Back to School Marketing Ideas

Back to school marketing success! Specific ideas from marketing experts on back-to-school.

Back to school is a key selling season for retailers. Parents buy things for their kids; teens buy things for themselves; college students need everything for their dorm room or apartment; and everyone else gets out of the summertime lull and thinks about getting organized for the new year.

We're starting the conversation by sharing our advice and ideas on back-to-school marketing.

Share your advice about back to school marketing. Read tips others have shared on the tabs on this page. The MarketingZone Editors will update this article to share the best and new ideas on back to school to help you succeed!

Marketing to Moms!

Moms love the start of school...

Marketing to Moms - lots of specific tips and advice

Plan for back to school success

Plan ahead for back-to-school advertising early

Back to School Advertising - has data on when people are beginning to search for back to school to help you with timing your marketing and advertising, along with specific tips for back to school advertising planning, options and costs.

Get free publicity for back-to-school

Get on HARO, Help a Reporter Out now. It's a free way to get publicity. Reporters post requests like this one months before back-to-school. They're posting this story in June to meet their magazine deadlines for the fall.

This is a free website that alerts you via email every day about stories that print and broadcast reporters are working on that they need sources to interview who are experts.

PR Public Relations

Solution Selling for Back-to-School
This involves anticipating what your customers may need (and want) for back to school. That may mean contacting your local schools to get their supplies list. For students going away to college, their list will include a lot more things and be more varied. Parents also may want things to get organized for back-to-school.

Learn more about Solution Selling and Bundling Products
Merchandising

TIP: Bed, Bath & Beyond does something very simple before back to school. They create a flyer that's a checklist of what someone may want to buy when they go off to college either to move into a dorm or an apartment. How can you leverage this idea for what you're selling?

Upselling

Get tips on how to increase sales by presenting good/better/best options. In the industry this is known as upselling. The gas stations have been doing this for years.

Upselling with Good, Better, Best Options

Create an integrated marketing campaign for back-to-school that will work across all your marketing and merchandising with a central "big idea"

Learn about different Marketing Techniques
And how to Create a Marketing Campaign
How to Determine Your Marketing Mix

TIP: social media and mobile phones have significantly changed the buying process for most customers, especially Moms, teens and college students. Two thirds of moms shop with their phone. They're on Facebook. They will be looking to their peers for advice and tips about back-to-school things to buy. Learn more about changes in the Purchase Process

Best free and low-cost ideas!

Best Free and Low Cost Marketing Ideas - Hundreds of ideas to help small businesses save money on marketing.
Best Free and Low Cost Advertising Ideas

Plan your back-to-school marketing budget now

Costs for Marketing

Practical tips on how to save money on:

TIP: How to Save Money by Printing on Your Color Office Printer

Color printers aren't what they used to be. Now that they're designed to print color photos that look as if they came from a photo lab, the print quality is good enough to also be used to print marketing and sales brochures, flyers, presentations, invitations and more. You'll save a lot of money doing this (even if you have to buy a new color printer).

Plan early so you can contact customers throughout the summer

Most people start buying for back-to-school starting in July. That means they are "thinking about" what to buy for back-to-school earlier than that.

Develop a customer contact plan and use different marketing communications channels to reach your customers (email newsletters, Facebook posts, direct mail postcards, text messages and phone calls may work too).

Some people want to shop and buy everything early to avoid the rush and others will wait until the last minute. You won't know what someone will do so start communicating with your existing customers during the summer.

Send an email early in the summer with suggestions for fun things to do to enjoy the summer (local events, concerts, etc.). Then include some tips about getting ready for back-to-school.

Closer to the start of school, communicate with tips about how to help students succeed in school, stay organized, eat a healthy lunch. Then integrate your sales messages about relevant back-to-school products and services in those emails.

Parents generally look forward to school starting. How can you work this emotional hot button for parents? Create a top ten list of all the things parents look forward to when school starts. Then integrate your sales messages into that email newsletter or direct mail.

How to develop a customer contact plan

TIP: the key is to integrate your sales information within useful, credible information that will be relevant to Moms and Dads and older students. Think of it like "a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down." People don't generally like to receive ads unless they're getting a great deal. You can differentiate your business (and stay profitable) by using another marketing technique to gain their attention.

Email Marketing How-to Guide - Learn how to send email newsletters, what email marketing costs, ways to improve email marketing response rates and how to save money.
Types of Direct Mail - Learn about the pros and cons of different types of direct mail, such as direct mail letters, postcards, self mailers, catalogs, brochures, direct mail coupon mailers, and personalized direct mail (also known as digital printing). Get tips on using different types of direct mail and learn about alternatives to direct mail.
Mobile Marketing How-to Guides - Moms are on their phones! So are teens and college students. Learn how to create a mobile website, how to create apps for phones, how to advertise on mobile cell phones and social media services to reach people when they're on their phone. Mobile marketing is hot! Use it as part of your back-to-school marketing plan.

Next page - using Facebook and social media for back to school marketing

And how to attract new customers

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Back to School Marketing Ideas