More than 22 million students in the U.S. constitute an important target group for many businesses. Young learners are big but often underestimated spenders, which gives you the opportunity to step in and take a portion of this consumer group.

However, students are very specific and you don’t want to approach them without a good preparation. It will take you some time and effort to make a proper marketing strategy but we are here to help you with that. In this article, you will read six ways of marketing your business to students.

How to Sell Your Products to Students

The way you promote your products or services among students population depends on the peculiarities of your business and creativity of your marketing team. But there are still some basic rules that apply to all situations.

Keep it Exciting

No matter what you are trying to sell to an average student, you can’t allow your campaign to be boring. Young scholars are all about going out and having fun, so you need to follow their rhythm. Use strong colors like red or yellow on your promo materials to grab their attention and boost their energy. Add a captivating slogan and you are good to go. For instance, do you remember how energy drink Guarana launched its ‘No Sleep’ campaign? This is exactly what students need – someone to remind them that life if fun and there is no time to sleep it over.

Post Engaging Content

It’s hard to imagine a modern student without a few social media accounts. A study showed that over 80% of 18 to 29-year-olds use Facebook, meaning that you can find 4 out 5 target consumers on the biggest social network. But if you want to exploit this tool successfully, you need to post engaging content. Keep it trendy and stay up to date with the with the latest content trends and student-related topics. Of course, you should use multimedia content to increase engagement and always add social share buttons to your content – with a little bit of luck, it can even go viral.

Sponsorship

Students organize all sorts of gatherings and events. As a clever marketer, you should support them and offer a sponsorship to increase brand awareness. There are hundreds or opportunities: from parties and cheer-leading teams all the way to fraternities and chess clubs. What you choose depends on the nature of your business but make sure to simplify things to the maximum. For instance, allow students to use QR codes or buy tickets online instead of buying paper copies. Such details make you look modern and cool, but also give you a lot of room for branding.

Sell it like it’s Cheap

Almost three-quarters of students spend more than $6 thousand annually on basic living expenses, which is not too bad for an average student. However, most of them are still nurturing the mindset of a below-average spender and prefer buying what they think is not expensive. Therefore, you should approach students as if you are selling cheap products – even if you are not! This way, they won’t feel like being robbed while buying your items and both sides will be satisfied.

On-site promotion

College or University campus or student dormitory give you a perfect scenery for promo events. You can organize sampling when you know that the venue is going to be crowded but don’t forget to add elements like fancy music or attractive promo girls. This makes your on-site promotion more amusing and it will deserve great feedback. The logic is simple in that regard: the more exciting and funny you are, the better the promotion.

Mind the Timing

Students function chaotically and you need to be careful about the timing of your marketing activities. For example, you certainly don’t want to organize sampling early in the morning when everyone’s asleep or hangover. What you could do, on the other hand, is use opportunities such as traditional orientation or homecoming events to plan activities well in advance and make a perfect execution when it matters the most.

Conclusion

Students are young and adventurous, so you cannot address them like average middle-aged consumers. In this article, you read six ways of marketing your business to students. Feel free to use our suggestions and don’t hesitate to share with us your comments about this topic.