• by John Limotte , July 30, 2019

Advertising and marketing brand experiences are on the rise. A recent Freeman Global Brand Experience Study concluded that one in three CMOs are predicted to budget 21%-50% of their expenses to in-person consumer experiences for the next three to five years.

And according to a Gartner study, over 81% of marketers responsible for customer experience (CX) say they’ll soon be competing on that factor alone.

Now it’s time to maximize your efforts and gain an edge over competition by doing CX better. Brands that can offer personalized and meaningful experiences that also translate to our digital world are able to both capitalize on the moment and build long-lasting consumer loyalty.
 
When working to execute a captivating brand experience in the digital age, it’s important to consider two sets of consumers. Let’s first take a look at how to best captivate the audience directly in front of you:
 
Make human connections: Modern consumers crave interaction. Use this opportunity to get to know your consumers and develop a deeper understanding of what resonates with them.

Personalize the experience: Make consumers the star of the show, You want attendees to personally identify with the experience and feel connected.

Create storylines: Involving people in a story can stimulate and engage an audience.

Be visually compelling: Look to capture customers’ imaginations and draw interest by using immersive, cutting-edge technology like AR & VR.

Once you’ve thought through your in-person experience, realize that the event is just a kick-off point. Think of it as an opportunity to create something much bigger and scale the experience for your social audience. Below are a handful of ways to maximize your brand experience efforts for a digital audience.

Event rollout: Hype your event on social channels with corresponding content. Pre-event content helps build enthusiasm and anticipation.

Generate buzz: Amplify your event visibility by generating well-deserved media attention. Make your event newsworthy and headline material.

Repurpose content: An event is a perfect time to capture content that can be used down the pipeline. Shoot content for video ads, archive material for Instagram posts, or write a blog post on lessons you learned. Extend past the event and create content that lives outside of the activation.

Keep the attention on you: Social traffic may be increased during the event and post-event. Take advantage of the fact that all eyes are already on your brand and release content that people can further engage with.

Being able to emotionally connect consumers to your brand is a valuable investment, and scaling your brand experience for social allows you to better measure the return on experience. You can analyze event attendance numbers, spikes in social engagement, and the way your brand is being talked about by consumers, other businesses, and the media.

Being able to create an in-person experience that lives on through social content is the ultimate ROE.