#5 Roadblocks of Experiential Marketing Experiential marketing requires a great deal of human effort to come up with a system that will leave an imprint on an individual's memory
By Vasundhara Shankar •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
One of the best ways of promoting a brand is through creating a live experience for your customers, devising an innovative method of engaging them.
After all, science has proven that humans tend to remember experiences which involve the use of more than one of the five senses!
Events, conferences, fairs, give your client an opportunity to not only try out the product or learn about the service, but also to be personally affected by the overall experience.
Experiential marketing focuses on the psychology of an individual and their receptive senses, rather than the immediate behaviour that a person would engage into while interacting with another individual.
High Time to shift From Traditional Marketing Methods
Shifting from traditional marketing methods is a daring action but it is rather important in the era of installing ad-blocks and switching channels. Keeping a potential consumer involved can be an uphill task. Dealing and engaging people with a brand through machines and software requires a great deal of research and study of behaviour patterns.
In fact, the location of installation of the live marketing model is also something that should be planned well in advance, otherwise, the whole campaign might just vanish without ever leaving an impact.
The buzzing and blooming experiential marketing model are prone to roadblocks, given the volatile nature of its target and a great deal of risk associated with it.
Limitation of Budget
It is a necessity and a drawback, both when conducting an in-person marketing gimmick. It is necessary since, without a fixed allocation of funds, the costs might tend to go higher than what was anticipated. Experiential marketing requires a great deal of human effort to come up with a system that will not only retain an individual's interest but also leave an imprint on his/her memory. This converts into a drawback as soon as the financial limited is exceeded because of the requirement of more intellect into creating a successful live-marketing model. Experiential marketing is generally costlier than conventional marketing methods.
Spontaneity of Action
The reaction of people cannot be ascertained. Only a sharp presence of mind can actually save a failing experiential marketing campaign. Another drawback gracing it is that machines are programmed in a certain way and will execute the algorithm fed to them. Bots are not humans, hence molding a bad experience into a good one according to the situation can be a task.
Adversity of Execution
This is associated with the dubiousness of whether the target audience will be able to comprehend the model in question. To judge the behaviour of hundred odd visitors and to make sure that a campaign leaves an impact on their mind is not an easy job. Individuals memorize and associate their experiences with feelings. A haughty customer, but potentially prime for a brand, might be lost if the campaign isn't meaningful to him.
Uncertainty of Outcome
The uncertain consequence of a campaign is although a minor risk associated with every type of marketing, but with experiential marketing, the stakes are generally high. Given the high-level of resources employed in an experiential marketing campaign, like the budget, special talent recruited for solely the campaign, etc.
The consumer is left to decide whether he/she wants to go ahead with the brand, without any human interference to convince him. A weak conviction might turn-off a potential customer from a good brand or product.
Lack of Good Talent
Last but not the least, a dearth of competent people for experimental marketing has resulted in a shrinking pool of candidates, who have a passion for human interaction and face-to-face encounters that are necessary for executing a successful experiential campaign.
Nonetheless, the direct engagement of customers enabled through experiential marketing is incomparable when it comes to traditional ways of marketing. It encourages participation of individuals with a brand that gives them a personalized feeling of association with it.
Except these inherent roadblocks, experiential marketing campaigns have proven to be of great benefit for brand owners. The huge costs involved in it, often render huge profits.
