Fatal Flaws: Why Experiential Marketing Campaigns Fail

Experiential marketing: at Worx Group, we’ll be the first to tell you that it deserves all the hype, and that if it’s not part of your marketing strategy you’re going to be left behind. We’ve touched on the experience economy before and have offered you some recent stats to show how much the movement has grown, but you need to know that getting experiential marketing right doesn’t happen by chance. In fact, if you’re not careful, you might find yourself making a few serious blunders that cause your event to fail, while damaging your reputation and your bottom line in the process. The following questions are designed to help you avoid the mistakes that could ruin your campaign.

Have you done enough planning? Really?

When it comes to experiential marketing events, you need to have your research and planning down pat. This means allocating enough time to conceptualising and developing every detail, knowing exactly who your target audience is and what will resonate with them, and having a thorough understanding of your intended outcomes. Whatever you do, don’t rush the process – the high risk of it failing isn’t worth it.

Are you coming at this creatively?

A pop-up store? An Instagram booth? Yawn. Is your creative team really delivering the best ideas? There are absolutely no limits to creating a truly original and outrageous campaign that will wow your audience and turn them into long-lasting brand ambassadors. Even your budget isn’t as much of a limiting factor as you might think. You’d be amazed what you can achieve when you have the right people involved – people who know how to bring ideas to life in smart, snappy and cost-effective ways.

Do you have the right team ready on the day?

Yes, your behind-the-scenes team is critical, but don’t neglect the people who are going to bring your event to life on the day. They’re going to be the face of your brand and could be the very thing that causes you to sink rather than soar. Think carefully about what kind of people you need: Young and energetic? Serious and knowledgeable? Invest the time and money training them if necessary, and ensure you have the right number to successfully engage with your audience.

Are you measuring your outcomes?

Measuring ROI in the experiential space is notoriously tricky, but it’s not impossible. With the right planning and the right tools, you can track a range of KPIs against your goals. Social media metrics, such as impressions, shares and click-throughs, are easy to monitor, and provide essential data. Speaking of data, it’s also important that you gather as much information from the event itself as you can. Once again, your fantastic on-the-ground team (see the point above) are going to be invaluable in giving you their impressions of your audience’s experience and level of engagement. Use this information to guide your future experiential marketing decisions.

And finally, are you getting the right help? Unfortunately, if you fudge your way through this process, it’s going to show. Organising a smart tech activation when none of the technology works is only going to frustrate your users and embarrass your brand. You need to bring the professionals on board who know exactly what they’re doing, and who have a network of other experts on which to draw.

At Worx Group, we pride ourselves on helping our clients create dynamic and successful experiential events that take all of the questions above into account. Contact us today to find out more.