Event managers and experience designers often talk about the importance of customer engagement. When phrased this way it sounds clinical. What it really means is connecting with people. When people are connected they drive business.
Think about why you go to get coffee in one café rather than another. You prefer the one with the friendly barista and the music you like. You go there even if you have to pass a similar café and cross a busy road to reach it. You feel connected with the business, they know your order and smile when you come up to the counter. You smile back, leave a tip, and walk away, coffee in hand, feeling good about yourself.
Customer engagement is about creating those sorts of moments of connection to your business or brand. Just on a bigger scale. Those moments build trust and loyalty which converts to action. We’re using the word “customer” here, but the same principles apply to connecting with your business partners and employees.
Why you need an in-person customer engagement experience
The virtual world has plenty to offer in terms of convenience, but it’s no substitute for the connection of in-person events. It has disengaged some customers, it’s hard to make the same connection to pixels on a screen compared to face-to-face. When people make the effort to go to an in-person event their expectations may be higher, they may be thinking “I hope this is worth it”.
People often associate in-person immersive experiences with new product launches. And they are an excellent way to make a splash and get media coverage for your new product or service. But they can also strengthen connections with existing partners and customers. These events can create connections with key business stakeholders or remind employees of your values and business strategy. They are designed to meet your company’s specific needs and strategic aims.
When done well, immersive experiences deliver results. Up to 70% of attendees become long-term customers after in-person marketing events. That’s an impressive return on investment that any business would be delighted with. One of High Tide’s clients tripled their pre-event sales figures following the partner engagement event we designed.
Reasons to hold customer engagement events
Every company’s goals are different. The most common reasons for holding customer engagement events include to:
Connect with the right stakeholders for a new product or service
1. Have face-to-face time with important partners
2. Inform, educate and build awareness about your products’ benefits
3. Give your customers an opportunity to experience new features and learn more about your company
4. Mark a significant milestone, for example an anniversary, or number of customers
5. Increase your reach within key demographics or markets
6. Create a library of social media and content marketing assets
How in-person marketing events answer problems companies face today
Companies are under increasing pressure to stand out from their competitors. They need to come up with creative ways to engage with their customers. Their events must be memorable for attendees, linked to company strategy and translate to social media engagement. It’s a lot to contend with, which is why you need a skilled experience designer to take charge.
In-person events should do more than just “wow” people
It can be easy to get carried away when you’re excited about creating an in-person immersive experience. There are stunning venue options, cool swag bag items, entertainment and menu choices. You could be forgiven for losing track of your budget, but you should never lose track of your event’s strategic aims. Working with experts means someone with laser focus designs every element of your event within budget and to achieve your aims. They help you to identify and quantify your goals in advance, designing your event around those goals. That means that you can turn up at the event focussed on building connections, meeting your customers and enjoying the day. You don’t have to oversee anything, but nothing will be overlooked.
“High Tide helped us craft and execute an incredible experience that built and nurtured relationships within our partner ecosystem. The connections made on the day sparked positive change and helped our channel partnerships succeed in the long run.”
Read our Hewlett Packard Enterprise case study

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

How to know if a customer engagement experience is right for your company
Ask yourself, are our sales figures where we want them to be?
1. Are our partners/customers as excited about our products as we are?
2. Do they understand our products (existing/new) as well as they should?
3. Have we had a face-to-face meeting with them in the last 12 months?
If the answers to most, or all, of these questions is “no” then it is time to plan an in-person engagement event. If your answers are “yes” or “maybe” then you still might need to put an event in your calendar. Contact us for advice and we can help you to decide if this kind of event is right for your company. We prefer honesty to hard selling, if we don’t think it’s the right strategy for your goals we’ll say so. You can read more about our customer engagement events here.