A lot of marketing is about the experience that people associate with the brand. People pay twice as much for particular brands because the advertising and marketing images are associated with particular kinds of experience. “Buy our product – you’ll have the same experience” so we’re told.
Social media takes it one step further. It actually includes your customers as part of the experience. And there is real value, not just imagined value. Take the muffins from a bakery. When you share the process, you are giving your followers and fans the virtual experience of having baked the muffins themselves. Almost everyone I know loves the smell of freshly baked bread. It amazes me how many times you go to an expensive restaurant and the first comment people make isn’t about the entrees or extensive wine list, but “They have the best bread!” I really think people miss baking bread as well as many other experiences in which we were once directly involved in creating something, such as hand knit sweaters, organically grown food, custom woodworking, etc.
If you can fulfill a bit of that loss virtually, people will find a deeper satisfaction in buying your product. They will feel, in some small way, that they are purchasing something that they witnessed being made. They were closer to the creative experience. By fulfilling this secret lost desire, your product will be more appealingly than your competitors.
So don’t just sell the product, sell the experience.
Engaging the Audience 