When it comes to marketing to college students, it may seem that avoiding social media marketing is inevitable. College students are extremely attached to their cellphones and scrolling to see the latest newsfeeds. Business campaigns on social media can easily get lost in this crowded market. Which leaves the question of how else should businesses reach this demographic? Here are some strategies that leave likes, shares or tweets behind:
- Brand ambassador programs
An ambassador is an important insider and can help easily unlock the coveted market of college students. Ambassadors are able to spread the word about your brand to their immediate community of friends, classmates, and ultimately the entire campus. However, brands can focus in on their target market even more than just the typical college student can. Try focused brand ambassador programs that recruit the certain type of college student you are looking for, such as nursing students, business students, or international students.
- Campus events
This strategy can be very effective for jewelry or clothing brands that are looking to make a name for themselves on campuses. Advertise your product on high traffic areas of campus or during major events to display your product. Advertising during these events can help build strong in-person relationships, where you are able to interact with the customer face-to-face and personally sell your product.
- Bloggers
Blogging can be associated with social media, but it has a lot more to say that a simple Facebook post or the 140 characters of a Tweet. Find blogs that would interest your target audience – fashion, sports, TV entertainment, celebrity gossip – and ask them to make a pitch to sponsor or review your product. Once you establish a relationship with the blogger, you can even ask to host a giveaway of your product by obtaining email addresses to add to your email-marketing list.
- Contribute content.
If you have employees who can write about certain business-related topics, creating your own content relevant to your product is a great way to get your name out there. Send your ideas off to blogs and websites that are looking for content, and make sure to include a biography about the author, your business and a hyperlink to your website. Although contributing content is mostly free, it can be worth it to gain at least one more customer or a couple new click-throughs.
- Get vocal about your brand.
The same topics you can write about can easily convert to a speech at an event or presentation. Universities and colleges are constantly looking for speakers to talk about any topic to inspire students. Make sure not to make the entire speech a sales pitch, but rather talk about how your business portrays a greater aspect of motivation, hard work, or giving back to the community. Don’t forget to hand out pamphlets with your business’ information.
- Newspaper print or online advertising.
Student newspapers are reliable sources of information that students trust and read regularly because it is created by students, for students. Newspaper readership in college is one of the most popular mediums to receive news and learn about different offers, products and brands. Make sure to contact campus newspapers to schedule print ads or online banner ads in order to spread awareness to a large amount of college students.
Make sure to contact us at OnCampus Advertising for all of your college student marketing needs.
