6 tips for a successful back-to-school marketing campaign

Every year, millions of dollars are spent on back-to-school purchases. In 2021, the back-to-school spending per household in the United States was an average of $848.90 U.S. dollars. Recently, businesses have become more active with different types of back-to-school marketing campaigns. Also, they’re expanding their efforts to social media platforms. In the pool of back-to-school campaigns, it’s becoming more difficult to stand out and capture the attention of your audience. 

To make sure that your marketing efforts don’t go unnoticed and that your back-to-school marketing campaigns succeed, there are a few essential features you need to incorporate. Keep reading to find out what should be in your back-to-school marketing campaign.

Click to jump forward:
Online vs. offline back-to-school marketing
#1 Feature top back-to-school products
#2 Embrace popular trends
#3 Diversify your social media content
#4 Be on top of your email marketing activities
#5 Collaborate with influencers
#6 Save time with easy-to-use tools

Online vs. offline back-to-school marketing

In recent years, most parents have relied on a mixture of online and offline experiences while shopping. In fact, 50% of parents first interact with a brand online before making a purchase. This means that an online presence is an important part of making a brand at the top of people’s minds when they’re making online or offline back-to-school purchases. Not to mention – social media. Facebook is recognized as the most influential platform for back-to-school sales and marketing activities. A Rakuten Marketing study illustrated that around ¼ of parents in the UK consult Facebook when searching for back-to-school shopping inspiration.

The statistics clearly point out that effective back-to-school online and offline marketing activities are necessary for brands to influence customers’ decisions. You have to be at the right place, at the right time, and with the right message. 

If you’re planning a back-to-school sale, consider the proper ad placement, timing, and content of the ad. If you’re creating a back-to-school marketing campaign, you must plan out relevant social media posts, emails, and other types of content to capture your audience’s attention. 

Now let’s explore the marketing essentials to make your back-to-school campaign a success!

#1 Feature top back-to-school products

Before thinking about your marketing activities, decide which products you’d like to highlight in your back-to-school campaigns. You’ll have to do some research on last year’s purchasing trends and this year’s market forecast. Furthermore, analyze the top products people bought and the shopping trends in the last couple of years. You should also look at your competitors and their marketing activities in previous years to get a comprehensive view of people’s purchasing behavior.

Once you’ve gathered the essential information, make a decision on what kind of products you’d like to focus on in your back-to-school marketing campaign. Consider visualizing your findings in a dashboard to help you and your team with the decision-making process. 

Try this template

#2 Embrace popular trends

What’s something that kids or their parents are interested in these days? What’s a trend that everyone is hyped about? Consider these questions before planning out your back-to-school marketing campaigns.

Trends play an important role in attracting new customers, especially if you’re trying to reach a wider audience. Trends allow you to communicate your value proposition and offer your products in a new light. They also open up opportunities for reaching people who wouldn’t have otherwise heard about your brand. 

For instance, Coca-Cola released a marketing campaign with a different Coca-Cola can design to celebrate the start of season 3 of the popular Netflix series, Stranger Things, a particular favorite amongst Gen Zs. With this campaign, they spoke to a different audience – one that enjoys the drama series while promoting their product. 

#3 Diversify your social media content

Social media is all about eye-catching content. It’s also where a lot of brands choose to promote their back-to-school sales. To effectively reach and engage your target audience on social media, you need to start posting your back-to-school content with attention-grabbing visuals. A simple image post on Instagram may get some likes and interactions. However, diverse content with videos, infographics, image collages, and others will get the attention of many more social media users. 

If you’re looking for some inspiration on what kind of social media posts you could do to feature back-to-school products or topics, here are a few ideas: 

1. Pinterest must-have back-to-school shopping list (in an infographic)
2. Twitter post, asking your audience to choose their favorite back-to-school item from the image you’ve attached
3. Instagram LIVE featuring back-to-school unboxing 
4. Facebook post with eye-catching data visualizations about a back-to-school topic
5. Pinterest image or infographic visualizing the most popular back-to-school products

If you’re interested in featuring a data visualization in your social media posts, use a predesigned Infogram template.

Try this template 

Try this template

In our library, you can find Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and many other social media templates. Simply pick the most fitting template and start editing the content. Also, you can add your own images or choose from our library and add GIFs, stickers, and other elements for a more engaging post.  

#4 Be on top of your email marketing activities

Email is one of the most powerful marketing tools that help you significantly increase your conversion rate. In fact, according to WordStream data, the average conversion rate of an email campaign is 4.29%, which is higher than the average conversion rate from social media, direct visits, and searches. 

With that in mind, your back-to-school marketing campaign should also take place via email. You’ll be able to reach and connect with your customers on a deeper level and make sure that you stay on top of their minds when they’re making their online or offline back-to-school purchases. 

If you’re interested in the best email marketing practices, watch this video on how to do email marketing like a pro:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q5caPBfumw

If you’re considering email marketing, think about the visual content of your emails to stand out from the competitors. To start with, always incorporate an email header. This will instantly grab the readers’ attention and make them familiar with your brand. 

You can choose from a variety of email header templates on Infogram and try them out for free today. 

Furthermore, incorporate other visual components in your emails to make them more visually appealing and easy to read. For example, instead of having a text-heavy email that’s difficult to digest for the reader, transfer all the important insights into an infographic. 

Try this template

Infographics are great for sharing data-rich information in an attractive and engaging way. In an infographic, you can include other visual elements such as images, video covers, GIFs, stickers, interactive charts and maps, and much more. All of these elements will make your infographic even more visually appealing.

You can also use infographics as part of your social media content. In particular, a Pinterest post featuring an infographic could be a great way to visualize back-to-school wish lists, top products, shopping lists, and others.

#5 Collaborate with influencers

A Rakuten Marketing study found that almost ⅓ of parents would spend more on a clothing item for their child if it was endorsed by an influencer. With that in mind, consider involving influencers or other people who love your products as part of your back-to-school marketing campaign. 

People want to buy from other people, not companies. It’s easier to trust someone you know or are acquainted with than a company. That’s one of the many reasons why influencer marketing has become a highly successful method for companies to market their products to engaged audiences. 

If influencer marketing is something you’d like to try, there are a few things you need to consider beforehand. To start with, reach out to influencers who have a similar audience to the one you’re targeting, so you’re reaching people who will actually be interested in your brand and products. Second, consider the best platform where you’d like the products to be featured. And lastly, be clear about the time and resources this marketing method will require. Finding the right people to endorse your brand isn’t easy. There could be a lot of back-and-forth exchanges to come to an agreement.

#6 Save time with easy-to-use tools

Whether your back-to-school marketing campaign is already set in place or you’re still working on the content for social media, time is always of the essence. And creating visuals for marketing activities can be time and resource-consuming. Especially if you need to create continuous posts on various social media channels while sending out emails. What you don’t want to do is waste your time creating social media post designs from scratch.

Luckily, you don’t have to. Opting for predesigned templates for social media posts, posters, infographics, and more couldn’t be easier with Infogram. With a click, you can browse Infogram’s template library and select the most fitting option for your post or data visualization, and just edit the content. You’ll save time and use it to focus on other important tasks.

Back-to-school season is an exciting time for everyone. However, it can also be very stressful. People are trying to get the best deals, and businesses are using different techniques to stand out from their competitors. To stay sane during this period, remember to plan ahead and save time when possible. Try Infogram templates today, and discover how easy it is to create engaging visuals that everyone will love.

Interested in discovering how Infogram can enhance your team’s work? Join a brief Zoom session with our Infogram representative to explore key features, get answers to your questions, and understand how we can assist. It’s quick, informative, and just like a coffee break chat. Schedule your call now!