Back-to-school campaigns are a must-have in your seasonal marketing strategy if you are in retail, e-Commerce, or any related Industries. Why? Because it’s one of the most lucrative periods of the year for many companies. Did you know that on average families in the U.S spend $890 per child on back-to-school merchandise? For back-to-college merchandise, it’s even more with an incredible amount of $1367.
However, the back-to-school market is filled with lots and lots of back-to-school campaigns, so it’s hard to get noticed by potential customers. But, don’t worry, in this article, we will help you out by explaining the latest trend in the back-to-school strategy. Moreover, we will present 8 different Interactive back-to-school campaigns to help you stand out from the crowd.
Must-know back-to-school campaigns trends & facts:
- When do people shop for back-to-school merchandise?
- What do people buy for back-to-school?
- Where do people buy back-to-school merchandise?
- The current inflation crisis and Back-to-school campaigns
8 Interactive back-to-school campaigns to stand out from the crowd:
- Marketing Games
- Interactive Flipbooks
- Guided Selling
- Interactive Infographics
- Shopping Videos
- Contests
- Daily Surprises
Must-know back-to-school campaigns trends & facts
In the following section, we will present the result of our research on current and past trends in back-to-school marketing. The goal is to give you all the knowledge you need to know to plan successful back-to-school campaigns.
When do people start their Back-to-school shopping?
Since 2021, we have seen a shift in the time period people shop for back-to-school items. While before it used to be in August, some families now shop as early as June. Indeed, 26% of shoppers started in June of 2021 compared to only 17% in 2019. Moreover, 39% of shoppers say they shop during the end of June sales, and 51% of shoppers said they started in early July. Finally, 18% said they had already completed their shopping by the end of July.
Why are we seeing this shift in time? There are two major causes: Covid disruption and the Suez Canal. Both because of Covid19 and the Suez Canal, lots of items on our shelves were out of stock for weeks. So, families are now afraid that they won’t get the items they need if they wait last minute. Therefore, they started their shopping earlier than before. This means that if you didn’t get started with your back-to-school marketing campaigns, you must do it ASAP!
Another important factor regarding when people shop for back-to-school is that lots of families (61%) are shopping during key sales events. These key sales events include Prime Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day.
What do people buy for Back-to-school and Back-to-College?
In 2021, for back-to-school, electronics is by far the most shopped category of items, followed by clothing and accessories, and shoes. In 2021, we have seen a big boost in clothing and shoes because of the pandemic. After spending most of 2020 studying from home in jogging, students were excited to go back to school and they were looking most forward to buying new clothes to wear. While we are not sure if this trend will continue in 2024, promoting clothing and shoes in your Back-to-school campaigns is always a winner! Regarding electronics, the most important items for Back-to-school were laptops, calculators, tablets, accessories, and speakers in this order.
For Back-to-College, electronics was the top Back-to-school category, far in front of the other categories. The second and third categories were, respectively, dorm and apartment furnishings and clothing and accessories. Regarding electronics, the most bought types were laptops, tablets, accessories, calculators, and printers. Other important necessities for Back-to-school and Back-to-College are school necessities such as notebooks, pencils, pencil cases, erasers, etc.
Keep these items in mind to create successful back-to-school campaigns. You want to promote items and merchandise that are a must-have for students and families.
Source: National Retail Federation
Where do people shop for back-to-school?
Unsurprisingly, both for back-to-school and back-to-college, the top destination to buy back-to-school merchandise is online! Keep that in mind, and don’t forget to focus on your online back-to-school marketing campaigns.
The last 4 destinations for Back-to-school were respectively department stores, discount stores, clothing stores, and office supply stores. For Back-to-college, it was department stores, discount stores, office supply stores, and college bookstores.
We have also seen a trend in recent years that families were going away from mass merchant stores and going more to dollar stores or online-only stores instead.
Source: National Retail Federation
The current inflation crisis and Back-to-school campaigns
An important factor to consider in 2022 is the inflation crisis. Prices are going crazy high and families around the world are struggling to follow their budgets. This means that more than ever this year, families are going to look for discounts and deals and even affordable payment plans. Keep that in mind when thinking to create the best Back-to-school campaigns out there.
8 Interactive back-to-school marketing campaigns to stand out from the crowd
In the following section, we will present 8 different Interactive Back-to-school campaign ideas to boost your sales during the Back-to-school season.
You can easily recreate any of these ideas for your website! Simply create a free account on Dot.vu and use any of our customizable templates.
1. Marketing Games with discount codes
Marketing Games are mini branded games used by companies to attract new customers, engage their audience, promote their products, or boost their email lists. You can use many different types of Marketing Games to create the best Back-to-school campaign. For example, you could create a fun matching game where participants need to drag and match items to win a discount code. The lucky winners will spend their discount codes on your products, thus increasing sales.
Pro Tip: Remember to integrate irresisitible discounts ino your gamification strategy to boost participation and engagement!
2. Marketing Games with other rewards
You can also consider a gamification campaign with bigger prizes. While discount codes help you increase sales, you can launch giveaways or games with free product prizes to boost brand awareness and reach.
3. Interactive Flipbooks
Another great idea would be to create a special back-to-school Interactive Flipbook! In your flipbook, you can highlight the most important fashion trends of the next season, the must-have merchandise to start school, your best discounts, and so on.
With a flipbook, users would virtually flip through the pages of your catalog, browsing your products. In other words, by looking at your Interactive Flipbook, families could find great ideas and deals, and directly buy the items they like from your website!
Check out this Interactive Flipbook example that was made for Black Friday:
4. Guided Selling
Another successful Interactive back-to-school marketing idea could be to add a Guided Selling experience to your website. So, when online shoppers arrive on your website, you can guide them directly to your best back-to-school discounts and help them find exactly what they are looking for. Improving the user experience of your website can be a determining factor in persuading potential customers to choose you over competitors.
Pro tip: A successful Guided Selling experience is a short quiz that quickly guides buyers to the best mathcing products. Keep your questions and answers simple.
For example, if you are selling computers, you could have a special Guided Selling experience to help parents and students find the best laptop for their needs.
5. Interactive Infographics
Another of the best interactive back-to-school campaigns that can help families make the best choices about electronics is an Interactive Infographic. There are so many different types of electronics out there. It’s hard to know which phones, tablets, or computers to buy for your children. Companies that provide helpful and easily digestible content material to help website visitors make good choices can succeed in boosting online sales.
Take a look at this Interactive Infographic where we compare two different phones.
Pro Tip: Remember, electronics is the top category of back-to-school purchases.
6. Shopping Videos
A Shopping Video is a type of Interactive Video. It can also be one of the most successful back-to-school campaigns out there because they are so engaging Interactive Experiences. They are particularly good for clothing or home furniture companies. Present your most popular pieces of clothes or furniture/decorations and let viewers click on the items to learn more and add them directly to their baskets.
Check this Shopping Video from Lyngby to get an example of how it works:
7. Contests
Online contests are definitely a must-do this year because people are looking for bargains and discounts more than ever. Create a basket with “Must-have back-to-school things” that people can win. Use this opportunity to boost the success of your marketing strategy by either asking people to sign in a lead form to participate or to share user-generated content with a special # on social media. In the first tactic, you succeed in growing your email list, in the second one you succeed in increasing brand awareness.
Check out this User-Generated contest:
8. Daily Surprises
Finally, last but not least, you could create a Daily Surprises experience! What is that? Basically, with a Daily Surprises experience customers can go to your website every day of the week to unlock daily surprises such as discounts, contests, free delivery codes, free items, premium content, and so on.
This is an amazing interactive back-to-school campaign to get potential customers to go back on your website every day and boost sales because it plays on the mere exposure effect.
Check out this Easter campaign example:
Are your Interactive back-to-school campaigns ready yet?
Act now or miss out! With major retailers like Amazon gearing up for Prime Day during the second week of July, and competitors like Walmart offering similar blockbuster deals, timing is crucial. Offer deals before, during, and after these days to compete against them! Also, remember to promote your Interactive Content organically, and most likely through paid ads, too.
If your Interactive back-to-school campaigns aren’t ready yet, take a look at our marketplace! On Dot.vu’s Interactive Content platform, we have a large variety of templates that can be customized for your last-minute needs. Create a free account and get creative!
