Should your Event Feel more like a Video Game?
January 12, 2016
Marketing is trending towards content. I know that’s not news. Content has been a vital part of marketing efforts long before Google’s algorithm started to push the idea. Great content allows for high rankings on popular search engines and means that your customers will have enough information about your products or services to determine if they want to spend their money with you. And, isn’t that what this is all about?
Concurrently, industry news sources are touting millennial’s affinity for experiences and experiential marketing, also known as events. Their need to touch, feel, and experience your brand isn’t easy to satiate. But, when you’ve managed to perfect those touch points, their enthusiasm and loyalty are unparalleled.
So, how can you create amazing experiences and pack them full of great content to reach customers? Model your events after some of the most successful pieces of experiential content on the market: Video Games.
Hold on there a sec! Need a place to start? Learn the experiential marketing basics first –>
Take me to: Experiential Marketing with Shipping Containers 101
Video games make you the story’s hero!
The story is the most important part of a game. Period. The story provides a REASON to play. Without that, you don’t have players and you spent all that time on an amazing experience for nothing. Storylines need to be compelling and give the participant value in the overall story. Meaning, your customers should feel like a pivotal part of your story.
Games focus on the visual appearance AND the user experience
While visuals are important, if the other senses are left unattended you can’t blame your customers for getting distracted. Shortening attention spans and easy access to new content mean you have to trigger each sense in a unique way. Like games, your event should bring out each individual’s playful nature and/or competitive instincts. Keeping them interested keeps them engaged.
They use technology to connect
You won’t be surprised to hear that video games do not magically appear when some guy in a forest bangs rocks together. They are an intricate and meticulously constructed form of technology. Event organizers must also intricately and meticulously take advantage of the available forms of technology. Some examples include social media, virtual reality, audiovisual technology, the list goes on.
For an event to captivate your audience, you must provide a fully immersive experience. That means that you are occupying your customers’ senses on many different levels through many different channels. Cultivating a competitive and playful atmosphere can be a challenge but,
