In today's experience-driven world, B2B brands ignore experiential marketing at their peril. As consumers demand increasingly interactive and immersive brand experiences, experiential marketing has emerged as a strategy for B2B companies to help companies stand out. From dynamic trade show activations to buzzworthy event marketing campaigns, leading B2B brands are harnessing the power of experiences to capture attention and shape messaging in impactful ways. This post explores several compelling experiential marketing techniques redefining B2B marketing—and revealing what your company may be missing out on.

Branded Events

Branded events are a great way to incorporate in-person live experiences. Whether hosting your own conferences or sponsoring industry events, live events allow you to raise brand awareness and engage with customers directly. From interactive formats like workshops or panels to event apps and beyond, branded events allow you to shape a holistic live experience that showcases your brand's personality. As part of an integrated marketing strategy, branded events create unique opportunities for connection that resonate both in-person and long after the event has ended.

Here are some examples of successful branded events:

• Salesforce's Dreamforce conference: Likely THE premier B2B conference, Salesforce's annual Dreamforce is a prime example of a branded event. It brings thousands of customers, partners, and employees together for a weeklong party. The event is packed with hundreds of keynotes, workshops, and networking opportunities. The key to its success is the fact that Salesforce is able to deeply integrate its brand into every aspect of the event, from presentations to party sponsorships to event swag and signage.
• Airbnb's Festival of Hosting: Airbnb hosts a yearly "Festival of Hosting" specifically for its hosts. This event brought together hundreds of hosts, press and influencers. This is an example of using branded events as customer marketing. Attendees mentioned that it felt more like a family gathering than an event.
• Slack's Frontiers conference: Slack's Frontiers conference is a multi-day event that serves as a space for customers and partners to share best practices, get hands-on with new product features, and hear from leaders at Slack and other companies. The event is a way for Slack to invest in their business customer relationships and strengthen brand loyalty through high-touch education and networking.
• IBM's Think conferences: IBM hosts several Think conferences around the world each year, focused on topics like AI, blockchain, and cloud computing. The events bring together technology experts within IBM and from leading companies to explore the future of enterprise tech. For IBM, the conferences are a platform to position their brand as an innovation leader in up-and-coming tech fields and reach business clients with interest in these areas.

AR/VR Experiences

If you want an out-of-the-box idea that is sure to capture a prospect’s attention, you can’t go wrong with AR/VR (augmented reality / virtual reality). While AR/VR technology was once expensive and limited to specialized companies, recent advancements have made immersive experiences more accessible to brands. The costs of hardware have decreased, with options ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. This means that in certain circumstances, it may be feasible to send headsets to customers. What AR/VR offers is a new way to provide remote product demos, interactive digital experiences, and participation in real-time in-person events. This enables unconstrained reach and engagement, especially valuable in situations (like the COVID pandemic) when in-person events are limited. As the technology evolves, AR and VR will open more innovative ways to craft immersive brand experiences—both digital and physical.

Virtual Retreats

Virtual retreats can be an opportunity to provide value to customers while deepening relationships and engagement. As part of your B2B experiential marketing strategy, multi-day virtual retreats allow you to strengthen loyalty and trust in your brand. Planning a virtual retreat starts with defining key objectives, such as product education, partnership building, or team building. Choose content and experiences that align with your goals. Sessions could include as presentations, Q&A, breakout groups, or more informal interactions. Include ways for attendees to connect, share, and collaborate digitally during and after the retreat. 

Promoting your virtual retreat is key. On social media, share details on the goals, schedule, topics, and speakers/hosts to attract interest and registrations. Consider offering incentives for attendance or other forms of engagement to boost sign-ups. After the event, follow up to gauge satisfaction and impact, using feedback to improve future retreats. Overall, virtual retreats are a way to provide an in-depth yet remote brand experience. For B2B companies, establishing yourself as an educational or industry resource and community-builder through virtual retreats can be an impactful facet of an experiential marketing strategy.

Webinars

Interactive webinars enable unique experiential marketing opportunities. Rather than a boring presentation, consider webinars that fully engage your audience in an experience:

• Virtual wine tasting: Send wine samples to attendees ahead of time, then host a guided tasting and discussion led by a sommelier over video. Participants can ask questions, share impressions, and connect over the shared experience.
• Virtual game show: Host a fun trivia or skills-based game show where attendees compete and win prizes. This could be themed around your industry or products to demonstrate expertise in an entertaining way.
• Behind-the-scenes tour: Provide an exclusive look behind the scenes of your business with a virtual tour. Show off your office, factory, lab, farm, or other facilities, while sharing insights into your work and team.
• Panel discussion: Host a lively panel discussion with industry leaders (or your own executives) debating trending topics. Let attendees submit and vote on discussion questions in real time to set the agenda.• Workshop or training: Provide practical value to your audience with a webinar workshop or training. This could be a deep dive into using your products, growth strategies in your industry, or professional skills development.
  
  These are a few interactive webinar ideas to inspire, engage, educate, or entertain your audience. Focus on creating a memorable experience that showcases your brand's personality and passion. Note: Welcome is a webinar platform that is specifically designed for these types of experiences. You can find out more here. If you want more detailed help on planning a webinar, we’ve got you covered as well.

Promotion

No matter what type of experience you decide to run, promotion is key to success. This is where digital marketing, content1 marketing and engagement marketing all work in unison. For B2B, LinkedIn is an important channel to promote your experiential marketing events to a professional audience. Share details about your upcoming webinar, retreat, or branded event in a LinkedIn post. Be sure to target relevant groups and influencers in your industry. Include key details like the topic/theme, schedule, speakers, and registration link. Encourage people to share your post within their networks by highlighting critical benefits of attendance for your mutual connections.

During the event, designate an official hashtag for social sharing and discussion. Remind attendees to share thoughts, insights, and highlights on LinkedIn and other social media using your event hashtag. After the event, share a recap post on LinkedIn to maintain momentum and express your appreciation for attendees. Highlight impact and lessons learned to position you and your company as a thought leader in your space. By optimizing LinkedIn as a channel to promote and share your experiential marketing events, you can boost registrations and reach new potential customers. Engaging social sharing also amplifies your brand's visibility and industry relevance. Overall, a strategic social media and LinkedIn strategy helps you gain more from your live events and experiences.

Conclusion

Interactive experiences and live marketing are increasingly impactful ways to reach your target audience. As consumers seek out more engaging and personalized brand interactions, experiential marketing through virtual events, retreats, and webinars allows you to demonstrate value in real time. By crafting unique touchpoints and optimizing channels like LinkedIn to promote your events, you can shape memorable customer experiences, build better relationships, and establish your company as an industry thought leader. By staying on the cutting edge of marketing trends and putting these tips into action, you can make a lasting impression and position your brand for success.

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