We’ve all been there. Whether it was a career fair or a similar professional event, we’ve all received an endless supply of pens with cool logos or fancy patterns.
These pens are great, but learning about brands and businesses shouldn’t feel the same as going to a career fair. In fact, it should be completely different.
Brands should be taking advantage of experiential marketing in 2022. Drop the pens! Forget about the craft tables!
It’s time to entice customers with something more than a rendition of their senior year.
To learn more about how to keep up with 2022 marketing trends, keep reading. It’ll make all of the difference while you’re building relationships with your customers.
2022 Event Marketing
Event marketing in 2022 is going to be different. People aren’t interested in freebies and keepsakes anymore. They’re nice and all, but they’re likely to end up at the bottom of a box somewhere.
If you want your brand to stand out, you need to create experiences that your customers are never going to forget.
Planning and hosting events and experiences may take a significant investment of money and time, but it’s worth it. After attending an incredible brand trip, your customers will be raving about the experience for the rest of their lives. And, they’re going to think about that experience whenever they think about your company.
Especially after the pandemic, consumers are trying to find any reason to get out of the house. Your business event should be a great excuse.
Top Marketing Ideas 2022
In 2022, consumers want to be wowed. So, you have to think outside of the box to find something that will entertain them and teach them more about your company.
What’s something that your target audience loves that you could relate to your business?
Here are some of the most popular event marketing ideas for 2022:
- Seeing art exhibits in person
- Traveling somewhere
- Listening to live music
- Engaging in fantasy-related experiences
- Watching a movie
- Enjoying a theater production
- Being at a sporting event
By hosting one of these live events, you could create lifetime relationships with your customers. All you have to do is be willing to make the financial investment.
Outdoor Events
With COVID-19 still lingering, outdoor events may be the way to go. There’s no better way to bring people together while keeping everyone safe.
You could host an art show, show a movie, or take a trip to a destination spot.
To gather some inspiration, you could look at what others have done to promote their products.
It’s likely that you’ve heard of the movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. In the movie, a bunch of giant food fell from the sky.
To depict this via experiential marketing, the studio behind the movie set up an outdoor art exhibit that showcased giant sculptures of food. As people on the street saw this food, they saw the movie’s name.
This experiential marketing example shows how you can teach customers about your product while giving customers something that they’ll remember for a lifetime.
Pop-Up Events
Pop-ups aren’t new to 2022, but they are still raging on. Pop-ups are one of the most popular ways to entice customers to support a brand.
Pop-ups, also known as transformations, involve taking something that already exists and slapping some branding on it.
You might have heard of the Simpsons turning 7-Elevens into Kwik-E-Marts or Sprite turning beach showers into Sprite-themed showers.
Alternatively, you could create a stand-alone pop-up. These are great for businesses that have products to sell. You could set up a tent or rent out a building to sell products.
For special events or limited-time deals, pop-ups are great money-makers and crowd-pleasers.
However, these kinds of events do require a lot of planning in advance. You need to make sure that you’re taking advantage of social media to announce the placement of your pop-up. Otherwise, you may not get much of a crowd.
Music Festivals
One thing that’s never changed is everyone’s love for music. That’s why sponsored music concerts are still popular in 2022.
No matter what your brand is, your consumers are likely to enjoy a music concert. And, they can watch in person or via live stream. So, you can reach more people.
AR and VR
Something that’s up and coming in 2022 is augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).
Gamers have been using both of these technologies for a while, but they’re both some of the newest marketing ideas. Both AR and VR give consumers a way to experience the world from home.
KFC has already jumped on this trend by releasing a VR game called “The Hard Way.” It takes players through a virtual escape room that teaches them how to make fried chicken. It’s fun and immersive.
During the pandemic, this game became even more popular. It’s easy to access and fun to play. Plus, it gives customers an experience that they wouldn’t have had without the game.
If you’re looking for something that your customers can play with, you could apply this concept to your brand.
A fashion company could make a fashion show game. A candle company could have its customers make candles. A furniture company could create a game where players can decorate their own houses.
There is an endless amount of ideas to choose from.
Advocacy and Social Issues
You should consider hosting experiences that don’t highlight your brand. While you want to promote your brand, you may want to focus on social problems that your company cares about.
For example, let’s say that your company donates money every year to end child hunger. You could host an event that focuses on the issue of child hunger and talks about why we should be worried about it. During that event, you should talk about how your company is trying to end it and what others could be doing.
Advocacy in branding is the best marketing advice in 2022, especially if your target market is younger.
If you’re unsure of what topics to focus on, think about social issues that your target audience cares about. Are they thinking about global warming, equality, or something else?
From there, you can choose what kind of event you want to host. Then, you can consider raising money for the cause through that event.
2022 Marketing Tips
As experiential marketing trends shift into 2022, the process of planning experiential events is shifting as well.
If you want to plan a successful event, it’s going to take more than an event planner. You need a game plan with clear goals and consistent practices.
Focus on Customer Experience
First, you need to focus on customer experience. More and more, consumers are proving that they’re interested in what brands have to offer.
You need to show consumers that you can give memorable and entertaining experiences.
Going into 2022, you need to focus on your brand’s promises. What will your brand tell its customers and how will it deliver on those promises?
All in all, you should give your customers a valuable experience that they can carry on with them.
Create a Brand Platform
Your brand’s personality will rely on its online reputation. Now more than ever, social media is essential.
You have to improve your content marketing strategy to create a stronger relationship with your brand’s customers.
With a strong content strategy and a willingness to create customer relationships, you can develop a positive brand presence online.
Design Experiences Your Customers Care About
You can’t choose events out of the blue. You have to take the time to come up with experiences that your customer base actually cares about.
Align experiences with your customer values.
Communicate Branding Externally
In 2022, you have to be clear with your customers. There’s no more inferring or assuming. Your customers want to know your company values, goals, and more.
You have to be able to communicate about your brand clearly.
Additionally, you need to let your customers know that your company can offer unique branding experiences. You should stand out from other companies so that your brand is unique and independent in your space.
Continuing Experiential Marketing 2022
Our last important point to make about experiential marketing in 2022 is that you have to be continuous and consistent. You can’t make a statement one day and take it back the next.
Your brand has to stand behind its values and statements. With that said, you should take time to come up with a brand personality that you’re proud of.
Hire the Experts Who Know the 2022 Marketing Best Practices
Experiential marketing is still fairly new. Experiential marketing in 2022 dives even deeper into the barely-charted territory.
So, if you’re feeling lost, you aren’t alone.
Planning and hosting experiential events isn’t easy, and it takes more than an event planner to get things going.
You need experts like our team at Auctus Agency. With a national network of professionals, we can help you create and execute your experiential marketing plan for 2022 and beyond. To get started, check out our company’s capabilities today. We can’t wait to get started.
