Want your brand to connect with millennials in a more meaningful and memorable way? Attend, sponsor and/or host events. These are the experience makers. Let’s start with the why…
There’s nothing like having customers and prospects touch, try and interact with the product. Having experienced representatives of your brand at the event, talking about the product, answering questions and even serving as an influencer facilitates community building among like-minded groups. Increasing not only product sales but brand loyalty.
The future of communication is visual, which funny enough resembles our past methods. Like cavemen, Millenials are proficient in visual communication. And now following them is Generation Z, which is even more visual.
What this means is that just like experiences, we have a difficult time forgetting powerful images and the ideas they represent.
If we put all of the above together and add the growing power of social media, you can get the attention of those who didn’t even attend the event. Attendees start talking about the event before, during and after it’s done. Studies show that about 40% of posts are shared before events and 42% during events. We’re going to focus on the during. Let’s make the experience memorable by exceeding expectations. Time for the how…
Research the event you’re interested in. Find out demographics and look for previous social media posts, this will give you a much better idea of the type of crowd that the event attracts.
Prepare for success. Brand ambassadors need to be product experts! Select the perfect representatives that fit the look of your brand, so that your target market feels even more identified and facilitates a natural approach. You want to have a team of dedicated brand ambassadors that believe in the product in order to transmit the excitement of your brand, not just hand out samples.
Make sure you have enough product to sample and that your setup (booth, table, etc) is impeccably on brand. This is the face of your brand at that moment and could be the only chance you get to impress your prospect. Your setup is what will permanently show on photos. Remember, you don’t know who will share an event photo and the reach it could have. Over 80% of social media posts during events are photos, the rest is plain text. Make your brand photo worthy and attractive.
Remember, millennials spend an average of 5.4 hours a day on social media. Create a hashtag for your event, bring photo props, give away swag, capture the attention of a social influencer. The best way of social marketing is inspiring others to share content.
Feedback time. Did consumers like your product? What do they really want to know about the product? It’s so much easier to see first hand people’s reactions. Events give you the opportunity to obtain valuable feedback about your brand. Through events you can connect with that target market you’ve been wanting to capture.
Events with 100 attendees, might seem insignificant to some brands. But the success is reflected in the unforgettable experience you’re about to offer, resulting in brand loyalty. And of course, the added value of social media content. Multiplying the number of impressions, creating a community around your brand. Catching the attention of millennials in the best way possible. Let’s get your brand out there and create experiences that impact.
