Experiential Strategy- What’s the experience of you?

(No time to read? Listen now on PodCast The YaZo Group Five Minute Strategy)

It’s definitely true that the internet has leveled the playing field for marketing your business. While bigger budgets are more fun, creative strategies can go a long way in marketing a small company in a BIG way. But what happens when your humans begin to interact with your customers? That’s when experiential strategy comes into play.

Remember the experience doesn’t stop when someone reads your content. That’s when real people typically get involved and that can be the difference maker. What makes an employee represent your brand in a way that gives off the right vibe? Experiential strategy is important from marketing to business development to sales to service. The experience of you and your brand should tell a consistent story and a story that your client wants to relive. And if millennials are your clients - it's an absolute must!

So, while clients may tell me that creating an experience is not as important for some businesses as for others, I disagree. It’s important for all of us. On the surface, it may look like only retail, entertainment, travel industries must be focused in creating an experience; we all need to pay attention to the feel of our business through every stage of interaction.

The other caveat at play here is that we each experience the same things in a different way. The good news is that there is typically a "mean" at play. We want to always strive to appeal to the mean, while using the feedback of the outlier. The first time I realized this was when I had finished running a webinar to my largest audience to date. I had nailed it. I had created an experience – and a good one. I was thrilled to get the follow-up survey results. I was seeing 4’s and 5’s out of 5, and then… I got to the 2. And not just a 2 – a 2 with a comment. And a long one at that…”didn’t represent the topic in the way I was expecting. I didn’t feel like the content matched the title. I was very disappointed…” Suddenly all the 4’s and 5’s and excellent presentation s I had received went out the window. I was focused on that one person’s experience.

Fast forward a decade and that turning point made me realize that while we can’t completely control others experience of us – we can work towards a positive experience for the mean. In time, I took that woman’s feedback and put it to good use to improve the experience of the mean.

So what goes into play when creating an experience?

-         Your digital identity. When I speak about this I tell the story of vetting a website and hearing manager(s) talk about being young, and hip, and family oriented – but the website didn’t speak to any of that. How important are your descriptives to your product or service sales?

-         Who (or what) is the hand-off point from marketing to business development or sales? Do they provide the right experience? Do they even know what it’s supposed to be like? Have you discussed it? How can they go the extra mile?

-         Do people come to your office? What do they experience when they walk through the door? Are you doing anything to make them want to come back? Are you engaging all the senses? Little things like art, color, smells, music, or offering someone a choice of water, coffee, or tea create an experience – good or bad. When was the last time you let someone evaluate you on that?

-         What happens when a person becomes a client? Do you create an experience for them at all? Or are they just another number? How do you thank them or make them feel special?

-         How do you elicit feedback from your prospects and clients on their experience of you? Do you do it regularly, and do you strive to put it to good use? Or are you waiting for a 2017 United Incident before taking action.

I flew United right after that took place, and have to say I was impressed with the opening remarks in their Hemisphere magazine, and in the efforts of the crew to get back to creating a positive experience for their passengers. I just don’t want my clients or my agency to wait until we have to go above and beyond. I want to do it today.

Let’s face it – the competition has grown in every market. For my thoughtfully, homegrown brand presence, there are thousands of strategists with more followers. Bought and paid for. So, the experience of you may be the differential you need to rely on. We don’t need a study to tell us that people are craving a good human experience – whether it’s 15 minutes on a phone call or an hour in your office. Make it a good one.

Experiential strategy is a #finething.

Contact me direct at [email protected]