The Rise of Experiential Events

Lucy Miller, managing director EMEA of Event Marketing Solutions (EMS), explores the reasons why many brands are relying on live experiences to engage with customers and leave a lasting impression.

As savvy marketers the world over know, live events are a great extension of a campaign and an excellent method of content marketing. Essentially, they are a very effective way of sharing a specific message(s) with a targeted audience.

There has been a definite surge in the popularity of events as part of the marketing mix over the years. A recent survey, carried out for the Marketing Trends, Spends and Forecasts Report in the UK showed that almost half (45 per cent) of companies were planning to invest in live events in 2015 as part of their marketing strategy.

The beauty of live events is that they provide a unique opportunity for connection and interaction. Customers can be communicated with directly and easily through face-to-face dialogue, and engagement levels are high so it’s easier to encourage the crowd. The opportunity for lead generation is also increased as those that have shown up to the event already have greater levels of interest. Customers, meanwhile, get a feel for the company’s core values and personality first-hand, and the logos, names and products become imprinted onto their minds.

Basically, live events offer an extremely powerful face-to-face element that is missing from many interactions in today’s ultra-connected digital world. The demand for more live events could be attributed to this need for reconnection — live and in person — in order to avoid the numbness and emptiness caused by the digital saturation that many experience. People are constantly being bombarded by digital media — we are now using social media as a replacement for meeting up with real friends in person, or connecting with business associates. We should not be surprised then if, after the constant pressure to continually seek information online and to rely as heavily on smartphones as we do, the pendulum starts to swing in the other direction and our wants and desires move back to a need for real interactions not only in our personal lives, but our professional lives, too.

Continue here.