Wireless companies are big players in the experiential marketing space. Verizon sponsored Super Bowl City before Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco. Sprint brings tables with swag to all kinds of sporting events and festivals. T-Mobile recently did a real life Angry Birds experience that was very popular.

There’s a lot of competition in the wireless market, and every company needs to find a way to stand out. Experiential marketing is a great way to do that because it helps you build relationships and trust with consumers. It also helps people experience your brand with their senses and emotions.

Factory 360 has extensive experience working with wireless providers. One example is our work with MetroPCS dealers nationwide. Over the last year and a half we’ve created, executed and managed the brand’s overall experiential marketing logistics and activities for various markets. Our partnership involves handling multiple avenues including authorized dealer co-op activations, collateral sourcing, production, large events, festivals, sports franchise execution, brand specialist staffing and creative conception.

As a result of our experience, we have several tips for wireless companies new to experiential marketing (or those looking to improve their event marketing efforts). These tips will get you thinking about taking your next activation to satellite levels of greatness.

Shout it from the rooftops: We can save you money!

If your wireless company can compete on cost, communicate that through an experiential marketing event. The great thing is you don’t actually have to save anybody money at the event (although you can if you sign them up for your service). All you have to do is plant this seed in consumers’ minds: You’re the brand they should seek out when they’re ready to stop paying so much for wireless service.

Here are some ideas for experiential marketing activations that will create a link between your company and saving money:

• Engage people in an exercise that gets them thinking about how they’ll spend all the money they’ll save. Let them dress up in designer clothes and take their photo in a photo booth. Get them to participate in some kind of competition where they can win free gas, grocery store gift certificates or trips to communicate that they’ll have more money to spend on these items.
• Let consumers try bungee jumping or a free-falling amusement park ride. Offer some kind of sale and promote your falling prices.

If you have a family calling plan or other service that will save people money, you can also make that a centerpiece of your experiential marketing plan. The former is fun because there are endless funny riffs on families that could be part of your activation (awkward family photos, anyone?). An activation could also encourage people to focus on how much they love their family, which will help link their memory of your company to fond memories of the people they love.

Highlight the quality of your wireless service

Perhaps you can’t save consumers money, but the trade-off is that people get much better wireless, data and texting service. No one likes to travel out of town or across the street and discover their phone no longer works. This is definitely a selling point for many consumers, and you should highlight the quality of your service in your activation.

How can you communicate the quality of your wireless service?

• Put together a “dead zone” house of horrors. It can be super scary or kind of scary depending on your target audience. At the end, let people know that they can avoid dead zones with your service.
• Sponsor a party that features high-quality things: Great food and drinks, celebrities, engaging games and other activities, chances to experiment with cutting-edge technology. Send consumers home with amazing swag bags so they keep thinking about your brand long after the event is over.

Show that you care about customer service

So much of the competition for wireless account is about cost and wireless service area. Show that you care about more than that with a memorable and meaningful activation. Customer service really is important; surveys shows that 89% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company because they received poor service. Consumers are twice as likely to tell their friends about a bad customer service experience rather than a good one, and they’re four more likely to buy from one of your competitors (even if their prices are higher and their services not as good) if they receive poor service.

Here are a few ways to imprint the idea of good customer service in the minds of current or potential consumers:

• Organize a pampering day where people receive free massages, manicures or other services designed to help them relax.
• Plan a thank you event that gives consumers meaningful gifts in exchange for their loyalty to your company.

Let people try the newest and best cell phones

At your experiential marketing event, let people experiment with the coolest new phones on the market. One of the best ways to sell cellular service is to sell the amazing features on the phones you offer. When people go into a wireless store, they can pick up the phone and handle it for a while. But they can’t call someone on it, or play with all the apps, or really check out all the features. Let them do that and you’re likely to see a bump in new consumers.

Allowing people to sample the newest and best phones on the market can be part of a larger experiential marketing activation, or it can be the sole focus. Either way, it should be effective. One of the benefits of experiential marketing is that consumers get to try products and services before they buy them. Handling a product and having someone explain how it works is a much better marketing strategy that simply advertising a product.

When you’re ready to increase the quality of your experiential marketing activations, call, text or email Factory 360. We’ll help your wireless company reach more consumers and communicate a message they’ll remember long after they switch to your service.