A complete guide on the back to school marketing ideas to escalate your brand

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What is this Buzz around Back to School?

Bidding adieu to the summer break is indeed tough. However, what follows is even more interesting. Well, it’s our favorite time of the year yet again – The Back to School Season, and with this comes the time when businesses gear up for back to school marketing to elevate their sales.

Is it tomorrow? Is it next week? Or are there a few weeks still left? We are talking about the first day back to school.

The back to school time of the year is almost overwhelming and exciting. It generally gives butterflies to both the business marketers and the customers. The Back to School season becomes an all the more lucrative period, particularly for businesses to pop up with enticing and persuasive back to school marketing tips to capture most market share.

Are you ready with your marketing plan for this festive season? Back to school season commences from July end extending up to mid-September.

Why is this Back to School more special?

The festive season sale begins with back to school. It’s the right time to leverage the needs and wants of the school and college-goers. We advise you to use this lucrative time to welcome more shoppers to your website.

This year the back to school time will be extra special because of the unfortunate previous year when people were forced for virtual classes. This year back to school businesses will see great hype. This is because of the pent-up demands for changing everything from head to toes.

It’s a very interesting time of the year for both parents and students. They are busy researching for school or college supplies. Covid19 lead changed the back to school shopping dynamics to a great extent. The previous year, we observed a big jump in the purchase of computers, laptops, and other electronic gadgets.

Students opted for Pj’s rather than designer clothing.

As per the data, this year, the back to school sale is going to set a new record of $71Billion, up from $67.7 the previous year. Thus, all the pent-up desires from the previous year will be surfacing this time as schools and colleges are all set to welcome them back, starting this late August or early September.

Knowing your target audience for back to school marketing

When deciding on any marketing strategy, it’s important to know and understand your target audience. This will help you to come up with customized and more result-oriented back to school marketing strategies for your business.

The key target audience for back to school season

• Parents
• School-goers
• College-goers
• Teachers
• Caregivers

How has Covid-19 affected the back to school marketing scenario

Students and marketers are more than excited to welcome this back to school season. Moreover, the marketers and strategists are planning for robust back to school campaigns to outshine their competitors. This year the optimism and excitement for back to school season are hitting a new chord because of last year’s pandemic. Covid19 popularized remote learning and also brought in various changes in the back to school shopping patterns. These shopping patterns can be easily seen in the back to school sale of 2020.

Back to School 2020 saw parents commanding a major role in the shopping spree. Many of the states of the US were either completely under a lockdown or partially opened. Parents went to stores to buy school supplies to keep their children safe and sound. However, many parents opted for online shopping to avoid stepping out of their safety bubble.

Back to school 2020 saw a considerable rise in the sale of computers, laptops, and other electronic gadgets useful for remote learning. The traditional school supplies saw a fall as schools remain shut for most of the academic year. Students preferred staying in their PJs, letting alone designer clothing.

However, back to school 2021 will hit differently this year.

This year the students, parents, teachers, retailers, and marketers are riding high on the wave of exhilaration as schools and colleges are reopening. Almost after a year, students will relive their campus life. They want to make the most of this occasion.

The back to school 2021 vibe can be seen in the stores and online platforms. Marketers and strategists started their marketing magic as early as the start of July.

Is your business ready to dominate this back to school season?

We need to understand this year’s back to school season isn’t just about buying regular school or college supplies. The excitement and nervousness of all school or college-goers are a bit high as they missed a whole year of campus life given the uncertain times.

Back to school is more about creating that ever-lasting first impression with an overall makeover, than just buying the regular supplies

So, how prepared is your business to welcome these shopping beings? What is the back to school marketing strategies you have planned for this season?

80% of the back to school buyers kick in from late July to mid-August. This gives us a timeline to initiate our marketing strategies to capture the market. The earlier you join this back to school bandwagon, the more chances you get to succeed this sales season.

Well, if you still are not very sure of your planned marketing strategies, then let us give you a helping hand.

6 Effective Back to school marketing tips for your business

We understand the importance of this festive sale season for businesses. As the back to school sale is approaching us in no time, we thought of curating 5 effective ways to attract potential customers to your websites, or doors, or both.

1. Stock up on all the necessary back to school supplies.

It’s time to pull your socks up and welcome this back to school season. The most basic way to start your back to school preps is by stocking up all necessary school supplies for school goers, college goers, teachers, and caregivers.

A marketing campaign can never go wrong if you’re well aware of the products you are targeting your customers.

Therefore, curate a list of all the supplies by taking assistance from the buying history of previous back to school sales. Moreover, get your hands on the forecasted latest trends for the back to school sales.

And, make sure these supplies are made available to your customers both in stores and on your website.

2. Entice your target audience with lucrative deals and discounts

Customers are always on the hunt for lucrative deals and good discounts. As per the industry data, almost 40% of the customers are eagerly awaiting special back to school deals to shop from.

You should always creatively design your discount plan to lure more customers. Additionally, come up with targeted discounts like- special discounts for school goers, college goers, teachers, etc.

This will help you segment your target audience which in return will help you attract all back to school potential customers.

3. Giveaways and Freebies 

An effective way to create buzz and thrill around your back to school marketing is by coming up with amazing giveaways. Freebies and giveaways are an excellent way to attract your potential customers.

Ask yourself, who doesn’t like freebies. Come up with a special back to school contest and promote it on your social media platforms.

Bundle up your best back to school supplies as freebies for those who actively participate and promote your campaign. This will draw major attention to your brand and will bring in major traffic to your business.

Another interesting way to promote your back to school marketing campaign will be through influencer engagement.

Look out for popular influencers of all age groups and try to reach out to them. This will give a major boost to your marketing campaign.

4. Customize your promotion, products, and services for this back to school marketing

Personalization of promotions, products, and services is the new fantasy amongst people from all walks of life. People are more attracted to campaigns, products, and services which are uniquely designed for them. This customization gives them a feeling of satisfaction and personalization.

Henceforth, customizing Promotional campaigns, products, and services for your customers is a lucrative way to drive more sales and traffic to your stores and sites.

Personalization of back to school marketing campaigns

You should make the most of this remunerative time of the season. Personalizing your marketing campaign will help our goal this back to school season.

The best way to start customization is by personalizing a landing page to your target audience, like-

• Parents
• School-goers
• College-goers
• Teachers
• Caregivers

Another interesting way to capture your audience’s attention is by creating a personalized marketing campaign.

This campaign should be designed focusing on your target audience, their needs, and your products. Moreover, it should also highlight your USP for this festive sale season, like- vouchers, discounts, and flat offs on minimum purchase.

Promotional deals are also a big hit for this back to school marketing season. You should make the most of this season by choosing any or all of these promotions in your marketing campaign.

• Bundle Promotion
• The Trend Promotion
• Celebratory Promotion

You can also offer customized products to your audience in order to draw them to your doors or sites. You may begin with the customization of the following school supplies-

• Books
• Notebooks
• Sliders
• Pens
• Folders
• T-shirts
• Face masks
• Laptop covers
• Backpacks

5. Social Media presence of your back to school marketing campaign

As a marketer, you should be all geared for this back to school season. Social media marketing is the most lucrative way to make your presence felt.

Over the years, social media trends show a huge surge for those brands which actively use social media for promotions.

Among all the social media platforms, Instagram and Facebook are the most preferred promotional platforms. It’s prominent to showcase your back to school marketing campaign on these social platforms to engage a large audience.

Engaging, educating, and creating awareness for your campaign must be the primary goal. The social media platform is the easiest way to interact with your target audience.

Most of the target audiences for your back to school campaign are highly active using one or many social platforms.

Go all creative, make announcements, create polls, give out freebies, invite influencers, and take regular feedback from your audience. Make the most use of these social media platforms to expand your back to school campaign.

6. Email campaign for back to school marketing

Email marketing is important in attracting targeted clients. The best way is to come up with an engaging email campaign.

The back to school email campaign must be designed in a very creative, engaging, and persuasive manner. This will help you in driving traffic to your stores and sites. Start with a catchy headline. Your headline must have ‘back to school’ along with the special discount or offer you’re running.

This headline will force your readers to open your email amongst the hundreds of other emails in their mailbox. Frame a good structure of your email with the most important details at the top. This will be good enough to convince them to click on your landing page.

As mentioned earlier, it’s very important to have a customized landing page for back to school. This customization will attract your client’s attention and will also persuade them to take the call to action.

Your takeaway

You must be left wondering whether you’re on time or late for the back to school marketing campaign. Well, our answer is it’s never too late.

• Pull your socks and start immediately.
• Plan on all the products and services you want to offer this back to school season
• Discuss, plan, and execute your back to school marketing plan
• Research and plan on all the discounts, offers, and giveaways you’re planning for this back to season sales
• Plan and execute the designing of your email marketing strategy
• Always keep a close eye on your competitors and their marketing strategies.

Bottom Line

Back to school is the most lucrative time to lure your customers. One good back to school marketing campaign can drive an insane number of sales, bring in huge traffic to your site and increase your ROI. Moreover, don’t forget to focus on giveaways and promotions.

Try using these tips in your back to school marketing campaign and thank us later.