It can be difficult to connect with students when they are focused on their studies and their social lives on campus. Even though we specialize in working with and talking to college students across the United States, we didn’t get here without a lot of introspection along the way.
The college scene is, without a doubt, one of the most valuable markets a company can hack. Students are fresh out of mom and pop’s house, willing to throw family brand loyalty out the door for a sense of independence. They’re suave with social networking and keen on innovation. Campuses are highly concentrated with potential buyers, and it only takes a few positive impacts for buzz to begin. Plus, college students are young, and likely to accumulate a substantial consumer lifetime value.
However, tuition has increased 169% in the past thirty years, and 77% of college seniors say they ran out of money at some point in their college career. This leaves many brands fumbling. How do you get the perpetually broke to bite?
Fortunately, The Black Sheep has infiltrated college campuses from the inside. Our nationwide network of student contractors has kept us in the know, from the chaos of the student union lunch-rush to the trenches of the local college bars. With the help of real college kids, we’ve been successfully marketing to real college kids since 2009. And we’ve picked up on six bona fide strategies along the way.
Fall and spring may be considered THE prime times to market to students, however a summer strategy can be a hidden gem when it comes to filling student housing properties.
You might be thinking, “That doesn’t make sense, students LEAVE campus for the summer.” At first, summer marketing seems counterintuitive. Most students have signed leases for the next school year, those who haven’t might be less inclined to make decisions without physically being with their potential roommates, etc, etc. However, when you dig a little deeper, summer marketing can turn these red flags green.
In October 2020, The Black Sheep carried out a national survey targeting college students to understand their media consumption habits when it comes to social media platforms. Primarily, what apps do students use, and most importantly, why. These results help those targeting the Gen-Z audience understand how to reach this audience and on which platforms.
Head & Shoulders recently debuted a new men’s 2-in-1 product that The Black Sheep was set to distribute to men at college campuses during the spring 2020 semester. But, as universities shut down due to COVID-19, The Black Sheep was left with a campaign that was less than half-executed, and Head & Shoulders was left with 50,000 shampoo samples they wanted to get in front of college men.
Since the dawn of Influencer Marketing, the In-Feed Post was the go-to option for most Influencer campaigns due to its easy to understand metrics. However, with the evolution of how Influencers are using social media, sponsored Instagram stories are now becoming more prevalent in media campaigns.
With 80% of brands planning on utilizing Influencers in their 2020 marketing plan, it should come as no surprise that Influencer Marketing is the fastest growing Industry sector. However, apart from the manufactured “candid” photos and glowing testimonials, what is the substance behind the Influencer science? Check out these ways to measure whether your Influencer efforts are giving you the viral bang for your buck.
In August, following an announcement in March and partial implementation in June, social media platforms began radically altering their targeted ad platforms, and student housing got it the worst. Gone are the days of microtargeting specific ages and geographic locations, now you’re stuck throwing darts blindfolded. What happened, and what can you do about it?
You know that streaming is the primary way those ages 18 to 24 watch shows and movies. However, it may surprise you to find that their preferred streaming platforms vary, as students take price, quality of content and convenience into consideration. So, what exactly are college students watching, and where?
In a digital world, it’s good to create balance. New estimates from eMarketer show that U.S. advertisers will spend more than $129 billion on digital advertising in 2019, and more than $109 billion on “traditional” advertising; making it the first time ever, that U.S. digital advertising will make up more than 50 percent of the market. So, while digital advertising is king, integrating offline marketing campaigns are still very relevant and important in order to reach target audiences.