As a business, experiential marketing is a great way to get more eyes on your account; however, there is a potential that it won’t always work out. So, how do you know when to do experiential marketing and how much to invest? We will go into what budgeting for marketing should look like and how to measure it with ROI to see if experiential marketing is working out for your business. Factory360 looks more into experiential marketing and how to use your resources effectively when putting budget into marketing. 

 What is Experiential Marketing? 

Experiential marketing is a strategy that focuses on creating memorable and interactive experiences for customers to be able to connect with the brand on a more emotional and personal level. Typically, with this type of marketing, the brand will focus on pop-ups, live events, or other types of interactive campaigns that go beyond traditional marketing strategies. 

Key Aspects of Experiential Marketing

There are some key aspects of experiential marketing that are typically used and help to give that interactive feel within the marketing. Here’s a look at some of those aspects: 

Emotional Connection

One of the biggest things that is in experiential marketing is the emotional connection piece that helps interact and connect with their audience. Creating these positive and memorable experiences can help to connect with their audience and leave an emotional impact on them. 

Immersive and Interactive 

Typically, this type of marketing uses an immersive and interactive approach that helps to keep the audience involved and leaves an impact. Hands-on experiences give customers an immersive experience that is much more impactful than the audience just seeing or receiving passive information via typical marketing strategies.

Various Formats

For experiential marketing, this can be done in many different formats that help to bring the experiences to life. Some of the more popular types of experiential marketing are pop-ups, where the customers will get to see and interact with your business or product in person. Another type is workshops, where customers can learn more interactively about your product or service. Some other types include product installations or product demonstrations. 

What Are the Benefits and ROI Potential for Experiential Marketing? 

Experiential marketing comes with a lot of potential ROI and other benefits that come with it, and we’re going to lay out some of these benefits and ROI potential so you can make a decision on whether it’s the right kind of marketing for your business. 

Brand Awareness: One potential benefit is the increase in brand awareness from using marketing techniques that have more of an impact. People will remember your brand more for simply doing more that is impactful, which will generate more buzz and overall excitement for the brand. 

Customer Connections: A deeper customer connection is more prominent in experiential marketing due to the impactful techniques and connection techniques. These type of techniques overall fosters stronger loyalty and relationships with customers. 

Boosted Sales: The idea that customers can try products or see them in person in this type of marketing tactic can help boost sales. This could also help to push customers to buy products at these events, like workshops and product demonstrations. 

Improved Customer Engagement: Having these interactive experiences can encourage more participation and engagement from customers. 

Word-of-Mouth: Referrals and word-of-mouth are much more impactful when someone is able to say they attended an event or they were able to see the product in person, rather than just recommending something because they saw an ad or a social media post about it. 

Budgeting for Experiential Marketing 

Budgeting for experiential marketing can be broken up into multiple categories, but knowing where to invest and how much can vary based on your needs. Ultimately, as a business, it’s important to know if it’s the right call to invest in different marketing strategies. Experiential marketing is a great way to expand your impact on customers and make more of a stronger connection, but it’s crucial to ensure that it is a good marketing technique for your business. 

Key Budget Categories for Experiential Marketing

There are different categories that are a part of experiential marketing, so as a business considering this marketing technique, it’s important to know what these categories are. 

Strategy and Development: This includes the content concept, creation, planning, and collaborating with any agencies or consultants that you may bring on. 

Production: This will include the venue or space that you’ll use for the event, props, design, or any other physical aspects to make it happen. 

Staffing and Training: If you are bringing on other people to work these events, you’ll need ot pay them for the staffing and also pay them for training. 

Promotion: You’ll want to put some budget aside to market and promote the upcoming events on social media or through email. 

Operations and Swag: This includes insurance, transportation, permits, and any products that you may want to give away during the event. 

How to Set a Budget Based on Campaign Goals

There are different steps that need to be taken in order to set a budget that makes sense for your business. Here is a look at how you can set a budget based on campaign goals for your business.

Define Clear Objectives: The first thing to do is to define clear objectives and goals for your campaign and your business to ensure they align. This helps you understand the end goal and the path you want to be on. 

Think About Budget: Think about the budget that you have for this and how it aligns with your overall goals for the campaign. 

Prioritize High-Impact Points: Prioritizing high-impact points means that you are able to focus your budget on the areas that will make the biggest impact on the campaign and on the audience. 

How to Measure ROI and Efficiency 

There are a few different ways that you can measure ROI and just see how things are working out for your business. It’s important to track this so that you understand if it’s worth it to continue investing in these areas. You should track KPIs like attendance, engagement rate, and leads generated. You could also use post-event surveys or other ideas to get an idea of what people think about the events. 

Experiential Marketing and Budgeting for Business

When you think about experiential marketing, it can be a real way to connect with your audience as there are many different benefits that come with that. However, it’s important to budget for this as it can be a little more complex than your typical marketing avenues. Using these tips and knowing how to budget for experiential marketing can help you have a successful campaign, while also understanding if you are getting enough out of it. If you’re interested in adding in this area of marketing and think it’s right for your business, try it out, track your metrics, and see what kind of impact it can have on your business and audience. Contact Factory360 today to learn more.