When I was in college, getting college discounts was one of the best things. It could be anything, discounts at stores, discounts on food, or discounts on services. One service that I thought was amazing was Spotify. I only had to pay a dollar a month compared to the fifteen dollars a month non-students had to pay. I loved this service so much that even now, five years after college, I am still subscribed and paying the full price.
What I am trying to convey here is that people going to college are making their first purchases and it is a great way to foster brand loyalty. Another great example is Apple, whose college targeted marketing discounts have converted thousands of students to use Macs.
Why Should I Target Ads towards College Students?
College students are freer from parental influence and have the leisure to spend their money as they please. And that market is substantial. College students spend around two hundred billion dollars annually. They are also a significant demographic in the US, representing almost 10% of the total population. Additionally, college usually takes students four to five years to complete so you have time to develop and hone your branding and marketing tactics.
College students are part of the Gen Z group who are notoriously known for their significant online presence. They have grown up with the internet at their fingertips. They are always online, whether it's watching content, online shopping, or talking to friends. It is true that a vast majority (70%) use adblocker so video ads aren’t as effective. However, over ninety percent also say that an exclusive offer will generate enough brand loyalty to make them a return customer. Let’s go over a couple of ways to best target college students.
Apply Trials and Samples In Ads
As I mentioned before, we all loved great deals as college students. But even better was an offer of free stuff. Like most college students, I was trying to save every dollar possible. My go-to meal was often ramen noodles. I’d also attend those random club events that offered free pizza. If you can, why not hook a possible long-term customer by offering a free product?
A great way to get your product to the masses right away is to talk to the residential life department at your targeted colleges. Give them samples of your product or a promo code to give to new incoming students as part of their move-in package. Or talk to them about providing a promotion to all students during dead week, midterms, or finals. Another great example, if you're a food company, is to talk to foodservice apps and provide a discount to first-time orders. Let your food do the conversion for you. Give these students a taste of it and they will keep coming back.
Targeted Discounts
Discount-specific ads targeting college student audiences are also a great way to engage. Leverage the text in your ads to boost the student’s college pride. Cultivate a message like “For a limited time, Stanford Students get a 50% discount to sign up today!”. This makes college students enjoy the exclusivity of a product that is just for them. Again you can reach out to residential life to provide coupons to your store location so that they can get the discount at your store. If you want to keep track of how often a student or students use this discount have them show a student ID card. This will help you record who is giving you foot traffic, how often they are used, and if your efforts are giving you a lift in walk-ins at your store.
Relatable Ad Copy
Above we talked about using ad copy to appeal to a student’s college pride. It’s also important to recognize that this is a very different demographic with their own unique lingo compared to adults. So have some fun with your ad copy to appeal more specifically to a college student. Did fetch ever become a thing? If so try it out. Just remember, don’t overdo it with the lingo or you will sound like their dad trying too hard to fit. You’ll be considered a “boomer”. Even though it might be true, it won’t help your marketing efforts.
Organically Grow Your Social Accounts
You don’t need to always go the paid route, especially on social media. If you want a great way to reach out to college students try your best to stay active on your social media accounts. Encourage customers to tag your products as they use them for easy commenting, liking, and reposting. Also when you like and comment, it will help the social media algorithm show your account more to potential customers. Announce new upcoming products on your social media to create some buzz. While you're announcing your products keep your college in mind along with some of the suggestions we provided above for ad copy.
Let us know what you think about our college student marketing tips, or if you have found success in other ways we would love to know!