Does your company want to reach the lucrative college consumer? Are you interested in exploring out-of-the-box ways of marketing to college students? Then this article is for you!
5 Experiential College Marketing Ideas and Why they Work:
1. Sticky Note Marketing On Campus
Sticky note marketing is all about co-creation and engagement making it an effective college marketing strategy. Students love to express themselves and influence brands, and with sticky note marketing they can do just that! Brands can place questions around campus—on campus bulletin boards in high traffic locations—and students can fill in responses on sticky notes and place them under the questions. This creates a dialogue between students and brands, and builds brand awareness on campus.
Sticky note marketing can be done in conjunction with social media; students can take picture of their sticky note response and upload it to social media channels using a campaign hashtag. This can be a part of a social media contest where people on social media can vote on the best sticky note response and the winner/s will receive a prize. Sticky note marketing is a great way to bridge off and online marketing.
2. Mobile Experiential College Marketing Tours
Mobile experiential college marketing tours are an excellent way for brands to create an experience for students on campus. Mobile marketing tours drive awareness, attract attention, and generate results. They’re fun events that students will remember long after they’re over. With experiential college marketing tours, brands have the opportunity to connect, entertain, and educate students.
When planning an on campus mobile marketing tour, it’s important to create buzz on campus leading up to the event—that way students know your brand is coming and eagerly anticipate your arrival. It’s also a good idea to have college street teams spread out around campus on the day/s of your mobile tour, exciting students and directing them to your location.
3. College Sampling Awareness and Engagement Campaigns
College sampling is one of the best ways to drive consumer action on campus and is a great way to build brand awareness and introduce new products. Students love receiving free items and the majority of students that receive product samples on campus go on to purchase that brand. This is a no-brainer college marketing strategy for food and beverage companies, cosmetic brands, fashion and beauty lines, and other companies that can provide a high-quality sample that represents your brand.
4. College Street Teams and Brand Ambassador Promotions
College street teams and brand ambassador promotions are a great way for brands to connect with students face to face. As important as digital marketing is these days, it’s still important to make human, person-to-person connections with students. The best way to do this is with peer-to-peer marketing on campus. Students relate to their fellow classmates as they share in the student experience.
It’s important to hire a college marketing agency versus an event staffing company when marketing to college students. This all comes down to authenticity and making genuine connections with students. A niche college marketing agency will have a large network of student brand ambassadors—students who attend the university or college where the marketing promotion is taking place—that are highly-connected members of the student body and belong to a variety of student clubs and organizations. This will greatly help you in your marketing outreach.
5. Data Collection Lead Generation Campaigns On Campus
Lead generation is a huge priority for most brands and that’s why data collection and lead generation campaigns are so important. You can have student organizations, such as fraternities or sororities, set up tables on campus and collect students’ data. It’s important to provide an incentive to students for filling out the data cards, such as free samples, a scholarship entry, a contest, or a coupon.
This is also an excellent way to collect surveys or market research from students. Have students complete short questionnaires or have them try your product and then answer a survey. This is a great way to measure students’ reactions to your product and brand. This is a highly-effective strategy for gaining consumer insight on college campuses.
Interested in launching an experiential college marketing campaign? Contact the college marketing experts at NAM. We’ve been in business since 1997 and truly understand the campus environment and college mindset.