Geoff CuddWe've heard the phrase “fill your life with experiences, not things.” Experiential marketers ask “Why not both?”.
Today, more and more customers are willing to buy a product or service from a company that provides a more immersive experience so the customers feel that they understand what your product or service is all about before making a purchasing decision.
This is where experiential marketing comes into play.
You can find several experiential marketing agencies and professionals on several freelancer sites. Here’s a look at six of the top experiential marketing agencies where you can find the right team for your next project.
Best for Growth Marketers Best for Paid Ads & CMO's Best for eCommerce Marketing
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Top Experiential Marketing Agencies
1. RMNG
Editor’s Choice: Best overall
For “experiential marketing in a post-COVID world,” check out our top pick, RMNG.
This marketing company is concentrated 100% on experiential marketing, placing a laser focus on creating immersive experiences that drive up brand awareness and convert new customers. Their site lists that activations cost between $50k to upwards of $1 million.
Clients love how communicative they are, working as integral partners to help with every step of creating and executing successful activations, merch carts, food trucks, and more. The team is transparent and proactive, keeping clients involved in every step of the process, from planning and strategy to post-event tasks.
They are efficient and quick in executing engaging events in the strictest of time restraints. The talented team at RMNG is competent and talented at creating experiences that yield results. Some clients have even seen an increase between 10%-25% in in-store velocities following an activation planned by RMNG.
Services: Event marketing
2. Momentum Marketing & Events
Editor’s Choice: Best full-service
Offering everything from experiential marketing to direct marketing, advertising, and even branding, Momentum Marketing & Events is our top full-service marketing agency offering experiential marketing.
One of the biggest selling points that Momentum offers is a stellar team. Their large menu of promoters is skilled and engaging, ensuring each activation or event is well-staffed with promoters who know what they’re doing.
A point-of-contact is always made available to clients, allowing a collaborative working relationship. Account managers are always available for communication and happy to answer any questions clients may have. They also send detailed reports regularly, helping clients see progress in real-time.
Alongside their field marketing and experiential marketing services, they also offer a slew of digital marketing and creative services.
Services: Brand activations, experiential marketing, shopper marketing, event management, field marketing, digital marketing, public relations, creative services
3. Pro Motion
Editor’s Choice: Best for enterprises
Pro Motion is our favorite choice for enterprise businesses looking for an experiential marketing agency.
This is another marketing agency with a focus entirely on experiential marketing. We recommend them to large corporations in particular because of their extensive experience working with huge clients like Utz Quality Foods, Gatorade, HP, and more.
The team does everything from pop-ups to B2B experiential marketing and even experiential marketing tours. Pro Motion has a successful history of carrying out multi-year-long touring activations, providing clients with prolonged direct marketing services.
Account management is exceptional, with regular calls and updates provided for clients to keep them appraised of any news. Their attention to detail and commitment to educating clients on everything they do are two of the reasons why Pro Motion is such a prolific experiential marketing company.
Services: B2B experiential marketing, event marketing and pop-up shops, sampling campaigns and street teams, experiential marketing tours
4. Next/Now
Editor’s Choice: Best for AR/VR
One of the coolest and most popular experiential marketing techniques is AR and VR installations. If you want to leverage this futuristic element into your marketing experiences, check out Next/Now.
With a 5-star rating on Clutch, Next/Now is a trusted name in experiential marketing. When it comes to clients, they’ve taken on everything from non-profits to huge brands like Under Armor and even multiple NFL teams.
Clients love how communicative and innovative they are. They’re open and honest about their processes, offering weekly meetings to update clients on the status of their projects. The team at Next/Now is also exceptionally punctual, meeting every deadline a client sets, no matter how tight.
If you want a visionary partner who will bring your AR/VR experience to life, Next/Now is the place for you.
5. MKG
Editor’s Choice: Best for Social Impact Actions
Founded by two women, MKG is one of the most popular and well-respected experiential marketing agencies around. They even earned AdAge’s award for A-List Experiential Agency of the Year for 2023.
We chose them for social impact actions because they are a company that puts a focus on harnessing the power of brands to bring about positive change in the world around them. They accomplish this on the ground level by creating a team focused on diversity and inclusion that is able to bring fresh insights and unique perspectives to every experience they create.
In practice, this looks like throwing Barbie a 60th anniversary party or creating an LGBTQ installation for Target as part of NYC Pride.
They provide a complete experience planning and execution journey. They’ll start with market research and brand and campaign strategy, then design a winning marketing experience, and, finally, bring the installation to life on the day of the event.
6. Bujou Studios
Editor’s Choice: Best in Canada
For our friends up north, we recommend Bujou Studios.
Bujou Studios is another one of those full-service marketing agencies that offers social media marketing and advertising alongside their experiential marketing services. They even offer photography and branding services including models.
The team at Bujou often works with smaller budgets than others on the list. While some events with agencies like Next/Now or MKG can cost upwards of $500,000, Bujou’s average campaign cost is around $10,000, making it a great option for businesses that are working with a tight budget.
Their eye for detail and creative energy are what makes this studio perfect for companies looking for a re-brand or exciting event. Bujou also offers clients helpful project management tools that allow for complete transparency throughout the planning, creation, and execution of the experience.
Types of Digital Marketing Agencies
What Is an Experiential Marketing Agency?
An experiential marketing agency provides a more immersive experience to both prospects and customers to foster a higher sense of brand loyalty, prospect conversion, and customer retention. They engage with the market and find out how to create an emotional connection between your product/service and the target audience.
What Does an Experiential Marketing Agency Do?
An experiential marketing agency will research to find out what people think and feel about your brand. They will discover how to create an emotional bond with your customers and recommend the right marketing strategies. For instance, an experiential marketing agency may recommend a video series on how a CRM product helps turn around companies that were losing revenue.
How Much Does an Experiential Agency Charge?
On the low end, the experiential agency may charge under $100 to conduct a survey and provide you with a market report. More complex projects that involve deep research and a complete report can run anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000.
FAQs
Can experiential marketing agencies guarantee results?
Experiential marketing agencies will not be able to guarantee results because they are mainly focused on providing research and insight. Ultimately, the performance of the marketing campaign will depend on several factors including the media buying strategy and creative executions.
At what point should I hire an experiential marketing agency?
Since experiential marketing agencies are involved in market research, you should have them brought in as early as possible on the project. They will provide valuable insights that the media buyer and creative team can use in the execution of the campaign.
How do I find the best experiential marketing agency for my project?
Find candidates that have experience working with your type of product. From there, ask for a case study and see how their insights were able to impact the marketing campaign.
What is the turnaround time for experiential marketing agencies?
The turnaround time will depend on the scope of the project. For instance, a simple customer survey may only take a week while a long-term project can last anywhere from two to six months.
Claire Fountain
Ashlea Hernandez
