21 Apr 3 Tips for a Successful Back to School Social Media Campaign
Considering most kids and college students aren’t even done with school yet, talking about Back to School campaigns may seem premature. However, it’ll be here before you know it and if you’re scrambling last minute, your campaign can suffer. Here are three tips to help ensure your Back to School social media campaign is as effective as possible.
Plan Early
It’s never too early to start planning your overall strategy and content for Back to School season. According to eMarketer, the bulk of back to school shopping takes place in July and August, but there is a small percent done in June and before. To get the most out of your campaign, you should plan early so you’re ready for the first wave of shoppers in June.
Don’t Forget About Mobile
When planning your content, it’s important to remember that shoppers will be using mobile, in addition to desktop, and visiting in-store. In fact, 49% of back to school traffic was from mobile in 2015, compared to 30% the previous year. Consumers not only research on mobile, but also make purchases, so make sure your website is optimized for an easy mobile shopping experience.
Don’t Only Push Ads or Clicks to Ecommerce
While it’s tempting to solely focus on savings and driving purchase, you have to remember that you’re activating this campaign on social media. Traditional ads and sales-heavy pieces of content don’t perform well in this space. Brands need to balance ads with content that helps them connect with their audience– or better yet, marry the two together. Our client, Staples, does an expert job of balancing engagement, promotions, product pushes & savings, while also keeping the human element. Here are some examples of how they approach Back to School content:
A relatable video geared towards college students
A cute DIY idea, featuring a product sold at Staples
A humorous look at parenting during summer vacation, featuring Staples branding to keep the brand top-of-mind
A visually interesting video that’s promoting a sale, but doesn’t scream “Ad!” like so many other posts do on social media
A game that also features a partner product & deal info
What these all have in common is that Staples is thinking about the consumer first. What would they want to engage with? What’s helpful to them? What will make their lives easier? This enables Staples to still drive sales, but in an appropriate way for social media audiences.
Overall, your Back to School campaign strategy and content should keep normal best practices in mind and be tweaked to be relevant for the mindset of the consumer during this time. Planning early, thinking mobile first, and having an engaging content mix will give your campaign a leg up this Back to School season.
Tell us: Which brands do you think activate well around Back to School season?
