Every parent and their kids hustle for the perfect school supplies and open up their pockets during the back-to-school season. This provides a unique window of opportunity for your business to launch dedicated back-to-school marketing campaigns.
According to NRF, parents with elementary and high school kids will spend approximately $864 on school supplies, bringing the overall expected spending to $37 billion.
But how do you grab a share of this back-to-school spending pie in a competitive market? That’s where creative, targeted, and thoughtful back-to-school marketing campaigns come into play.
In this blog, we’ll share innovative and effective back-to-school marketing ideas to help you capitalize on this bustling season. So, let’s begin.
Why Should You Focus on Back-to-School Marketing?
Consumers, especially parents, shop a lot during the back-to-school season. Their kids need not only school supplies but also electronics, shoes, clothing and accessories, computers or related equipment, and more. Also, most parents are looking to buy online during this season.
In short, the back-to-school season is a marketing goldmine waiting to be tapped. So, missing out on this growth wagon doesn’t make sense for any growing brand or business.
When Does the Back-to-School Season Start?
Historically, the back-to-school season starts in early August and extends until early September, yet you probably should start preparing for it in July.
However, the back-to-school time isn’t set in stone. It can vary based on different factors, including the geographic location of your target audience, when the school year begins, and even cultural norms.
For example, if you’re operating internationally, you must adjust your communication to the back-to-school seasons for each country.
Usual Back-to-School Shopping Period
Approximately 46% of parents plan to purchase back-to-school bundles ahead of time.
Being aware of your target audience’s shopping habits and academic schedules in your area can help you fine-tune the timing of your back-to-school marketing campaign, ensuring you capture your audience when they’re most likely to be in shopping mode.
What are Back-to-School Promotions?
Back-to-school promotions are special offers and discounts created by retailers to drive sales and attract customers during the back-to-school season. These promotions can include discounts, bundles, BOGO deals, and other incentives to help families save money on essential school supplies, clothing, and electronics.
By offering these promotions, retailers can increase sales, boost customer loyalty, and establish themselves as a go-to destination for back-to-school shopping.
Back-to-School Marketing Campaign Ideas
Thinking of making the most out of the ‘Back-to-school’ opportunity? We’ve got the fuel to fire your growth ambition. Use the following back-to-school marketing campaign ideas to attract and convert more parents and increase your sales.
Create a Back-to-School Category on the Website
Create a dedicated “Back-to-School” category on your website, carefully curated by age (Elementary, Middle, High, College) and need (Art Supplies, Science Lab, Sports Gear, etc.). This one-stop shop enhances the online shopping experience, saving time for busy parents.
Follow Amazon’s lead and offer a comprehensive, tailored selection – from basics to electronics – to become the go-to destination for seamless, stress-free back-to-school prep. Streamline their shopping, win their loyalty.
Key Takeaways:
- Organize by age and needs for a one-stop, time-saving shop;
- Offer a range of back-to-school products, from basics to electronics, to cover all back-to-school needs and become the go-to destination;
- Simplify the experience to reduce stress and build loyalty among busy parents.
Launch a Flash Sale and Special Discounts
Add some excitement to your marketing calendar with limited-time back-to-school promotions and discounts. Create a sense of urgency with hourly, daily, or week-long flash sales on popular products.
Follow the lead of retailers like Target and Walmart, who offer “Deal of the Day” promotions to drive sales and keep customers coming back. By incorporating flash deals into your back-to-school strategy, you’ll keep your customers engaged and eager to make a purchase.
Key Takeaways:
- Offer hourly, daily, or week-long flash sales on popular products to encourage customers to make a purchase before the deal expires.
- Use “Deal of the Day” promotions to drive sales and boost customer engagement.
- Incorporate flash deals into your back-to-school sales.
Create a Seasonal Newsletter with Recommendations
Send targeted newsletters with personalized product recommendations for back-school items to retain customer interest and drive traffic to your ecommerce store. Tailor your suggestions based on past purchases or browsing history to make them more relevant.
Mix in useful content like study hacks, DIY projects, and tips for a successful school year to make your newsletter engaging and enticing. This will encourage readers to click through to your website and boost sales. For example, look at the following newsletter by atoms:
Subject line: Going back to school, or know someone who is?
Key Takeaways:
- Tailor your suggestions based on past purchases or browsing history to make them more relevant to each customer’s needs;
- Mix in useful content like study hacks, DIY projects, and tips for a successful school year;
- Encourage readers to click through to your website with enticing content and personalized product recommendations.
Did you know that each dollar you invest turns into a $36 profit with email marketing? Step up your back-to-school marketing game with Sender.
Additionally, since you can use Sender to set up automated emails, it’s recommended to have a short follow-up and a reminder about the discount. Many people simply forget to use the discount code and skip shopping entirely.
Personalize Back-to-School Bundled Products
During the back-to-school rush, customers often spend hours searching for deals on multiple essentials, leading to frustration and abandoned carts. To alleviate this, offer personalized bundles that cater to different needs and age groups, such as ‘Elementary School Starter Kit’ or ‘College Dorm Essentials.’
By packaging essentials together, you’ll save customers time, increase average order value, and attract back-to-school shoppers seeking convenience. For example, look at this product bundle available at Amazon:
Key Takeaways:
- Ensure these bundles are customizable, allowing customers to add or remove items based on their needs;
- Promote these bundles through all your marketing channels – social media, newsletters, website banners, etc;
- You can also highlight the savings on buying the bundle compared to buying items individually.
Run a Back-to-School Giveaway
Running a back-to-school giveaway can be an excellent way to create excitement around your brand, engage with your audience, and increase traffic to your site during the back-to-school season.
Choose a desirable product or bundle from your store as the prize for the giveaway. The rules of the giveaway could involve liking and sharing a post, tagging friends, subscribing to your newsletter, or making a purchase from your store. For example, look at the following giveaway announced by Earth Bean Coffee:
Key Takeaways:
- Promote your giveaway across all marketing channels;
- Consider giving all participants a small discount code as a thank-you for participating;
- Additionally incentivize prospects to visit your e-commerce store and make a purchase.
Collaborate with Relevant Influencers
Influencers wield a considerable amount of power over consumer decisions. Collaborating with influencers during the back-to-school season can boost your brand visibility and increase traffic to your ecommerce store.
Start by identifying influencers who resonate with your brand and have a substantial following within your target demographic. Reach out to them for a potential collaboration. This could be sponsored posts, product reviews, unboxing videos, or even co-created merchandise.
Here’s an example of a sponsored post for BTS season by an influencer:
Key Takeaways:
- Ensure that the influencers you collaborate with align with your brand values and aesthetics.
- Clearly communicate what you expect from the collaboration;
- Remember to provide them with a unique discount code that they can share with their followers.
Organize a Back-to-School Challenge
Running a unique, back-to-school-themed challenge can greatly enhance your ecommerce brand’s visibility and attract more traffic.
Conceptualize a challenge that is both entertaining and related to the back-to-school season. This could be a creative DIY challenge, a decluttering challenge, or even a study routine challenge.
Make the challenge engaging but simple enough for your audience to participate. For example, look at the following challenge by Gatorade and student participation:
Key takeaways:
- Remember to incentivize participation with attractive prizes such as discounts, gift cards, or even a feature on your social media pages;
- Encourage participants to share the challenge on their social media profiles for added reach;
- Use a unique hashtag for the challenge to track participation and create a buzz on social media.
Create a Back-to-School Fitness Program
As pupils and college students return to school, fitness becomes a priority. Partner with a local organization or school to launch a back-to-school fitness program that caters to students’ busy schedules.
Offer short workouts, yoga sessions, or nutrition guides to help them stay healthy and focused. This will not only enhance your brand’s engagement and sales but also promote a healthy lifestyle among students and parents.
Key Takeaways:
- Present the fitness program as a social media challenge;
- Or motivate by offering a value-added bonus with certain purchases;
- Think of catchy back-to-school marketing slogans to go with your fitness program.
For more inspiration on sports-related emails, check out these 15 fitness and gym newsletter ideas + examples.
Launch a Student Ambassador Program
Boost brand awareness and drive sales with a student ambassador program, incorporating popular back-to-school marketing phrases. Partner with students who love your brand to promote products in schools and communities through social media content, events, and word-of-mouth.
Offer exclusive benefits like discounts, early access, or career experience in exchange for their support. This win-win program can help you connect with your younger audience and increase brand loyalty.
For example, CoSpaces promote its student ambassador’s program via a free YouTube playlist and an exclusive badge.
Key Takeaways:
- Collaborate with students who already love your brand;
- Provide incentives like discounts, early access, or career experience in exchange for their support;
- It doesn’t have to focus on back-to-school advertising. Make it a continuous educational program.
Collaborate with Local Schools
Like influencers, collaborations can be made with the community or schools to increase brand awareness.
Reach out to local schools with a partnership proposal that brings mutual benefits. You can offer schools bulk discounts on essential supplies, sponsor events, or create school-branded merchandise. This will promote your products directly to your target audience and position your brand as a supporter of local education.
If schools aren’t keen, you can even collaborate with complementary brands to promote back-to-school offers. Look at how perfect bar created a new bento box product and giveaway by partnering with others.
Key Takeaways:
- Remember to ask permission to use the school’s logo or branding if you create merchandise or offer sponsorships;
- Always ensure the collaboration aligns with your brand values and business objectives;
- Discuss with the partenring school what kind of products or merch they’d need the most.
Use SMS Marketing to Boost Other Channels
You’ll likely be targeting an audience that’s at least in part on the younger side. Getting the millennial generation’s attention through phones is a lot easier. They prefer texting over talking by a large margin. But SMS marketing is often overlooked by many brands.
With its high open rates and personal touch, SMS marketing can be a powerful tool to boost your back-to-school campaign and reinforce your messages on other channels.
Implement an SMS marketing strategy to supplement your back-to-school campaign. You can use text messages to alert customers to flash sales, remind them of items left in their shopping carts, or provide exclusive discounts. Ensure you’ve got the consent to reach out via SMS.
Key Takeaways:
- Add a popup on your website to incentivize customers to share consent and phone numbers;
- Send only limited-time promotions via SMS messages;
- Don’t go over set SMS message character limit; instead include a link to your website.
Sender is the perfect choice for anyone starting SMS marketing — creating text message campaigns is as easy as 1-2-3!
Not sure about SMS marketing yet? Here’s a must read for you: What are SMS Campaigns? Definition, Examples
Optimize your Website to Match the Back-to-School Vibe
Align your ecommerce website with the excitement of the back-to-school season to drive sales.
Give your website a thematic makeover with school-related visuals, vibrant colors, and energetic graphics. Update your website copy to include a dedicated back-to-school section with personalized product recommendations based on grade or field of study.
Key Takeaways:
- Use school-related visuals, vibrant colors, and energetic graphics to create a festive atmosphere;
- Create a dedicated back-to-school section with relevant products, sales, and promotions;
- Offer product recommendations based on customers’ grades or fields of study to help them find what they need.
5 Best Examples of Back-to-School Promotions
Planning your back-to-school promo campaign? We’ve got you covered! Take a look:
Discounted Back-to-School Bundles
Back-to-school shopping can be overwhelming. Offer bundles to make shopping easier and more convenient for your customers.
Package essentials like school supplies, clothing, and electronics together, tailored to specific age groups or interests. This way, you’ll not only drive sales, but also provide a hassle-free shopping experience that saves customers time and effort.
For example, Hype offers 2 for 3 bundle:
Buy-One-Get-One-Free (BOGO) Deals
We know that back-to-school shopping can be expensive, and parents are always looking for ways to save. That’s why offering BOGO deals on popular back-to-school items can be a game-changer.
By giving customers two products for the price of one, you’ll also help families stock up on essentials and stay within their budget. Plus, BOGO deals create a sense of urgency, encouraging customers to make a purchase before the offer expires.
Future Use Coupons
Want to keep customers coming back to your store even after the back-to-school rush is over? Consider offering future use coupons. These coupons can be redeemed at a later date, usually after the initial purchase, and can be used on specific products or categories.
By giving customers a reason to return to your store, you’ll increase loyalty and drive repeat business. Not to mention that future use coupons help to extend the back-to-school shopping season, providing a steady stream of sales throughout the year.
Exclusive Student Discounts
Attract students with exclusive discounts during the back-to-school season. To claim the discount, ask students to verify their status with a valid student ID or school email address. Promote these discounts prominently on your website and marketing channels to maximize reach.
By offering attractive and easy-to-claim discounts, you’ll motivate students to shop from your store, just like Apple does every back-to-school season:
Social Media Contests and Giveaways
Capture attention and drive traffic to your ecommerce store with an interactive social media contest during back-to-school season. Here’s how:
- Plan a fun contest related to the back-to-school theme, such as sharing a creative photo or DIY school supply idea;
- Make contest rules simple and prizes attractive to encourage participation;
- Encourage sharing and cross-promote the contest on multiple social media platforms and your website to increase reach and engagement.
Here’s an example of how such contest could look like:
Key Takeaways: Back-to-School Marketing
- Try to engage both parents and shoppers through your back-to-school marketing campaigns;
- Use email marketing and SMS campaigns to announce back-to-school deals and engage subscribers and potential shoppers;
- Never be pushy trying to promote your back-to-school marketing offers;
- Use a marketing automation solution to schedule back-to-school marketing campaigns in advance.
Back-to-school is just the beginning of the season. Here are some articles on other major festivities to elevate your marketing game:
- 17+ Fall Marketing Ideas to Promote Your Business
- Labor Day Marketing: 15 Promotion and Sales Ideas for 2024
