B2B Experiential Marketing – When does it work?
What is experiential marketing? On the rise in recent years, guerrilla Marketing Services in pune and experiential marketing is all about customer interaction with your brand. It offers a unique experience with products or services, allowing customers to get a feel for how they would use it in their lives.
For years marketers have been trying to get customers to use and trial their products. In this way it’s not a new concept; there have however, certainly been some innovative spins on how it’s done. Let’s look at experiential marketing, how it can work for B2Bs and some of the ways it can help build your brand.
Emotional + Experiential Branding = Experiential Marketing The two elements that underpin experiential marketing are emotional branding and experiential branding.
Emotional branding: is about building the relationship between your brand and customers. Promoting emotional benefits like brand trust, security and credibility as a result of engaging with your brand is crucial.
Experiential branding: designs and creates interactions that are sensory in nature, which emotionally influences preferences, shaping brand perception, and influencing satisfaction and loyalty.
An excellent experiential marketing campaign is able to fuse both elements seamlessly together.
Experiential Marketing for B2Bs In recent years interest in B2B experiential marketing has grown and some of the initial hesitation surrounding it has been replaced with a working understanding, when to do it, and how it stimulates ROI.
For B2Bs, experiential marketing is generally less obvious, with the focus often on services (for example) in place of B2C exciting product launches. Oftentimes the B2B budget is also stretched. However we are seeing marketers begin to recognise the potentials that the experience can offer consumers.
“The success of brand experience within the B2C market has not gone unnoticed, and B2B marketers are waking up to the potential of brand experience. However, there is a long way to go before they catch up with their B2C counterparts.” – Graham Ede, Ion Group
3 Examples of B2B experiential marketing Location with B2Bs can be one of the major barriers, and while it may not be easy to do experiential marketing in quite the same way as B2C, there’s certainly room to employ some of the same principals. Creating sensory interactions that promote core feelings of trust, and awareness of your product or services is central to this.
Fulcrum marketing in public spaces – Linked with experiential, some marketers use a form of Fulcrum marketing. They tend to hold this drive in places where there are high concentrations of business buyers. Branded promotional staff can offer business people the opportunity to enter in a promotion, or sign up to attend an event whilst promoting the benefits of the product.
demonstrations & reward – as part of a targeted marketing strategy, those in the IT space can offer information via webinar or video, which can showcase some aspects of the technology solution. Some marketing and web-based tools such as offer a free trial period, together with online coaching via Skype. This allows the user to build confidence in using the tool, and to experience all of the benefits of the trial period. At the end of the trial period (7 days), the participant is given a report with feedback on how well they have used the tool. Then they are awarded a certificate.
Surprises and games – Surprising customers by showing up where they least expect you, gifting them, or sending them a card is a way to provide an out of the box experience and drive brand awareness. Another option could be to exhibit at a partner’s event as IBM did. Their interactive stand came complete with a candy bar, and plasma screens which posted live tweets from event attendees. Digital technology such as apps and games are also opportunity areas, and while often costly, look set to become more widespread and affordable in future.
Experiential marketing reflects the growing importance of emphasising emotions to build successful brands. Digital media offers expanding opportunities to offer such experiences.
In the ever-competitive B2B marketplace, it’s no longer enough to rely on traditional modes for lead generation. B2B marketers need to consider the complete kit that is available to them including; social media, mobile, search, paid advertising, print, telemarketing and increasingly placing emotion at the heart of it all with an experiential approach.
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Managing the Sales Force
The face of any organization is the sales force. Companies spend a considerable amount of time and money on sales force rather than on any other promotional activity. However, sales force is expensive and companies are looking forward to managing them in an efficient and effective manner.
Designing of the Sales Force Sales force is linking between companies and customer. Therefore, companies have to be careful in designing and structuring sales force.
1. The first step is setting out an objective for sales force. Earlier companies had a single objective increasing sale making it objective also for sales people. Sales people are asked to perform a search for prospective clients or lead. Sales people are asked to balance time between a prospective customer and current customer. Effective communication of product and services is essential to close the deal. Sales people also play an important role in after sales service and can make a difference for the company. Sales people are eyes and ears of the company in the market gathering information about competition and customer changing demands.
2. The second step is use sales people strategically. Sales people have to combine efforts with other team members to achieve the objective. Sales people should be aware how to analyze market data been provided and convert them into marketing strategies.
3. The third step is deciding the structure of the sales force. The structure of the sales is dependent on the strategy followed by the company. Common sales force structures are as follows:-
Territorial structure is used where every sales representative is assigned specific geographical area. This structure is preferred for building relationships with locals.
Product structure is used for complex and un- related product portfolio. Here the sales people are directly associated with research and development of the products.
Market structure is used if the companies are operating different industry or market segments. Every sales force specializes in a definite market and helps push a product efficiently across the given market. However, the disadvantage would arise if customers are located over a wide geographical area.
Complex structure is used when companies are in business of selling complex product to different customer across a large geographical area. Here sales force structure is a combination of other structures discussed.
Once the structure is designed companies need to make a decision with respect to the size of the sales force. The size of the sales force is dependent on the market size and number of customers.
4. The next step is to design compensation for the sales force. Compensation plays a big motivational factor for sales people. Companies follow a structure of a fixed amount plus a variable amount depending of success achieved in the market. Allowances play an important factor in the salary owing to continuous travel and market visits.
Managing Sales Force
Integral part for success of marketing strategy is management of the sales force. The management of sales consists of following:-
Recruitment is at the centre of an effective sales force. One approach in the selection is asking a customer what characteristics they look for in a sales representative. Companies develop selection procedure where behavioral and management skills are tested.
Training is essential to remain ahead of the competition. Sales force needs training before entering the market as well as training at different stage of the product life cycle.
Supervision on sales force is decided on the profile of product portfolio. A general supervision is maintained with respect to sales people dealing with potential clients. Another supervision is related to efficient time management from preparation of client call to closing of the deal.
Motivation is a key aspect for management of the sales force. Here compensation plays an important in driving up the motivational level. Compensation can be assigned based on sales quota. Other motivational tools are social gathering and family outing.
Evaluation is essential to management of a sales force. Sales reports sent by the sales force serve a good starting point of evaluation.
Art of negotiation and relationship marketing these two are the important aspects of successful sales representative and long term benefit for the company.
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