Can Creating Experiences Improve Internet Marketing Results?

Experiential Marketing uses brand relevant experiences to appeal to both the rational and emotional buying triggers of the intended audience. Sometimes, it is also termed as customer experience marketing because the idea is to communicate the essence of the Brand through a personalised experience.

Experiential marketing deals with customer experiences and is quite different from traditional forms of marketing, which focus on functional features and benefits of products. Consumers’ decisions are much more influenced by emotionally generated feelings than by their rationally derived thought.

According to Luminous (http://www.luminous-asia.com), an experiential marketing firm, the idea of experiential marketing reflects a right brain bias because it is about fulfilling consumers’ aspirations to experience comfortable and pleasure feelings and helps consumers’ to feel the benefits through interactive experiences, and creates an emotional desire to purchase.

According to a study by HPI Research Group, 68% of surveyed marketing executives spent more on experiential marketing in 2005 than in 2004 and half of those executives expect to increase spending in 2006.

Microsoft’s multi-venue Tablet PC promotional event is a good example of “experiences”. Tthe event resulted in 125,000 product demonstrations in high-traffic airport terminals in major hub airports across the country. In the airports, corporate executives and managers can experience the mobility and benefits of the product. It also shows the commitment of Microsoft in providing execllent mobile product. The event helps to create personally relevant, memorable, interactive and emotional experience. Likely, those particitioners will consider Microsoft’s products if they need a PC with high mobility.

Can we create experiences in a website and brings Internet marketing to next level?

Internet marketers spend lots of money in internet marketing activities such as search engine marketing and email marketing, however, business conversion is not as good as their expectation. When you look at many websites, they are usually present a lot of text to show you the product features, its’ functional benefits, their strong company background, and etc. From marketing point of view, these websites reflects a left brain bias because they seek to persuade consumers by invoking rational factors that their products are better than their competitors. When people are very calm, and are trying to be very rational, they may spend more time in searching for information, and perform product comparison. Likely, they may simply leave your website without taking any action and go to do more research. Eventually, they may finalize their decision and buy the same products from the website they last visited.

To rectify the situation, companies may consider creating experiences in your website so that consumers emotionally want to buy your product and buy from you.

What kind of experineces you should create for improving business conversion? Companies may consider to create experiences allowing consumers to feel how the product can simplfy their life through carefully planned scenarios, or to imagine the joy and satisfaction they can get after owing the product. In addition, you must also demonstrate your commitment to consumers and the meaning of your brand so that consumers are eager to buy from you.

With advance of technology such as net meeting, flash, 3D technology, and etc, it is not difficult to create online experiences. However, experiences must be carefully planned so that it can stimulate the emotional desire in your targeted customers.

The planning and execution includes careful research on the targeted customers, determine what kind of experiences is appropriate, the method to capture sales leads and perform follow-up. All activities must be used to reinforce consumers’ emotional desire and meaning of your brand. Apple Inc. is very successful in creating experiences to their consumers and these experiences help building a strong brand name for Apple. Many consumers want to buy iphones and iPods because they are products of Apple. Yes, you can say it is all about emotions and branding!