How 13 Top Experiential Practitioners Stand Out And Measure Success

The world’s leading brands have spoiled the modern consumer—and it’s forcing experiential, event and in-person marketers to step up their game.

Strategically, we know we need more personalization, more relevancy, and more data to do this. But from a tactical standpoint, what does this look like?  

We asked 13 leading industry practitioners how they’re doing it, how they measure success and what KPIs they focus on. What they had to say varied, but two common themes emerged:

1. Consumer first, experience second. How can you create a memorable, unique experience for your target audience if you don’t know who they are, what they want or how they perceive your brand? Do your homework, then find ways to stand out.

2. Measurement and goals go hand in hand. Just like you can’t have a ravishing experience without an audience, you can’t measure correctly without clear-cut business objectives. If the goal is brand awareness, there are baseline social KPIs to focus on; if its sales, conversions, miles driven in a branded vehicle, samples, product lift and the like are more realistic KPIs.

The following experiential marketing practitioners have fuelled marketing results for brands such as Google, Facebook, Nike, Salesforce, Kellogg’s, BMW, ADP, Marc Jacobs and more.   

Here is an overview of what they had to say. To read the full eBook, click here.

Create Shareable Moments That Evoke An Emotional Response

“Our KPIs vary, but as an agency for millennials run by millennials, we focus on creating experiences that we can relate to. If an experience is exciting and shareable to us personally, it will affect our target audience in the same way.” Tweet this!

• Justin Lefkovitch, CEO and Founder at Mirrored Media

Tie Success Metrics to Goals

“Having a physical presence alone doesn’t ensure success, but delivering a relevant experience to your audience, one that address a current pain points, has moments of surprise and delight, one that builds mindshare can.” Tweet this!

“In addition to the numbers, qualitative data is also always key.” Tweet this!

• Melissa Gonzalez, CEO and Founder at The Lionesque Group

Be Real With Your Consumers

“To get consumers to notice your brand, you have to be real with them - speak their language and go to where they are.” Tweet this!

“Measuring success can often be challenging in experiential marketing, but it’s vital to lay out clear goals prior to any campaign so that you can take a step back and see what worked… and what could be improved upon.” Tweet this!

• Josh Harrold, Senior Experiential Marketing Manager at Plenty

Activations Must Be Visible, Clever & Interactive

“Currently, spikes in sales, number of impressions and event interactions, measured via number of interactions or actual attendance, are all good indicators of success.” Tweet this!

• Rebecca Linder, CEO and Founder at Linder Global Events

When Consumers Win, Brands Feel It

“We look at a handful of top-level measurements, but more often than not, we’re looking at ease of set up/strike and event management, client happiness (when they’re on site), traffic into the activation and consumer experience while they’re there (gotta have those smiling faces!) and the organic, digital amplification that comes from a job well done (folks want to share a good time!!).” Tweet this!

• Wayne Leeloy, Head of Strategy & Innovation at G7 Entertainment Marketing

Innovation, Personalization, Shareability, Measurability

“For us, there are four key elements needed in order to stand out. If you can include each of these in an activation, you’re setting yourself up for success.” Tweet this!

• Mike Schaiman, SVP, Digital Experience at Helios Interactive, A Freeman Company

Align Campaigns with Business Objectives

“Brand perception, general impressions, activation engagement, and social reach are all solid KPIs to measuring experiential campaigns.” Tweet this!

• Robin Lickliter, Chief Experience Officer at Sparks

If There’s No Emotional Resonance, There’s No ROI

“We currently measure success in partnering with marketing companies, and by tracking social media data. But most importantly, we measure success and ROI by the look on peoples faces: awe, joy, insight, inspiration are the best markers of ROI. If there is no emotional resonance, there is no ROI, despite what the numbers might say.” Tweet this!

• Justin Bolognino, Founder of CEOMETAx LLC

Spend Marketing Dollars More Wisely

“While social audiences get bigger, marketing dollars remain unchanged. This requires marketing teams to be smarter and more strategic with each dollar they spend.” Tweet this!

• Betsy McHugh, CEO & Founder at Hurdl Inc.

Converge Multiple Platforms to Maximize Reach

“Marketers are always looking to reach consumers in new and exciting ways. At the same time, consumers are less interested in advertising and being sold to constantly. People do not want to connect with brands, they want more opportunities to connect with each other in meaningful experiences.” Tweet this!

• Kevin Kukk, President at OVX

Use Technology To Gather And Track Leads Real-Time

“Over the past few years, technology has allowed us to track communication results like emails, invites and social media reach, but more importantly measurement from the event itself. It’s important to gather data at events and process those real-time.” Tweet this!

• Marianne MacNeil, Event Marketing Manager, BMW

Technology Allows Greater Personalization

“Little things like addressing parents and their children’s names in an attached postevent photo can be incredibly meaningful and memorable for consumers.” Tweet this!

• Nicola Peragine, Senior Manager, Sponsorship at Scotiabank

No Standardized Way to Measure Experiential

“There’s such differing levels of engagement, it really depends on ‘what’s the objective of my campaign in order to really maximize the ROI, as it were.’” Tweet this!

Christian Gani, Vice-President, Development at MatchMG