The retail landscape is ever-changing, and today’s customers don’t just want to buy products, they are willing to spend money on experiences to create memories.
Town management expert, Beth Lippman, Executive Director of the Livingston NJ BID, counsels local retailers to take advantage of these changing preferences. She uses experiential marketing to directly engage customers, creating an event to enable a one-on-one customer connection by experiencing products to boost awareness and sales.
“Provide a social experience by offering a cooking taste testing or author meet-and-greet that enables the customers to create their own story about the event,” Lippman explains. It is then likely that they will share their positive experience word-of-mouth and post on social media platforms. Businesses can drive people to the event by asking attendees to use a unique hashtag on their social media posts in real-time to generate conversation and build awareness of the retailer.
An event like this also provides the opportunity to collect customer information and data for traditional marketing campaigns in the future. Lippman adds, “Our goal at the Livingston BID is to provide marketing programs to drive business to retailers, and, in turn, to help retailers create customer retention programs. Experiential marketing events and strategies take center stage in the new retail landscape.”
