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What is the best way to advertise only to college students? - Jonathan - 04-08-2014 07:29 PM
Other than the traditional venues such as College Newspapers and email lists and using Facebook targeting (both of which I plan to use already) what is the best way to advertise a product made specifically for college students only to them?
- Timothy Ludy - 04-08-2014 07:30 PM
In my experience the best way to advertise specifically to college students is to get the message to come from within the community. College-aged kids are weary about traditional advertising but they will trust it if it comes from a peer or other source they trust.
You already landed on college newspapers which are a great resource because the information in them comes from fellow students. 80% of students regularly read their paper.
Email lists are no longer effective. Spam filters stop most of it and the rest is completely ignored.
Facebook can be really effective if it is done correctly but can also damage your brand if handled poorly. Without knowing what your product is it's difficult to advise you on how to best handle a Facebook campaign.
One of the other ways you can advertise is word-of-mouth. Depending on how big your business is you can do this in a few ways. If you are advertising on a national level you can try to get your product into the hands of key consumers on multiple campuses to spread the word. Sponsoring campus events can also be a great way to get your brand talked about.
Using campus ambassadors is one of the best ways to generate strong word-of-mouth. If you are a larger company you can hire people on each campus to talk up your product and services.
If you're a smaller, local company you can use your employees to spread the word within their network. When hiring college employees you should take into account how large of a network they have so you can use this to your advantage.
- Kim Cunnings - 04-08-2014 07:33 PM
Twitter is powerful but can also damage your reputation if done awkwardly (of all people, students will leave if you are not fun and cool to talk to via twitter et all)
Same goes with blogging and social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon. Create something catchy and lively - students have enough lectures to bore them. Link bait, non-traditional advertising venues, fun (scandalous?) T-shirts - something to carve into their unsettled minds.
Look into mobile advertising, it's going to get big. Clubs, bars - may be good but depends on your product. Hire campus promoters, as mentioned.