Seven Absolute Musts for a Successful Experiential Event

Finding the correct concept is the most challenging aspect of developing a successful experiential marketing campaign. While not every campaign will be able to incorporate cutting-edge technology or innovative designs, it is still essential that the overall impact of your effort makes the audience feel immersed and deeply engaged in your brand's message.

Complicating matters is that pesky issue of budget. It is critical to consider your budget when selecting your concept, as different approaches map to different price points, and constrain the limits of what’s possible. To succeed in experiential marketing, the right concept and the right execution need to come together in the planning phase.

In this article, we'll reveal our 7 vital suggestions for making your next experiential event a success. Read on for professional tips on creating goals and objectives, estimating budgets and resources required, and choosing activities customized to your target demographic - all to help you maximize exposure with your next ready-to-buy crowd of customers.

1. Define the Objectives

Any good marketing campaign starts with specific goals in mind. This is especially true for experiential marketing, where the success of the event depends on attracting and engaging the right audience. Without a clear goal, it can be difficult to measure the success of an event and make necessary adjustments.

When setting goals for an experiential event, it is important to be as specific as possible. Start by asking yourself what you hope to achieve with the event. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales? Once you have identified your primary goal, you can begin to develop a plan for achieving it.

2. Make Your Audience a Priority

It is important to be as precise as possible when defining the aspects of your brand that you wish to enhance, as well as your target audience. Without a clear understanding of these two factors, it will be difficult to create an effective marketing strategy. Once you have a good grasp of your goals and who you want to reach, you can begin to develop a plan for how to most effectively use your resources.

Keep in mind that your target audience may not be entirely receptive to every aspect of your brand, so it is important to focus on those elements that are most likely to resonate with them. By doing so, you can ensure that your marketing efforts are more successful and that your brand stands out from the competition.

3.  Be Smart with Your Budget

Don’t consider your budget your enemy; consider it your starting point. All decisions have trade-offs, so it is important to spend your funds on the areas that will yield the biggest impact. Think about what will resonate most with your target audience, or will save your team the most time and attention. Regardless, spending recklessly makes it harder to achieve a positive ROI.

One way to be smart on costs is to partner with other businesses. This can help you share expenses, reach a new audience, or add a missing capability. Another cost-saving tip is to use technology to your advantage. There are now many platforms that allow you to create virtual experiences that can be enjoyed by people all over the world. And finally, don't forget the power of word-of-mouth marketing. If you can create an event that gets people talking, you extend your reach for free.

4.  Give Your Event Personality

Make your event unique while staying inside your budget. Being original with your experiential event doesn't have to mean breaking the bank. There are plenty of ways to create a unique and memorable experience without spending a fortune.

Whether correlated or not, minimalist experiences are currently trending. But this move towards simplicity does not imply a lack of originality or impact. Including interactive elements can keep guests engaged and ensure that your event's essence shines through. Such additions could include hiring a DJ, inviting guest speakers, and incorporating entertaining lighting effects. Investing in experiences that emotionally captivate and elicit sensory responses is a cost-effective way to create a remarkable atmosphere.

5.  Create an Omni-Channel Strategy

When planning around an event, it is critical to develop an omni-channel strategy and operate across all channels, both digital and physical. This will allow you to reach the largest potential audience. Determine which channels your target audience is most likely to utilize first. Then, for each channel, develop material that is both relevant and entertaining.

If you're promoting your event on social media, be sure to publish updates on a frequent basis and utilize hashtags to increase interest. Consider developing a website for your event and utilizing email marketing to reach out to prospective attendees. Finally, don't forget to market your event in conventional ways, such as with fliers and posters. By following these suggestions, you can develop a comprehensive marketing plan.

6.  Evaluate Key Metrics

After the event has concluded, it is important to take some time to evaluate its performance. When planning an event, it is important to establish clear metrics for evaluating the event's success in advance. By taking the time to determine what KPIs will be used, event planners can ensure that goals are being tracked with the right data.

When developing metrics around an event, the right choices will differ considerably based on the event's objectives. For instance, was it to expand brand recognition, increase same-day sales, deepen relationships to grow LTV, or build awareness around a new product? And no matter the metric, make sure to have a plan for collecting the necessary information. If there is numerical data, can event data be separated from the rest of the data? If there is qualitative data, will enough participants complete surveys or interviews? If there is social data, can you measure it? All of these elements must be contemplated together to determine a comprehensive view of the event's success.

7. Partner with the Best Vendors

Because so much is riding on success when executing an experiential activation, choosing the right vendors can be a difficult decision. From having the perfect offerings to holding to the budget, a dependable vendor will save you headaches by offering cost-saving solutions that won't sacrifice on quality. Having experienced professionals on your side will help ensure that all your needs and expectations are met, so you can confidently host an impressive event.

One important characteristic that might separate a vendor from the competition is having experience delivering solutions for companies in similar markets. Instead of you having to tell them what to watch out for, they will know that already, plus tell you things you hadn’t even thought of. Scalability should also be considered when choosing a vendor. The best partners over time are the ones who can provide the same level of service whether you have 1 event in 1 city or 100 events in 100 cities. That way, the relationship can be maintained through future event activations.

Scratch Event DJs is an example of an industry-leading vendor partner to brands and agencies, which has earned that reputation by providing live DJ entertainment experiences that make a lasting impact on customers and guests for over 2 decades.  The company utilizes its expertise and unrivaled professional DJ network to produce scalable, reliable, cost-efficient experiences that create buzz and excitement, and increase traffic and dwell time.

Whether your event is at a retail location, music festival, sporting event, or business conference, the Scratch team has easy, frictionless solutions that intuitively deliver on your needs.

If you think Scratch Event DJs could amplify your event, Let's Connect or check out How Scratch Works to learn more!