Experiential Marketing for Service-Based Businesses

Handing out a free beverage, samples of a new snack, or a mini makeup tester is a no-brainer for FMCG brands looking to connect. But, what about the brands and businesses that don't have products to sample??

Product trial is an incredibly effective experiential tactic with a proven influence on consumer trust and purchase decisions. But, just because you don't have products to sample doesn't mean you have to miss out on all the fun. Here are just a few of the ways that service based businesses can create powerful, effective experiential activations to connect with consumers in the real world and grow their business. 

Sneak peek

Give them a taste and keep them coming back for more! Just like gift samples, offering a quick free trial of the services you provide can be a great way to engage consumers and encourage purchase.

If you're a massage clinic, offer a free 5-minute back rub. A gym? Offer a free class or consultation. Get creative and get connecting. Let prospective clients experience a taste of your services for themselves and show them what they've been missing out on! 

Offering service snippets can go a long way towards demonstrating the value of your businesses by highlighting exactly what you do best. It also offers a great tactic for growing your database and provides opportunity for ongoing communications, leading to deeper relationships and return visitors.

The value of a voucher

Everyone loves a discount; use that to your advantage! If you're offering a service type that doesn't lend itself to a trial, or a product that's too big or pricey to sample, offering a discount or value-add voucher could be just the thing to woo new customers.

Vouchers are a great way to establish your brand in the minds and the actions of consumers. And, by distributing vouchers through an established place of business, event, goody bag or subscription box, you'll benefit from the existing brand associations and audience engagement. 

Earlier this year, Luxury travel company Luxury Escapes collaborated with local cafés and boutique fitness studios to give customers $100-off vouchers attached to a leather bag tags.

This campaign reached in excess of 4200 people, surprising and delighting them with a clever freebie and an exciting offer. By distributing these discount offers at geographically relevant spaces, Luxury Escapes were able to connect and interact with thousands of consumers at the places they know and trust.

In campaigns like this, geography is of great importance; there’s no point giving out vouchers on the beaches of Sydney if your service is only available in Melbourne. Keeping it local is key to ensuring the vouchers get used and the people you engage with are realistically able to become customers. If you’re a hair salon based in South Melbourne, you could collaborate with local cafés to share a great value-add voucher, enticing new customers with a free blow-wave service with every haircut. Or, if your products are available for online purchase, use vouchers to share a discount code that can be applied at the checkout of your web shop.

Sponsor me

Sponsorship is another effective way that service-based companies can get experiential. Align your business or brand with an event and reap the rewards in established audiences, cool associations, and easy logistics.

Once seen as a prestige play reserved mainly for big name brands and corporations, sponsorship has become an increasingly accessible tactic for small to mid-sized businesses in recent years. As the landscape has diversified, with an ever-growing list of festivals, events and occasions targetting ever-more-niched audience groups, so too have the opportunities.

Depending on the details of your sponsorship package, you could be promoting your services through an event booth, including your marketing materials in a show bag, or even take naming rights over a stage or activity on site.

These activities are a fantastic way to connect with targeted consumers while they're enjoying themselves so make sure whatever you do adds to their fun! Events and festivals are also the perfect opportunity to build that brand love on social so give attendees an experience that is snap and share-worthy and watch those follower numbers pop.

Experience it 

Just because you can't give people a sample doesn't mean they can't "experience" your brand. Think outside the box and come up with a relevant experience that will help share your brand personality and communicate the values or features of what you have to offer.

Branded pop-ups or innovative experiences are a potent way to establish your brand in the mind of consumers, get people talking and also allows for social amplification. 

In 2009 Volkswagen turned a Stockholm subway station stairway into a giant piano, with each step becoming a piano key. Feel like an odd choice for a car company? Maybe so. But it did successfully communicate one of the brand's core values: Fun.

Titled  ‘The Fun Theory’, the piano staircase was an effort to show that people are more likely to do something that looks like fun, and was a very clever promotion for the brand's new range of automobiles.

This example shows that while it may not be possible for all brands to offer a product sample, there is no limit to the power of experience in promoting products and services. Volkswagen crafted an interactive experience that easily engaged customers and curated positive brand associations. Branded experiences like these build connections and brand loyalty. And, by leveraging the undeniable ‘fun factor,' you too could be bringing your brand or business to life in a way that really resonate.

If you're interested to learn more about how your brand or business could benefit from real-world marketing tactics, fill in your details below and let's get started. 

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