Understanding how to market promotional products in such a way that the college students see the product or service as essential is vital to a successful marketing plan.
Students have many options when it comes to housing. If they are local, they have to decide whether to live at home or on their own. They have on-campus housing options, private rentals and student apartment complexes to consider. How do you reach the student population, and let them know about your exceptional housing opportunities?
This can be a tricky dilemma because traditional local advertising will not reach non-local students. Sometimes the student’s parents will take on the bulk of the responsibility for selecting and paying for their child’s housing. You need to reach students early and give them information they won’t throw away, so it has a chance to make it back to their parents. When a student first visits a campus they are inundated with fliers and other handouts, so your marketing material can easily get lost in the mix.
Why Promotional Products Work
If you give students useful promotional products like a mini USB cable, they will be sure to keep it and use it frequently. A retractable cable can be branded with your company logo, name or phone number. As a student continues to use it throughout their college career, it will be seen by many of their friends and classmates, continuing to spread your marketing message.
Promotional Products in Mail Campaigns
To reach students early, send your promotional product to graduating seniors in your state, with a letter congratulating them on their graduation. A majority of students that attend college consider in-state schools because of the discounted tuition. So, even if some of your letters are received by students who will not attend college locally, they will certainly have friends who are staying in the area and looking for a place to live.
Ask the school’s admissions office if you can include a gift for new students in the acceptance packets they mail to students. If you’re willing to supplement their mailing costs they may be happy to oblige a useful promotional product that their students will appreciate.
Hand Out Products In Person
Make sure you send representatives to all the major student recruiting events that the school attends. In the Fall, be on campus for student orientation and new student mixers. In the Spring, attend events for visiting students and use your time on campus to begin marketing to returning students. Remember that freshman who currently live in dorms are likely to want their own place for the next school year.
When you hand out promotional products to visiting students, be sure to talk to them about the top two or three features of your student apartment complex that your tenants rave about. (If you’re not sure what your tenants love about living in your apartment complex, do a simple survey.) Once they have heard your two or three key features and received your gift, the student receiving your promotional product will have something memorable to recall about your housing options. When they are using your promotional product they will likely repeat your message to friends or parents when they are asked, “Hey, where did you get that?”
Promotional Products are Affordable
Retractable USB cables are more affordable than you think, starting at just 83 cents a unit. So there is no excuse to keep handing out lame stickers or fliers that are just going to end up in the trash can. Your marketing budget is important and you should not waste your time and money on a campaign that will be neglected.
Most students are making big decisions, like where they should live for the first time in their lives, so they are likely to call whoever makes the process the most simple for them. If your phone number is something they see every day when they are plugging in their phone, they are likely to give you a call first.
How do you like to find out about a company’s product or service? Let us know about it in the comment section below.
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