Campus Advertising Campaigns: The Top 3 Things to Know

Each fall, millions of students attending U.S. colleges and universities contribute over 400 billion dollars in spending power. As students flock to campuses nationwide, there are endless opportunities for advertisers to capture the attention of these Millennial and Gen Z buyers. For over 15 years, MSSmedia has been working with clients to help execute successful campus campaigns and tap into this pool of wealth. 

Over the years, we have seen clients and agencies make critical errors in their campus advertising campaigns. To learn from their mistakes and execute the best campus campaigns possible, we have put together a list of The Top 3 Things to Know Before You Execute a Campus Advertising Campaign.  Read on to avoid wasting your budget in the college advertising world! 

The What: Have Goals.

Before you start developing your plan of attack to target the Millennial and Gen Z demographics on campus, you need to have a well-defined idea of what you want to accomplish. Are you looking to drive lease applications, promote special event attendance, or simply optimize the right traffic to your site? We help our clients achieve their goals through original and forward-thinking traditional and digital campus media opportunities. Remember, goals cannot be attained if goals are not established. So do your homework, identify your goals, and work with professionals that can help guide you through this niche campus marketplace.

The Who: Know Your Target Audience.

In addition to having clear campus campaign goals, you need to identify who you are looking to target. Within the campus environment, there are many different audiences you can capture. Are you looking to get the attention of female students, commuter students, the gaming community? If you are a brand that caters to the gaming community, consider advertising opportunities that capture that audience best such as campus signage strategically located by the engineering school while overlaying a geo-targeted digital media campaign using robust demographic and behavioral audience attributes. Having both campaign goals and knowing who you are targeting will all help to clarify what advertising opportunities you should consider to drive the best results for your campaign.

The How: Incentivize Students to Act.

So now that you know what you want to accomplish and who you are looking to engage with, it is time to consider how you will motivate the students to action. A great tactic often used by big brands is messaging promoting student discounts. Brands such as Amazon and Spotify have used student discounts to drive subscriptions year over year. For others, campus promotional tactics such as “sign up now” or “mention this ad and get your first month of rent-free” has worked famously to help increase enrollment rates for school programs and improve leasing occupancy for housing properties. And if you are struggling to create the best message for your campus campaign, we can help with that part too.

So now that you know the secret to campus campaign success, Get in Touch to get started!