Experiential Marketing Should Feel Like a Good Date

Like any good love story, the beginning of a marketing relationship should begin with “Once upon a time,” and a good first date. When you like someone and want to connect with them on a personal level you listen, learn, hold their attention, and meet in person- just like successful experiential marketing departments. Keep reading to learn how to make your market fall in love. If you’re new to the concepts, start with our article, The Basics: Experiential Marketing with Shipping Containers.

Listening and Learning

The first sign of a great date is, you’re listening and learning about each other. In any relationship, the more we understand each other’s needs, the deeper and more meaningful it becomes. When looking through marketing lenses, data is an important part of listening to and learning about your market.

This practice gives marketing departments the tools to please customers on new and deeper levels. Like a romantic relationship, one-sided affairs aren’t satisfying. Brands that learn how we want to engage with them, pay attention to how we use their offerings and anticipate our pain points see far more success and evolve first-timers to a much more loyal customer base.

Finding Common Ground and Holding Their Attention

The pitfalls, in dates and in marketing, come when we begin to anticipate needs, and only communicate what we know the audience wants to hear. Not only can this be boring, but it’s downright unappealing.

The goal of any good date is to show your best self with the intention of grabbing their attention with your vulnerability, authenticity, and hopefully a little chemistry. But if your brand doesn’t align with a market, that’s okay too. Sometimes the dating process is about finding what doesn’t work for your business, as much as it is about attracting customers to the brand.

Holding attention is more about developing a meaningful connection that adds value to both parties. The best way to make sure the relationship is mutually beneficial is to continue listening and learning about each other, staying transparent, and keeping them interested.

It Works Better In-Person

We can’t address relationships or marketing without discussing the importance of online and mobile communications. While both can be an important part of discovering and researching, ultimately relationships fizzle and die unless they are meaningfully realized in-person.

Face-to-face interactions define romantic and business relationships. The tactile component associated with shopping and dating is part of the appeal, but really the intimacy and emotional connection people get from one-on-one interactions are where the magic happens. That is the working theory behind all experiential marketing. You can absolutely have a full and entire experience online, but the loyalty, depth, and commitment that comes from humanized relationships never come to fruition.

Developing a deep and meaningful connection (dare I say love?), might be the happily ever after your marketing department has been searching for. So, go out and find your one true love, we guarantee the first date will be amazing!