As we approach the final month of the summer holidays, it’s slowly dawning on us that soon it will be back-to-school time! Time to shine those shoes and sharpen your pencils as soon enough we will all be hearing that good old school bell ringing. To help you kick off the school year right we have brainstormed some of the best back-to-school marketing campaign ideas for you to get inspired by.
1. Study Jams
Whether you’re cramming for exam season, researching an essay, or simply grinding through day-to-day schoolwork, having a great study soundtrack can make all the difference. The right choice of songs will help transform hours of academic chores into audible delights. Craft the perfect playlist simply by having students build their own signature soundtrack based upon the answers to a simple personality quiz that caters to their mood and musical tastes. Once they’ve completed the quiz, the campaign generates a tailor (not Swift) made Spotify playlist to share, compare with friends, and pump out of their “boomboxes”. So whether you’re tackling equations to K.Dot and Biggie, or penning a poem with the help of Drake and the Chili Peppers, the Study Jams playlist has your every mood covered.
2. Best Homework Excuse
We have all been there. That moment when you get to class and realize that the writing assignment due in mere moments was not nearly as interesting as what you did last night. Time to think on your toes and come up with a college-worthy excuse. Why not try a homework excuse campaign, where entrants can share their most creative excuses for a chance to win? You can have the option to curate entries and publish the best to a public gallery enabling fans, followers, and visitors to vote on their favorites. Settings include public voting, closed-judging, or combinations with one or more phases. Sadly for kids these days it’s hard for the dog to eat essays saved in the cloud. Perhaps try: “Teacher; the dog ate my router.”
3. Decorate your Dorm
The long summer is over and all around the world many of the best and brightest are heading off to college dorms and shared apartments. Swapping those home comforts for a first real home-away-from-home isn’t easy, but students never fail to come up with creative — and often ingenious — ways to make any place their own. Challenge those students for hints, tips, and even photos on how to best life-hack a space: be it fancy lights, poster boards filled with memories, or perhaps just by scribbling code on their window. Entrants will be able to share their photos and tips either by tweeting, posting to Instagram, or submitting via a form. Also with one of our Service Expansions, show the most popular and commonly used products on a “Trending Visualization,” linking items directly to your university e-commerce store. Reward participating students with a chance to win some book coupons, or perhaps a pizza. They’ll thank you for the pizza.
4. Pledge to Prevent Bullying
Bullying can happen anywhere and to anyone. Help stop bullying at school, online, and in your local community by drawing awareness to the issue and have people take public pledges of support. The “Milestone Goal” feature allows you to set a target goal and presents a progress bar where your audience can take a pledge to support a cause they believe in. Simply raise awareness for issues or set a pledge goal which once reached your brand will donate to a related foundation.
5. Pre-Season Ready
Back-to-school also marks the start of the NFL season. Drive interaction, encourage competition, and increase engagement by asking students to send in photos of their game-day crew ready for pre-season. Incentivize them to share their pics by throwing in a chance to win tickets or gear. Drive traffic by having all the entrants tell their friends to come to the site and vote for them.
6. New School Starters
Help parents get their kids eager and ready for the new school year. Tease them with exclusive fun content in the lead up to the big day, and get the chance to win a prize or school voucher. The “Reveal template” acts as a blank canvas allowing you to add time-specific content items scheduled to automatically publish and expire as required. This campaign type is ideal to help anxious pre-schoolers count down the days until their big start.
To learn more about Marigold Grow and how it can help your brand capture valuable, permissioned data and prepare for the back-to-school season with style, request a demo today.
