It’s almost back-to-school for lots of students in the UK and with the average cost of back-to-school supplies rising due to recessionary impacts it’s a good idea to plan ahead and make the most of this peak period to increase earnings. With back-to-school spending hitting peaks of $600 per child according to Yahoo Finance , it’s a great time to consider how you are working with affiliates to maximise earning and sales in this period. This is a marketing opportunity that rivals Black Friday in its relevance.
Students need new items and many want the latest gadgets and tools to help them stand out in class or on the playground. Seasonal and timed campaigns offer a great opportunity to upsell products at a period when everyone is looking to purchase new items. Affiliates should be taking advantage of these calendar events to promote products and services that match consumer needs and here are a few ways to consider how to do that:
Redirect to relevant age demographics
The oldest lesson in children’s retail marketing is that it’s not about making your campaign attractive to just kids who will be watching. The kids’ channels on TV have credit card and insurance adverts because savvy advertisers know their parents and carers also have to sit through the show content and will be subliminally tuning in. Remember this when creating timed specific content. Play up the fun or seasonal nature of the content or campaign, but also be practical with your promotions. Don’t forget that “back-to-school” doesn’t just mean “back to primary/secondary school”. There are also all of the college and university students to think about. This means you can branch out into more adult demographics and people who are, theoretically, paying for their own back-to-school supplies, or at least are making their own decisions on what they buy. This means they’re not limited to a uniform, so you can promote clothes, they are not limited on what they eat, and they will need supplies for where they’re staying since their parents aren’t handling that anymore.
Keep your content relevant and optimised for the shorter term seasonal period
We have just outlined three different basic demographics in the example above. Each have their own preferences which you have to be able to niche into. Even with these preferences in mind, you’re going to have to adjust visuals and keywords in your content to meet the needs of certain demographics. Teenagers, for example, might want to look at what is cool or hip and trending to purchase, whereas parents might consider more practical options instead. Study where your audience is and steer your branding and research towards it. Think about making your content evergreen, so that it still works after the main back-to-school event period ends. Also, consider timing the release of your content to take advantage of data that suggests when the right time to purchase certain products is based on retailer pricing, as was recently shared in the Sun who researched exactly when the right time was to purchase new school backpacks at the best price, which also makes an interesting read.
Repurpose existing content
It might be the case that a lot of the items you’re looking to move are already relevant to a wider demographic. As mentioned, university students in dorms are going to need supplies to live, just the same way the rest of us do day-to-day. This means you can target them with food, cleaning supplies, decorative items in addition to stationery. Maybe your affiliate partners are already telling their audience how good these art supplies are. Wouldn’t teachers like to take a look? As above repurposing content for different platforms is already a given, so why not repurpose them for different demographics and sales items? Old footage and an updated voiceover can turn a more general TikTok or Reel into a piece of content targeted at the Back-to-School demographic.
Leverage the power of Social Media & Community groups
Social media groups and local community platforms are also a great way to tap into parents who may be discussing different aspects of back-to-school activity and requirements online. You may find it useful to tune into some of these groups and listen to the chatter to gain ideas of what types of things parents find frustrating about shopping for back-to-school items and also where they are finding the right price points for these items. Not only will it help you to understand where best to target but also might give you some good ideas for other niches to explore and monetise. For example, mothers with children that are tall and slim – may want to know where to get school trousers with elasticated waist bands and hems that can be let down. People share community events, advice, and find where to buy items they are looking for from peer recommendations within social communities.
Remember a CTA
No matter what kind of content you are putting out there during peak periods, you’re going to need to give your audience the next steps to purchase the items they are researching. Give them somewhere to go next that helps your clicks. Too many creators forget the call-to-action when making their long-form copy content, for example, leaving their audience in the lurch. Listicles, guides, everything needs a link for your users to pick up what you’re putting on the table to ensure your efforts get rewarded. There isn’t any point in talking about the best laptops for university and then not showing readers where to go buy them! Follow these simple steps to make the most of peak shopping as children head back to school from the summer vacation and get ready to see the rest of this year through to an end!
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