Give It a Go A "hands-on" approach to marketing your product could be just the thing to win customers.

Personal experience is the best teacher-at leastthat's the driving principle behind the new wave of"experiential marketing." Real-life experiences shape ouropinions and buying preferences more profoundly than merely hearingabout someone else's. Experiential marketing uses events tobring customers into one-on-one contact with a product or brand tocreate memorable experiences. This year, at least half of all U.S.marketing executives surveyed by marketing agency the PatrickMarketing Group plan to increase their spending on events. And newresearch finds that events may be more influential than TV ordirect mail in affecting customers' purchasing decisions.

The "Experiential Marketing Survey" conducted bySponsorship Research International (SRI) for Jack Morton Worldwidefound that 43 percent of women said experiential marketing was mostlikely to cause them to purchase a product or service quickly,compared to traditional advertising channels (20 percent) anddirect mail (37 percent). What's more, after participating in alive event marketing experience for a product or brand, almost 9out of 10 consumers agreed they would be more receptive to futureadvertising for that product. Even Generation Y respondents ages 18to 23 rated experiential marketing their medium of choice forinfluencing purchases.

Are you looking for a terrific way to connect with yourcustomers? Here are four important tips for creating memorableexperiences:

1. Choose the bestlocation. Unlike traditional events held primarily for thesake of creating goodwill, experiential marketing requires givingyour attendees hands-on experience with your product in a waythat's interesting and memorable. Any number of venues willwork, including malls, fairs, retail stores and restaurants, justso long as they support the theme of your event and fosterinteraction. If the optimal location doesn't exist, create one.For example, one entrepreneur who invented a small, new toy knew itwould be overlooked in major retail stores, so he began takingbooths at craft shows to allow children to play with it. Thatstrategy worked so well he added additional experiential marketingvenues, including Girl Scout meetings and other kid-friendly eventsacross the country.

2. Attract the rightcrowd. Keep in mind that you can have a highly successfulevent yet produce an unsuccessful marketing experience. Imagineyou're a budding fashion designer who has created a new line ofaccessories. You could pack a party with models sporting youraccessories, along with a hundred happy revelers; but if theattendees are the wrong age, gender or economic group, youwon't advance your marketing cause. Effective experientialmarketing requires you to carefully craft your event to attractyour best prospects and customers.

3. Make itfun. In SRI's survey, respondents in all demographicsfavored events that integrate entertainment with the opportunity totest a product. This is what separates experiential marketing frombasic product sampling. Which would be more memorable: receiving asample bar of soap in the mail, or attending an aromatherapy eventwhere you could try scented soaps and other products along withyour peers? Hands down, the event would be more enjoyable and mostlikely to entice you to make a purchase.

4. Avoid acrush. As a business owner, you're in an ideal positionto use event marketing to get close to your prospects andcustomers. In fact, face-to-face dialogue and the ability to sharethe experience with others were the two top factors SRI'srespondents said make an event most interesting to them. Just keepyour event size manageable to maximize one-on-one interaction andkeep the attendees happy, since smaller events in intimate settingsare preferred over large events with too many people. Smallerevents cost less, too, so that's good news that will show up onyour bottom line.