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As the days grow hotter, and summer holidays pass, there is a familiar event just around the corner – the spending blitz that is back to school. College students will be heading off to school as early as mid August and as late as mid September. These students spent nearly $306 billion last year shopping for back to school. The real trick is to find out when these students actually start thinking about what they need and when to buy it.

When a brand markets itself for back to school, the timing can vary widely based on the product or service being offered. Let’s take a look at a few different product categories and how back to school timing can vary for each.

Shopping for new apparel is a category that has a special timing. Percentages below come from the National Retail Federation. Anyone who has worked retail can tell you stores start receiving and selling their back-to-school inventory in late spring or early summer. This means that the 20.2% who go shopping nearly two months in advance will likely find the sizes and styles they are looking for, because the stores have probably not started advertising their back to school apparel. However, it looks like the sweet spot for retailers lies in the month of August, with a combination of 56.1% of students starting their back to school shopping between 2 weeks and one month before school starts.

One essential item usually purchased for college is a laptop. What sets this product apart is the higher price point and the fact that the student is committing to use the product for an extended period time. If a laptop can avoid spilled beverages and the occasional tumble off the foot of the bed, it could be the hub of a college student’s world for their whole college experience. In mid July brands like Sony, HP, Apple and Lenovo all have student-specific sites up and prominently displayed. Best Buy’s weekly ads during this time are all about back to school needs. This is because laptops are not really bought on impulse, like this seasons cutest sweater. The student needs to find out what a laptop has to offer, what it is capable of and what they will use it for. Also, since it is a higher priced item, parents are likely to be involved in this decision. So making sure the brand and the information is out there and ready to find as soon as early summer can mean the difference between a sold laptop and one that is left sitting on the shelf.

On the other hand if you are a beverage, food or restaurant brand, your timing might be much different. Students are unlikely to purchase these items in advance, and will make nearly daily decisions on what brands to buy. This means that these kind of brands need to become part of the college experience. Sampling on campus or at events held for college students can help new users discover and try your product. Many of these students will be going grocery shopping for the first time (albeit maybe with their parent’s credit card). Becoming their brand of choice in college could lead to a valuable lifetime customer. Most of these touch points happen after students are back at school, but still need to be planned carefully to make the biggest impact.

When does your brand execute back to school? Need help executing your back to school campaign? Contact us for help with online and offline promotions.

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Last night, StudentUniverse Media hosted the first Student Marketing Meet-Up in Boston. The event was a great success with marketing professionals who target students from all facets coming out for drinks and networking using hashtag #SUMM11. Marketing professionals and executives joined us at Sonsie from Edhance, CampusLIVE, Textbooks.com, MediaMate, Campus Entertainment, Boston.com Deals, Hill Holiday, Edvisors, United Planet, AMP Agency, TeenLife Media, 451 Marketing, 360 Public Relations, Ski.com, and of course, StudentUniverse.com.

We’d like to thank all those who joined us. We certainly learned a lot from all of you. There was a lot of great synergy in the room and we hope you all will have the opportunity to build on it. Boston is such a great hub for the student market and it was wonderful to be able to connect and share ideas and insights.

So what did you all think? Was this an event worth doing again? Please share your thoughts below.

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Banner ads are often classified as a direct response form of advertising, because they are close to the purchase path or other required action that is desired online. This can lead to disappointment from advertisers when click through rates come in below what they had expected. However, despite some negative perceptions, display ads (i.e. banner ads) are actually quite effective. Display advertising increases brand awareness, gives your brand a leg up on the competition, increases top-of-mind brand recall, and is a useful tool for reaching college students and youth online.

Why display advertising is effective

Last month, eMarketer doubled online spending projections for 2011 due to the high volumes of banner sales, and there is a reason companies are putting more money into display advertising. Display advertising works, and it is an essential tool for building your brand’s online presence.

Banner ads are about much more than click-through rates. In fact, as Todd Wasserman points out in his Mashable article, Click This: Why Banner Ads Are Having a Banner Year, click-through rates are not a great measure of performance. While you cannot interact with a billboard, and very few television ads allow for “direct response,” they are still highly effective forms of advertising. The same is true for banner ads. The purpose of banners is not just to encourage user engagement. More than anything, banners are a way to raise awareness, build brand affinity, get customers’ consideration, and encourage people to buy your brand over a competitor’s. In essence, display advertising is about branding.

The importance of display in student and youth advertising

Online branding is especially important for college and youth advertisers. A Harris Interactive study reveals that 18-24 year olds spend an average of 4.5 hours online per day. That’s over 31 hours a week to reach them on their computers. Branding through display advertising is a way to show students and youth what you have to offer them even when they may not be actively looking. It is a way to get into their heads and keep your brand top of mind as they browse the internet and eventually make purchases. Although students may not be looking for your product right now, they are going to notice your ads when they appear on their favorite websites every day. When they do decide to go shopping, they are likely to remember your brand from their time online.

Online display ads can supplement television, print, and out of home spots, or stand alone. Today’s young people are more connected than ever, and a diversity of media allows for an even stronger brand presence. While college students are watching the big game on their television, they are probably surfing the web simultaneously. Targeting sports fans? Place an ad where they are likely to find it during the game.

Conclusions

Don’t get discouraged if your click-through rates aren’t through the roof. This does not mean that your banner ads are going unnoticed. In fact, they are probably much more effective than you think.

Interested in growing your brand presence in the college and youth market? Contact us about our targeted display capabilities.

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Brands and marketers have a lot to gain by targeting college students. It’s a large market, with over 19 million students in the US (US Census Bureau), and according to StateUniversity.com a large portion of their income is discretionary (about 19%). They are also an influential market since they are often early adopters, spend a lot of time on social media, and have large networks of friends. Additionally, getting customer loyalty from college students means that you could have a consumer for life, since they are beginning to make a lot of purchases on their own. But it is important to remember that there is also a very large and influential market behind students, and that’s their parents. Finding the balance between appealing to students and their parents can pose a marketing challenge for some brands.

Providing the financial backing

According to the New York Times, the average college tuition is financed through 37% parent income and savings, and 10% parent borrowing. However, college costs reach much further than just tuition. Simply outfitting a dorm requires a good chunk of change. Some students work as a means of getting extra spending money, but for those who don’t a monthly allowance isn’t unusual. Because parents provide a lot of the funding for student activities, they can often feel that they should have a say in how it is spent. This means that brands who target students should keep in mind that while students are the main audience, their opinion is not always the only one involved in a purchase.

Covering student “needs”

While parents are proud to see their children grow up and leave the nest, sometimes they get hit with a classic case of having trouble letting go. We’ve all seen that mom who tears up as she hugs her baby boy goodbye after dropping him off at his freshman dorm. We all knew that kid in school who would take his laundry home once a month for mommy to do because she missed him so much, or the classic “daddy’s little girl” who would get hundreds slipped to her while Mom wasn’t looking. Even though students spend a lot of money on discretionary items, it is often still the parents who take care of the basic needs. It is important to remember that for items like computers, software, furniture, appliances, or even clothes and food, sometimes the parents are the ones doing the actual buying. So while the products still have to be geared toward students as the final user or purchase influencer, it does not hurt to be “parent-friendly”.

Back to school

The back to school season is a very important time for brands, as a lot of students start stocking up. Moving back into school means that cable services need to be set up, the refrigerator needs to be stocked, things like vacuums and cleaning supplies need to be purchased, and some bigger ticket items like appliances or electronics might need to be replaced. For many students who are scrambling through move-in day, it’s not uncommon for a good deal of these items to be purchased or funded by parents. Parent input can be very influential, especially if students are buying items for the first time. Admit it, when you first bought laundry detergent, you asked your mom which kind to get.

Navigating this balance between attracting business from students and their parents can be tricky. While the student is your actual consumer, sometimes the parent might be your customer. Contact us for help figuring out how to market your product or service through this complicated dynamic.

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Facebook: A worldwide obsession that continues to grow

With 500,000,000 active users at the beginning of 2011, a number that is increasing by the day, Facebook has quickly transformed from a networking site for college students to a worldwide obsession. According to onlineschools.org, 71 percent of the United States’ 206.2 million internet users have a Facebook account, and over half say they spend more time communicating online than in real life. Facebook has reached near addiction status for many people, and is now a crucial part of a brand’s digital strategy, particularly in the GenY arena.

Young people on Facebook

Although it seems like everyone and their grandma is on Facebook these days, young people still dominate the user base, by a large margin.  People under the age of 35 represent 70 percent of Facebook users, nearly half of all 18-34 year-olds check Facebook first thing when they wake up in the morning, and 48 percent of young people get their news from Facebook.  Facebook is a huge part of young peoples’ lives, and an essential part of a brand’s digital strategy as they connect with students and youth.

Data from the video: The World is Obsessed with Facebook by Alex Trimpe, and onlineschools.org.

Making the most of your Facebook fan page

Here are some tips for connecting with GenYers on your Facebook.

Know your audience

It is key to understand your fans’ interests and communicate with them in a way that they understand. Your fans will appreciate it and will feel more comfortable and connected with you as a result. Figure out what your customers want from you and show them how you can deliver it. This is especially crucial when marketing to students and youth. Since young people are still at the beginnings of their consumer life cycles, this gives you the opportunity to help them find their way, to meet their unique needs, and to build brand loyalty.

Interact

Engagement is essential to an effective Facebook fan page, which is why it is continuously emphasized by industry experts across Mashable and similar publichations. Once someone  “likes” you, it is important to keep them on board. Instead of bombarding your fans with tons of information, which can become downright annoying, get a conversation going. Get your fans to react to your brand as much as possible and build a relationship based on communication and meaningful interaction. Think of it like any other relationship. Would you want to be with someone who is constantly nagging you but never asks for your thoughts, or would you rather be with someone who takes an interest in you and wants to hear what you have to say? If you build a successful relationship with your fans, they are bound to stick around, and probably even let their friends know how great you are.

Listen

If your brand has a Facebook page your fans are bound to  post something about your company.  If your fans are talking, listen to them! Whether the comments are positive or negative, your most valuable audience is providing you with important (and free!) information via your Facebook page. Facebook is not just a way to interact with your customers; it can also be used as a marketing research tool to obtain valuable information about your brand’s strengths and weaknesses. As Ad Age’s Cris Perry points out in Are You Investing In Facebook Fans or Just Collecting Them?, listening and responding to your fans is a crucial part of your brand’s Facebook strategy.

Leverage connections

Getting people to talk about you on Facebook is a great way to increase brand awareness and build buzz. If you can get someone to share something about your brand with their friends, you could gain a new fan, and if you market to them effectivly, gain a loyal customer as a result.

Hold their interest

Social media trends are constantly changing and it is important for your Facebook page to keep up. Stay on the lookout for new ways to engage your customers via Facebook, keep an eye on how the competition is using their Facebook page, and be sure to update your page as technology changes or your company develops so you can maintain your fan relationships and be at the top of their minds as they surf the internet and shop for products. As Lauren Indvik of Mashable notes in HOW TO: Start Marketing on Facebook , fresh content is necessary to keep your brand relevant and maintain your fans’ interest.

Need help building your facebook presence? Contact us to start planning your high engagement Facebook campaign!

Have examples of your facebook success stories? Share them below!

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If you were to spend just a few hours with a group of college students, I guarantee that you are going to hear a complaint about having no money come up at least once – probably even more than once. The truth is college students only think they’re broke. I finished four years of undergraduate schooling and never once was I in danger of running out of money, but I always felt like I was living on pennies. Most college students are in the same boat – they spend a ton (one great reason to go after this demographic), so they feel like they’re broke. They are also aware of the fact that they are going to be spending the next 20 years paying for this education (cue the depressing music). If you put these factors together, what does it all mean? It means that college kids absolutely love free stuff! Which also means that businesses who engage in student marketing can have a powerful tool in free promotional items.

The attraction of free items

Every day, students are bombarded by advertising. Between TV and magazine ads, social media campaigns, flyers on campus bulletin boards, product placement in their favorite shows, and logos all over campus, it can be easy for a brand to get lost in the noise. But if there is one thing that will grab students’ attention it is the word “free”.

Will I take a sample of pretty much anything if it’s free? You bet I will. Have I stood in line for over 20 minutes to get a free t-shirt two sizes too big? Absolutely, I have. Did I care what it said? Not at all. Will I wear it simply because it was free? Yes sir, I will. College students run to free stuff like moths to a flame, and if your brand happens to be on whatever is being given out, suddenly you have a campus full of kids holding your logo.

Creating a memory

One of the hardest parts of selling a product is getting people to actually try it. Free samples are a great way to attract first-time customers. Students are an ideal market to try this on since they are at the beginning of their consumer life-cycle. They are also making most purchases totally on their own for the first time in their lives.

Giving free samples is also memorable. Looking back through my college experience, I can remember the times I got free things and the brands that gave them to me. I remember getting free ice cream from Lizzy’s, gum from Wrigley’s, energy drinks from Monster, doughnuts from Dunkin Donuts, a t-shirt from Nike, and even a pair of sneakers from Converse. Some of those happened as far as four years back, but I can still easily recall the experience and, more importantly, the brand name behind it. I still have the t-shirt and shoes and wear them often.

Positive brand image

Another benefit of product samples is that they make your brand look good. College consumers remember when brands do something for them and it creates a positive experience and brand image in their minds. This is really important with this market in particular because they can be highly brand loyal. Give them something free now, and you could have their business for years. College students are also very big influencers. They talk to their friends about the brands they like and drive mentions on social media, creating beneficial word of mouth for your brand.

Going viral

Another great way to attract students with the lure of free samples is through viral give-aways. According to a report by Alloy, students spend an average of one fifth of their day on the computer. Trust me, students have perfected the art of killing time on the internet. Whether they are in class, in their room, or even attempting to study in the library – they are online. As easy as it is to attract them with free stuff in person, its just as beneficial to reach out to them online, where they spend a large portion of their free time anyway. Setting up an online give-away or sweepstakes gives a brand access to college students all over the nation without having to physically go to them, and creates an opportunity for them to easily share your information via social media. You can also give away better, more attractive items and prizes online through a sweepstakes model, creating a bigger incentive for students to enter. Check out our SU Media Viral Marketing page for more information on how to initiate a conversation for a brand online.

So what do you think? Do you have a story or example of the power of free samples for students? Leave a comment and tell us your thoughts on product sampling.

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In a time when the typical person is exposed to 5,000 advertisements per day, it’s hard to sort out which ones are relevant. Search engines remember your browsing history to try to give you results that are relevant to you and entire industries have been built on targeting users based on their purchase history. But let’s face it, ads are ads. What you really want is for someone you know and trust to recommend something to you; people that know you, have had real conversations with you, and have even met you for that matter! Word of mouth is by far the most powerful form of marketing. This is the reason that Bing is showing which of your Facebook friends ‘like’ links in their search results and the reason Google has invented the +1 button. But, we’re not all Bing or Google, are we?

Viral marketing refers to marketing that encourages word of mouth spreading of marketing messages. If you can get your audience excited about your message or properly incentivize them to share your message, the message “goes viral”. Viral marketing to students and youth can be extremely effective. They have a ton of friends and love sharing.

It’s all about the sweepstakes

Wait, so you want your users to do your job for you, effectively, and you want to give them what for it?! Offering students and youth a compelling reward for sharing your message is key. The good news is you don’t need to give something to everyone. You just need to give them a chance to win something awesome. That’s what sweepstakes are all about – entering to win a prize. Here’s the kicker though: you need to give them some control over their chances of winning that prize to motivate them to work for it. In fact, if a user has a chance of winning a prize, why would they want their friends entering to win it as well? That would only decrease their chances of winning, wouldn’t it?

Full disclosure: This is where we plug our services, but we think you’ll like them.

StudentUniverse has developed viral marketing software that rewards students and youth for sharing a sweepstakes with their friends by giving them additional entries into the sweepstakes. When sharing a sweepstakes can actually increase your chances of winning it, students and youth are incentivized to spread the word, and the sweepstakes goes viral.

Your marketing message spreads rapidly through the social graph. Relevant consumers learn about your brand from people they know and trust. Students and youth get excited about your brand and build an affinity towards it. And all the while, you’re gaining new leads.

Contact us today to get viral with your marketing!

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How does your brand market to college students, and what sets it apart? Many of us are looking back on college, and trying to figure out how to capture these elusive, busy students. It can be difficult; but we’d like to suggest putting yourself in their shoes.

Meet Katie. She’s peppy, smart, and involved on campus. She attends a university just outside Boston with 7,000 undergrads. Together we will explore a day in her life. Pay attention to all the marketing outlets she is exposed to today. You might be surprised.

Let’s dive into Katie’s day. She rolls out of bed at 7:30 am, just in time to shower, grab a coffee, and head to class. Right here, she’s been exposed to multiple brands. First, over twenty beauty products, all of which are “roommate approved”. Each of her three roommates has five shower products which she is free to sample as she pleases. On her way to class she stops by Dunkin Donuts and grabs a large iced latte. Despite being from New York, she is forced to tote around a cup with a Red Sox logo on it simply because she’s in Boston. Katie strolls into class and opens up her laptop (with a Burton sticker decorating the lid). First she checks Facebook, then her student e-mail, and finally her personal e-mail. She is bombarded with e-mails from her sorority, the literary society, retail stores, the university police, and her mother. Her best friend forwarded a link to a contest, which she enters and then shares across her social media outlets. While on Facebook, she sees that her crush updated his status to the lyrics from his favorite song. Katie pops them in Google to see what her next iTunes download will be. She sees an Anthropology banner ad featuring the hottest new looks for Spring. She’s forwards a link of a dress to her sister to gain approval before buying.

After two more classes, Katie heads down to the dining hall for lunch. She grabs a copy of the campus paper while she waits for five of her sorority sisters. A tanning salon minutes from campus is offering an exclusive package for college students; she rips the coupon out, throws the paper in her tote and finds a table with the girls.

The tanning salon knows that 82% of college students have read their campus paper in the past three months. Pepsi knows that most students will visit the dining hall daily, so Pepsi provides fountain soda for the school. A college student is in the beginning of their customer life cycle. If advertisers don’t target this market now, it will be difficult to gain their business once they are loyal to a competitor.

While they eat, Katie mentions that coupon she grabbed earlier and asks the sisters if they wanted to join. Three of them jump up and grab a copy of the paper immediately. Katie notices her sisters’ clothing choices. Two are wearing the sorority sweatshirt, one is wearing a JCrew top, one is sporting an Underarmour jacket, and the last, a Boston Red Sox t-shirt. She compliments the JCrew top, and the sister explains when she bought it and the additional colors it came in.

Katie continues her day, tennis practice at 3pm, group meeting at 7, and finally reruns of Jersey Shore at 10. She encounters hundreds, even thousands of marketing outlets throughout her afternoon. CBS News tells us a person typically is exposed to 5,000 advertisements per day. It’s likely Katie exceeds that; she reads magazines at the gym, she watches TV while surfing the Internet, and relies on her friends for fashion advice and the hottest new trends.

The first step to marketing to college students is understanding them. The best way to get your product in their hands starts with knowing your customer. Lesson # 4 from Dale Carnegie’s, How to Win Friends and Influence People is, “Become genuinely interested in other people. Take a sincere interest in them. Don’t just pretend you’re interested. Everybody has something interesting about them. Find out what it is.” This means finding out what motivates them, why they do things, and how they do things. Having this insight will help you as a marketer know where and how you fit into their lives.

Advice or questions? Get the conversation started below.

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Please join us for the first Student Marketing Meet-Up in Boston, MA. Our goal is to get marketing, advertising, and business development professionals that target the student and youth market in the same room. There will be a chance to mingle, exchange best practices and have a drink or two with some interesting people. We are not giving any presentations or selling anything and it is completely free.

Join us at The Wine Room at Sonsie on Newbury Street

To RSVP, join the event on Linkedin or fill out the form at the right

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Today’s college students are one of the most ad-savvy generations ever. By the age of 18, today’s teen has seen, on average, 300,000 ads. And that’s just on television! So how do you cut through the clutter and get them to engage with your brand? Here are some insights from a recent study by e-Dialog, which looked at what motivates someone to make a connection with a brand via email, social or mobile opt-in.

It’s probably no surprise that the number one driver of opt-ins to email was a discount or offer. Giving a percentage or dollar amount off a purchase for a new email subscriber has shown to be pretty effective, and what consumers have become accustomed to. But think about what else would be valuable to your audience. How about exclusive info, like early access to this season’s looks or a preview of the next version of your game? Some of the top reasons survey takers told us they signed up for emails were to get original content not found elsewhere, and because the brand related to their lifestyle. They were motivated by curiosity about the brand, so think about the types of content you can share that educate or entertain to build an affinity for your brand.

If your goal is to gain fans or followers in social media channels, the good news is that the motivation is the pretty much the same. On Facebook or Twitter, consumers we surveyed said they were looking for discounts from brands, but also stuff they couldn’t find elsewhere. That includes videos, games, and other interactive content. One interesting finding was that for people who subscribed to email and followed a company on social sites, they said they signed up for email first. So it’s a good idea to include links to your social profiles in your emails, or even promote why someone might want to become a fan to your email subscribers.

For mobile marketing (SMS), it was very clear from the responses to our survey that consumers are generally not ready to be marketed to via text message. For today’s youth, their phone is an extension of themselves and goes with them everywhere, even to bed! So marketers really need to have something of value other than ads if they want access to a consumer’s cell phone. Things like reminders or alerts ranked high on list of the types of content people want to get on their phone. The good news is, once you convince someone to opt in to mobile marketing, they are not likely to unsubscribe.

These are just a few of the insights gleaned from the survey of consumers and their marketing preferences. We will be releasing a full report in the near future. Check www.e-Dialog.com for updates.