What is Experience Marketing

One definition of Experience Marketing is "designing and promoting memorable customer experiences as the basis of a company's brand."

Walt Disney did it with his theme parks before it was called experience marketing.

Starbucks figured out how to make coffee profitable and scalable by emphasizing the experience above the product.

Scott McCorkle of Salesforce gets it: in an interview, he said, "Ask yourself: How can we make any customer touchpoint delightful? That changes the way we think about applying the many wonderful tools we now have as digital marketers.”

The internet has made experience marketing more relevant and necessary.

Once reason is reputation management. A company's online reputation impacts sales greatly. A 2013 study by Dimensional Research found that about 2/3 of the respondents said they read online reviews: 90% of them said positive reviews influenced buying decision and 86% said negative reviews influenced buying decisions. With online reviews are replacing branding as a decision shortcut for many customers, creating a Story Machine that generates positive reviews with an effective Experience Marketing Program is key to effective promotion.

Experience Marketing sees optimization opportunities branching out from the use of the service or product to the all the interactions with the company, both with people and through media.

Having a mission driven team that focuses on fantastic service experiences is the foundation.

Creating a supporting content marketing program to empower prospective customers with educational information sets the stage for the trust and confidence that leads to deeper engagement, inquiries, sales, and referrals.

Creating touch point maps that evolve to customer journey maps enables more conscious, visual planning of an engaging and delightful customer experience.

If you own a company or are in a marketing position, what are the mental models that guide your marketing planning decisions? Do they have more to do with the importance of your company's services or the importance of giving your customers a great and memorable journey? Are you more oriented around selling or empowering and engaging prospects?

For most, profiting from Experience Marketing requires a shift in belief systems since it is a sharp break from traditional advertising and marketing. It is worth it.