’re going to lose your consumer. Don’t tell them why they need you, show them instead. That’s the benefit to a pop-up store. You can deliver a personalized experience that uses the senses to prove the point.

A good example of this comes every year in your local mall or warehouse store. Lindt sets up a pop-up and hands everyone a chocolate truffle to eat while they shop. It’s often hard to stop at just one chocolate, and Lindt knows that. All it takes is the taste of that decadent truffle to get a shopper to splurge on a bag.

Pop-ups Stay With Consumers Long After They’ve Gone

When a pop-up store is successful, it will stick around long after it’s gone away. While the pop-up is gone, the business’s name and product don’t disappear from people’s minds.

The Dry Bar is a salon unlike others. They don’t cut hair or color it. They do not do perms or highlights. They focus on blowouts, and you may even have a glass of wine if desired. On cold days, a Dry Bar pop-up may appear in cities and towns with a The Dry Bar location. This pop-up is a giant hair dryer that people can stand in front of to warm up.

Your Pop-up Doesn’t Have to Be Directly Linked to Your Product or Service

You don’t have to make your pop-up store all about your product or service. You can draw attention by creating an experience that uses your service or product without being directly linked.

Take Kit Kat’s example. The popular chocolate bar came up with a pop-up that got everyone talking. The bench fit several people and blocked wi-fi service for five meters. People sitting on this bench could read, talk, or simply relax without the interruption of a ringing phone or loud phone conversation.

Pop-ups Get People Talking and Sharing

Pantone knows that a pop-up is a great way to get people to share photos. All that free promotion on social media sites can draw business to this company that specializes in colors. That’s why they created the Pantone Cafe. The cafe pops up from time to time in different locations. While Pantone has nothing to do with food, the cafe is all about foods that match the different Pantone colors.

How Do You Get Started?

Put yourself in the consumer’s shoes. If you were seeking your product or service, what would you most want to know, see, and experience? That’s the goal of your experiential marketing plan.

Factory 360 is happy to help you create pop-ups that draw consumers to your business. We’ve created unforgettable experiential marketing campaigns using pop-ups for companies like Evian and Microsoft. Why not be the next company to generate a buzz by using pop-ups. Reach Factory 360 via email or by calling 212-242-2417.