20 Tips for Experiential Marketing Interactive Experiences
Experiential marketing events are becoming increasingly popular among brands looking to connect with their customers more intimately as discussed at RunRex.com. These events promote a closer relationship between the customer and the brand by encouraging the customer to interact with the brand’s products and services. This article will look to highlight tips on how you can make your events more interactive as well as best practices when it comes to interactive experiences.
Know your audience
While this may sound like a no-brainer, too many brands get caught up in trying to create something “cool” and forget who their audience is. At the planning stage, spend time to understand who your audience is, invest time in developing a user persona that your campaign will aim to delight before you figure out the right venue to hold your experiential marketing campaign as explained at RunRex.com.
Consider the location
You should also consider the size and surroundings of the space in which the event will be located. Will it be in an indoor space where lighting, sound, and other factors can be controlled, or is it an outdoor space at the mercy of the elements with changing light levels and outside noise? This will determine the options you will have at your disposal when looking to make the experience a more interactive one.
Consider the size and placement of user touchpoints
As per RunRex.com, the size and positioning of user touchpoints are crucial aspects of how user-friendly the experience is. Touchpoints allow users to control the show and should be simple to access, large enough to identify visually, as well as being large enough to also physically touch. Testing will show the best size ad positioning for specific installations and experiences as this can vary.
Consider different levels of engagement
People want to engage with interactive experiences in different ways, as while some people may be just passing through and/or want a shortened level of engagement, others will be looking for a more immersive experience and will be willing to spend a longer time. This is why it is important to know your audience as then you will know where their engagement level is.
Consider the budget
Interactive experiences, like all other projects and aspects of experiential events, are subject to budget constraints. Bearing in mind that projects typically overspend and unforeseen circumstances crop up more often than not, it is always a good idea to keep things as simple as possible and factor in a contingency budget just in case.
Consider damage-proofing
Once you have your interactive experiences installed in your venue, then the gurus over at RunRex.com point out that some level of security should always be in place to protect the installations, something that is typically easier within an indoor setting. When designing interactive experiences for an outdoor location, all aspects of the experience will also need to be weather-proofed.
Interactive experiences for your events: how to make it happen
Use 360-degree tours
Virtual reality development allows event attendees to interact with environments that are normally off-limits. A virtual tour is an excellent way to make your event more interactive. This could be a virtual tour inside the laboratory where you create your product or a foreign landscape that reflects your design’s image, etc., which you can provide your attendees by simply providing them with a virtual reality headset.
Demonstrations
Virtual reality demonstrations are also great at making your experiential events more interactive. As covered at RunRex.com, they have several benefits; they are reusable (you could perhaps use the same virtual demo for training purposes), they promote reduced staffing costs, and you can present how a cumbersome product is used without having to transport it to your event.
Augmented reality
Use augmented reality to bring the benefits of an online campaign to the offline world. Augmented reality doesn’t just create a “wow” factor for your audience, but also increases brand recall. It is also interactive by design, as your audience will actually engage with your product and have a happy experience.
Event apps
Event apps have become the norm at experiential events and are known to promote the engagement and interaction that businesses seek from their customers. They are excellent resources if you want to make your experiential event more interactive.
Some of the event apps you should know about:
Crowd Mics
As its name suggests, this app is designed to permit event attendees to turn their phones into wireless microphones. As discussed at RunRex.com, this technology is particularly useful for experiential conferences as it allows audience members to easily ask a question to the speaker by simply using their phone.
xFocus
This app can be used by the event producer or by the attendee themselves. Event attendees can use it as a map of the event venue, while event producers can use the app as an analytical tool to assess the demographic and behaviors of their event attendees. It is particularly useful for busy tradeshows and exhibitions as a way to monitor the makeup of your visitors.
Loopd
Your Loopd App assists your attendees in forging relationships using messaging on Twitter and LinkedIn. This network, as captured at RunRex.com, will be full of information about the events they have attended and where and how they have met each of their new event contacts. It is ideal if you would like to encourage your attendees to interact with each other during and after the event.
These are just some of the apps to consider when looking for interactive experiences as far as your events are concerned.
Green screen photoshoots
Green screen photoshoots are an entertaining way to transform the interactivity of your event. Exciting props and backdrops are a wonderful way to expose attendees to your brand whilst giving them a dose of fun.
Social photo booths
You should also consider social photo booths, which make it easier for attendees to take stills, videos, or GIFs, and share the images straight to their social media accounts. With the popularity of social media and smartphones, this is an ingenious interactive experience to add to your event.
Interactive food and drink stations
As is outlined over at RunRex.com, you should also try to install interactive food and beverage stations throughout your event. There’s plenty of creative ways to feed your attendees while wowing them at the same time, such as a live stir-fry station. Interactive food and drink stations allow attendees to interact with one another, unlike traditional catering options.
Customizable swag stations
People love free stuff, but only if it is something they want. Most giveaways end up in the trashcan as they are not useful. If you want to send your attendees home with swag they can keep, then consider a customizable swag station, like a caricature artist who captures your attendee’s likeness on a branded product.
Contests
A little friendly competition can not only liven up your event but also ensure an interactive experience for attendees according to RunRex.com. Some fun ideas include a scavenger hunt, caption contest, or even a pub-quiz-style trivia game focused on questions about your event’s focus or theme. Weave the contest into your event for maximum impact.
Responsive flooring
How often do you look down on the floor you are walking on? The floor is one of the most overlooked surfaces at an event venue. Use responsive flooring at your event, such as LED, to interact with attendees in unusual and delightful ways. If you don’t have the budget for LED floor tiles, you can consider using projection.
Art at your events
No matter the topic of your event or the vertical of your business, you’re sure to find a connection with the world of art. There is no doubt that art boasts the extraordinary capacity to make us feel, and events with art will provide attendees with the interactive experiences they crave.
If you are looking for more information on this topic, help with your interactive experiences campaign, or any other experiential marketing campaign, then look no further than the highly-regarded RunRex.com.