This is a great time to be in the electronics manufacturing business. Consumers wait with bated breath for the next smartphone, video game console and virtual reality system. In the B2B space, companies are eager to pounce on the newest advances in communication systems, medical technology and presentation equipment.

But if you’re still looking for new and exciting ways to market your products – or want to thank consumers for their loyalty to your brand – experiential marketing is a great option.

Company executives often think of experiential marketing as the domain of spirit brands, fashion lines and television shows. But experiential marketing can be a great tool for electronics manufacturers as well. Below are our best tips for electronics manufacturers interested in conducting outstanding experiential marketing campaigns.

Allow consumers to experience your products with their senses

The reason experiential marketing works so well is that it allows consumers to experience a company’s products with their hands, eyes, mouths, ears and noses. You already know that allowing consumers to try your technology is a better sales technique than magazine or video advertisement. That’s especially true when you’re marketing new technology like virtual reality and robots. So it shouldn’t be that much of a stretch to convince your bosses that experiential marketing is a good idea.

When you plan an experiential marketing event, make sure your consumers are sampling your products in the most conducive environment possible. Gamers will likely want to try a new console in a space where they can turn up the sound (and their own volume) as much as possible People looking at theater equipment will likely want to view the projector’s quality in a space that’s dark and set up similar to the way their theaters.

If you can, expand the experience beyond things people can see and touch. Can you serve great food and beverages at your event? Can you get very comfortable chairs made with soft fabrics for consumers to sit in while they sample your products? Can you pump appropriate smells into a virtual reality experience that involves walking in a forest or exploring an exotic city?

Think about creative ways to show off your products

Why limit yourself to showing off new computers in an office or classroom setting, or new televisions in a space set up to look like a living room? If you’re going to demonstrate the innovative features of your products, why not do it in an unusual or real-life setting?

When Sony made a big push to market their Action Cams, they could have set them on tables at festivals and let consumers play with them. Instead, they slipped the cameras into custom mounts and let people take them on crazy adventures. They stuck them on surfboards and dogs at the Surf City Surf Dog competition in Huntington Beach, base jumpers at the Bridge Day in the New River Gorge, and fans mingling with celebrities at the Napa Valley Film Festival.

Get software developers involved too

Your device may be exciting, but the software that’s loaded on it may be just as exciting to consumers. Consider planning an experiential marketing event with one of your software partners.

This type of cross-promotion is smart for several reasons. A consumer may not visit your event if all they get to do is pick up your new tablet. If they get to play a game or use an app on the tablet, they’re much more likely to stop.

If there are two or more brands involved in an experiential marketing activation, everyone can reach out to their audiences and promote the event. That’s likely to increase attendance and draw new customers for everyone. The event will get wider reach on social media and other new media channels – maybe even wide enough to draw the attention of earned media. Doing events in partnership also keeps costs down while still providing a high-quality experience.

Given all these benefits, it’s easy to see why doing special events in partnership with other companies is a big trend in the experiential marketing industry.

Don’t limit yourself to promoting the hell out of your products

Experiential marketing activations are highly effective when they link your brand with a positive emotion or memory. That means you don’t have to limit yourself to events where consumers simply try your products and learn about your company. Think creatively about what you can do that’s fun, different and memorable.

German audio equipment manufacturer Sennheiser created a wacky experiential marketing campaign to promote their Urbanite headphone brand. It started with a series of videos featuring a giant ear and a man dressed as a headphone earpiece. Ears take a beating over the course of a normal day, the videos explained. People need to show their ears more love to make up for that. Cue the guy dressed as a headphone massaging and otherwise pampering the giant ear.

When consumers shared the videos and the hashtag #EarLove on their social media accounts, they received clues for a scavenger hunt. The reward at the end of the hunt were golden ears mounted to posters. Each could be redeemed for a free set of headphones. Consumers could also win free headphones by posting “ear selfies” to Instagram.

It’s possible that many of the consumers who participated in this campaign had never even heard of Urbanite headphones before a giant ear popped up in their Facebook news feed. They just got caught up in the excitement of the campaign and the promise of free stuff. The company did a great job of catching people’s attention and creating an experience they’ll never forget.

Is your electronics manufacturing company interested in hosting its first experiential marketing event – or maybe its 100^th? Let Factory 360 help you make that event even better. Our agency brings loads of creativity, tons of knowledge about the tech industry and over 10 years of experience planning experiential marketing events. No matter what you’re trying to accomplish, we can help get you there. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you meet your goals.