Create a Lasting Impression with Multi-sensory Marketing

Every day of our lives, we’re faced with decisions. This can range from what we’re going to eat that day to a corporate gift we may be selecting for our clients. Have we really thought about all the subtle factors that help us make those decisions though?

For businesses both big and small, the brand story we tell can help make the choice easier for customers. One tool to help you tell that story in a way that will stand out and resonate with customers is multi-sensory marketing.

What is multi-sensory marketing?

Multi-sensory marketing is all about engaging multiple senses – touch, smell, taste, hearing, and sight in your marketing campaigns to create a more memorable brand experience that will increase engagement.

We live in a very digital world with a global market reach so brands are always looking for ways to create emotional and memorable connections with customers. Since our sensory abilities are constantly sending information to our brains, appealing to various senses is a great way to connect on different levels. Marketing with multiple senses in mind can also help you to be more inclusive as some people may not experience all five senses.

How can businesses use each sense in their marketing campaigns?

Sight

Vision often plays a key role in a customer’s buying journey. From the first time they see your brand logo to the moment they make a purchase, sight plays an important role in building your brand’s identity in the mind of the consumer. In today’s world with almost everything online, it’s important to think about how to use color and design to portray your brand. A good design draws customers in to learn more about your business.

Touch

Touch helps potential customers start to feel a sense of ownership over a product, greatly affecting their decision to purchase. How a product physically feels to a consumer can not only increase the likelihood of purchasing, but also create brand recognition. With a consistent feel, consumers will associate any similar experience with your brand, which will keep them coming back in the future. A great example of this is Botanical PaperWorks’ seed paper packaging and point-of-sale promotions. As a unique product for both sight and touch, adding seed paper to product packaging can elevate the experience and create a memorable tactile experience. The customer handling the paper can feel the handmade texture and seeds in the paper and appreciate the craftsmanship, while piquing their interest to learn more and eventually plant the paper in soil.

Smell

The sense of smell is one of the more powerful senses to build recognition and retain a customer. Smell can bring about a memory or a positive association and build a lasting relationship with a new item or campaign.

For example, if you share Botanical PaperWorks’ Holiday Spice Soap as a promotional gift in a holiday campaign, the scent of pine, cinnamon, and orange essential oil may remind recipients of being home for the holidays. Or if you want to capture a summery feeling in your campaign, Grapefruit, Lemon and Rosemary Soap would be a great option with its fresh citrus scent. Those positive memories become associated with your brand which can be effective in building loyalty with your customers and clients.

Sound

Music and sound can play a key role in marketing to new and returning customers. If you have a storefront for example, having some music rather than none is preferred and studies show that unfamiliar music can actually help keep customers around longer. When advertising, different melodies, sound effects, and company jingles can all be used to evoke emotions in customers. For example, T-Mobile uses simple chimes to bring up happy and excited feelings.

Taste

If your brand isn’t associated with something you eat, factoring in taste can be tricky but not impossible. Associating a campaign with a culinary experience or a food memory helps to amplify and align more with the sense of taste.

One simple way you can do this is by selecting a plantable promotion that grows herbs or veggies. The customer can plant the paper and use the harvest in recipes but even before they have planted the paper, their brain may associate taste memories with the promotional product as they think about what it will grow.

Overall, the key goal with multi-sensory marketing is to try to appeal to a variety of senses in your marketing campaigns. From the promotional products you select to promote your brand to your product packaging, there are so many ways to engage your customers’ senses. When you’re thinking of how to boost sales or reengage with your customers, try incorporating multi-sensory marketing and see how this can help positively change sales and relationships.