Don't just tell - show your customers how you can help them. The world's a stage!
Got a minute? Check out this quick video from the people at the Experiential Marketing Forum. The community there is dedicated to an interesting concept – experiential marketing – which dictates that we should stop telling prospects about the benefits of our products, but instead let them experience the benefits themselves. This video takes that doctrine a step farther by demonstrating how we can experience something without actually feeling it first-hand – vicarious marketing.
Letting people experience your benefits first-hand is a growing trend, but it’s not new. Printing companies and other industries have been doling out free samples for years (you’ve undoubtedly used the shot-glass shampoos that come in the mail from time to time). Hewlett-Packard’s LogoMaker (www.logomaker.com) lets you create a company logo and try it out on your website before you buy it. Also, author Seth Godin gave away a free e-book that set the stage for the massive sales his subsequent titles have achieved.
As we endure a faltering economy and seek reliable, innovative and affordable marketing solutions, consider ways in which you can let your customers experience your products and services before they buy. Can you offer a free sample? Can you launch a trial offer period? Or, can you create some medium that lets customers experience your benefits without feeling them? The latter seems to be the most cost-effective way and might even prove to yield a higher return on investment.
Let’s brainstorm. How can you let your customers experience your products vicariously?
