Experiential Marketing- How To Realign With The New Normal

​Businesses have come a long way during the last year, with unprecedented changes in the working model and marketing strategies. The ones relying on experience marketing have struggled because events and gatherings are non-existent in the era of social distancing. Is this an end to in-person customer experience? How can brands continue to engage meaningfully with fans and consumers? What can possibly enable them to reconnect and stay connected without being up close?

​The questions are hard to answer, and it is easy for brands to be overwhelmed by the challenging shift. But even as the initial blow caused by the pandemic was hard, brands adapted as they did for everything else. Experiential marketing is here and still going strong, but you need to make sure that you realign your strategy with the new normal. Here are some ideas you can adopt to keep the customers hooked on with the most incredible experiences while going virtual.

Understand consumer expectations with empathy

Knowing the consumer’s expectations is the key to marketing success, but it can get a tad tougher when you cannot be up close with them. An empathic approach gives you a good start when it comes to designing experiences. Before you reinvent, you must understand the evolving consumer behavior in the new normal. Pay attention to what they value because this is where the opportunities are. Ensure that your campaigns are driven by empathy. A genuine interest in addressing the pain points of the customers is the best way to start. With this approach, even digital experiences can facilitate personal connection and engagement, just like it happens at physical events.

Creativity takes you a step ahead

​Experiential marketing is all about creativity as you have to think of extraordinary ways to keep your audience engaged and connected. It is hard enough to come up with unique ideas when you do it physically. But it gets even more challenging to create compelling virtual experiences. The effort is worthwhile because creativity can take you a step ahead for making your brand stand apart even during a crisis. Consider blending physical experience with digital interactions to bring innovative concepts to life. Consumers always look for something different, and brands that match the desire can win the race, even when buyers are pressed for money.

Encourage active audience participation

​Don’t let your audience go passive only because there are no physical interactions with them. Right now, you must encourage active participation rather than passive content consumption. People are missing live events and connections, but an effort to get them involved can do wonders. Ask them to be a part of an experience or even create original content. It will boost their engagement and connection and serve value to your brand as every piece of user-generated content does. It could be a review, opinion, video, image, or product story. Anything works when it comes to user-generated content because customers find it more authentic than brand promotions. 

Be open to experimentation

In unprecedented times like these, nothing works better than experimentation. You never know what consumers will like, so be open to trying things, failing, and trying something else the next time. Think outside the box if you want to deliver a consumer experience that stands out and sets your brand apart. Partnering with an experiential marketing company is the best thing to do. They can bring the most brilliant ideas to the table. Further, a specialist can empower your virtual brand stories with the right technologies so that they are impactful enough. Technologies like Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality can integrate a new interactive look and feel to even the blandest piece of content. 

Build community with shared experiences

​Another aspect of realigning your experimental marketing strategy in the new normal is community building. Creating community through shared experiences can help you in extending your reach and amplifying the brand’s culture. Virtual events are a great way to connect with people and build communities. They are even better than physical events because you can host them at a fraction of the cost. But it is vital to create exceptional experiences that people can like, share, and talk about. Moreover, they will have the audience hooked to your community and even bring more people through word-of-mouth recommendations. 

Invest in hyper-local experiences

​In-store experiences will resume eventually after the vaccine rollouts, but you will need to adapt the experiential marketing strategy in terms of choice of locations. Investing in hyper-local experience is the best way forward. Throughout the pandemic, consumers have shown an inclination for local businesses. While safety and convenience are the main reasons for the shift, they also want to help businesses in the community to survive and thrive. It makes sense to participate in events and host conferences closer to home because you need to target consumers nearby. Meet them where they are, and they will definitely stick with your brand for the long haul!

Gear up for a comeback

It is crucial to adapt and align your current strategy with the prevailing circumstances, but you must also be ready to make a comeback. The pandemic may be around for the foreseeable future, but things are likely to get on track once everyone is vaccinated. You will gradually expect the return of in-person experiences, but with some limitations. Events will be smaller to ensure that the social distancing rules are followed. Similarly, brands need to be extra careful about the implementation of other safety measures like face covering, hand hygiene, and sanitization. You will need to adhere to these norms, even with in-store experiences. Be ready to market again, but make sure that the attendees are safe.

​This pandemic is causing businesses and consumers to evolve. Strategies will never be the same because consumer expectations will differ in the new normal.  As businesses reopen, health and safety will be the new priorities. Your new marketing messages, experiences, and strategies should also revolve around them. It is the only way your brand can thrive and grow in the new normal.