BAM Agency Illustration of key digital marketing elements: a hand holding a megaphone, pie chart, chat bubbles, envelope, clock, dollar sign, and light bulb. These symbols represent communication, finance, and technology tailored for the student market against a dark background. BAM Agency

Digital is key to the student market

We’re in full flow of the academic year; Fresher’s is a distant memory (•tear•) and students are now getting geared up for the Christmas break, so how do brands engage this crowd while fighting to grab their fleeting attention at such a crucial time?

Well, we all know that most students fall into the digital native category; they’ve grown up with technology all around them – they are the much-coveted digital generation. Brands are quick to turn to channels, like social media, to target this demographic – after all they have huge spending power. However, they pose a very particular set of challenges that often go overlooked; here are our five top reasons you MUST be operating digitally in order to build relationships with the youth!

1. It will let you cater to the needs and wants of the student market.

Students are almost guaranteed to be operating digitally. They’ll be using a variety of modern smartphones and devices, which makes it easier for them to make purchases on the go. Putting your business on social media, mobile applications and websites will allow you to keep up with what the modern consumer demands. It will also prove helpful in attracting new potential customers; millennials are always looking for the latest updates!

2. Using social media effectively is a great way to increase brand awareness.

The integration of social media in marketing campaigns is highly effective from a brand awareness perspective, but also because the majority of students will be active on social channels daily. Students check their smartphones and devices multiple times throughout the day, so there will be more chances to maximise the engagement with your brand.

3. It allows you to increase interaction with your customers.

Being digital means that your students’ experience will not end once they’ve bought your product, you can continue to interact with them via social media, apps and websites. This gives you multiple platforms where you can hear about people’s experiences and gather feedback (market insight). However, remember it’s not always one-sided – by sharing your audience’s feedback or engaging with their recommendations will make them feel valued, and if a consumer is engaged with your brand, they are likely to return for another purchase.

4. People will find you more approachable.

Talking to students online will help to humanise your brand. Being digital lets individuals approach the business as if they are speaking to a friend online. Consumers who feel comfortable approaching a brand will feel more relaxed about buying from them and will be more likely to recommend that brand to their friends and family.

5. You can keep a record of how your business is being represented and received.

Social media has made it easy for businesses to instantly portray their views and opinions, it has also means everything is trackable. Identifying hard results to determine the effect that social media is having can sometimes be challenging, but there will be a record of what actions have been taken to identify a concept of cause and effect, showing you what your consumers respond best to.

Don’t forget – Being digital is great, but it can mean your business is a lot more vulnerable to negative online attention. This is why it’s really important to always think your ideas through and make sure they represent what your brand is really about.

BAM Agency Three men in suits strike superhero poses against a neutral background. They wear colorful masks and capes—one in blue, another in green, and the third in red. With determination and confidence, theyre ready to tackle marketing tips for reaching millennials. BAM Agency

6 tips for marketing to millennials

The millennial market can seem a tricky one to crack to outsiders, with many brands failing to really connect with their desired consumers because they haven’t done their research. Making assumptions about your target audience is a common mistake, and can really have a huge negative impact on the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Here are our top six tips to help point you in the right direction and ensure your campaigns meet those objectives

1. They are an extremely diverse generation

Unfortunately a one-size-fits-all approach will not work for millennials. You’ll need to take the time to figure out who your target market actually is to deliver a campaign that will appeal to them and achieve great results. Think of it in terms of different market segments within the millennial age group rather than just a singular demographic – after all, they all have different interests; just because they are part of the same age group does not mean they will behave and respond in the same way.

2. They are more connected than ever before

Because millennials have grown up with technology, they are used to being connected with each other, this includes their favourite brands too. They operate across multiple devices and platforms at the same time and are comfortable approaching brands online if they need information or assistance, so make sure your brand is visible in the right arenas.

3. They like to share

It’s no secret to marketers that millennials spend a lot of their time on social media. It is a necessity for brands to be operating on key social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram if they want to reach this group. But also other channels like Snapchat should be part of the marketing mix. Choose social media channels that best represent your brand and the people you’re trying to reach. Creating and posting shareable content that millennials can engage with and share online is a great way to generate a buzz around your brand.

4. Don’t be a pushy sales person

Because millennials are used to having so much information at their disposal, they might not respond well to a pushy message about how great your products are and why they should buy them. However, this isn’t to say that they won’t respond well to other people telling them how great your products are. More and more brands are now using influencers to help market their products. Using an influencer that best connects and resonates with your target market is a great way to raise awareness of your brand and what you have to offer. We’ve found that millennials are much more likely to credit the testimonial of one of their peers over a brand.

5. Message delivery

It can be hard to track how millennials are interacting with brands. The introduction of smartphones and portable devices means you can’t just assume that people are in their homes using their desktops when they access your site. Your marketing must now be fully integrated, mobile optimised and cohesive to deliver the same message across all channels. This way it will be easier for millennials to receive it as they are always changing between devices.

6. Loyalty must be earned

Millennials are not as loyal as generations before them and are unlikely to stick with big name brands just because of their status. As millennials have become a major spending power, brands must now accept that they have to win over consumers and keep their loyalty through interaction and engagement.

To communicate with millennials effectively you have to find out what matters to them and what they will respond well to. Marketing is a much more varied process than in the past, so keep these six points in mind when trying to reach them to give yourself a better chance.

BAM Agency A group of six women, all smiling, stand side by side, embodying millennial thinking. They have diverse appearances and are dressed in professional attire. The blurred indoor setting accentuates their modern approach to millennial recruitment. BAM Agency

Recruit millennial’s with millennial thinking

A lot of students finish university ready and eager to start their transition into the working world. If your company wants to attract top millennials, you must capture their attention on the platforms that they use day to day. Is it a good idea to put out ads in the paper aimed towards the digital young adults of today? No!

Millennials are digital natives, so think digital!

What applications, media channels and tools are at your disposal to make top graduates want to work for you? If you want to get their attention you need to find out where they regularly consume their content and build relationships.

Find out what millennials are talking about, and join in on the conversation. It may be useful to get help, and if possible, testimonies from other millennials so that your approach feels natural.

Sales message, sales message, sales message…Just don’t!

This particular generation is different to the generations before it, don’t try to just market job vacancies towards them, you’ll need to engage with them. Social media is paramount, so having a genuine and meaningful social media presence is the way to get graduates to notice you.

Don’t spread yourself too thin

It’s better to pick a few social media channels and do them well rather than trying to reach individuals across all of them. Choose the platforms that best represent what your company is about and remember millennials will most likely be using a variety of technology, so be sure to cater to varying demographics within your target audience.

Twitter is inexpensive, instant, and direct – unless you use their advertising feature, which can get a bit pricey. It allows you to keep up with current events and lets you have your say. Joining conversations that millennials are interested in can also get them talking about you. However, LinkedIn was made for recruitment, and is a great platform to use for research as well as sharing relevant content – you can also be a bit more corporate and push those harder messages e.g. job vacancies.
Don’t make assumptions

It’s really a question of finding ways to appeal to your desired candidates, and finding out how to appeal to them. It’s easy to assume all millennials act in a similar way but they’re a very diverse group. A prerequisite to operating on social media could be visiting universities or online forums to discuss what students, graduates and post-grads like and dislike about recruitment, as well as hiring processes and what they look for in a job/company.

You don’t need to be corporate all the time

Doing something to stand out from the crowd is something else you can do to give yourself a better chance of success! Be fun! Don’t be afraid to ask them what they want too. Engagement on a regular basis towards graduates will ensure they are kept interested in working for you.

If you would like to know more about how we can help you engage students, no matter the objective, get in touch with us!

BAM Agency A graduation cap with a tassel rests on a pile of various coins, symbolizing the concept of education costs or student loans—a reflection of millennial shopping habits and their strategic spending decisions. BAM Agency

What do millennial’s look for when spending?

The millennial age group have grown up in a time of rapid change where there have been huge advancements in technology, and a new way of connecting and communicating brought about thanks to the internet. Now lumbered with higher university tuition fees and released into a challenging job market, their spending habits are likely to reflect this. Here are three major things that millennials are looking for when spending their money:

Value!

Most people will be seeking value when spending, but millennials are more frugal than the generations before them. This is because many will have been taught to be pennywise and compare prices whilst growing up during an economic struggle, and as we all know, money is tight when you’re a student! There are so many more ways to find out about brands via the internet, that they are now easily able to find the best possible deals for themselves with some quick online research. To appeal to a millennial you must market your product in a way that screams value! This often means offering something other than just the product…

Brand Experiences!

555 …Offer Experiences. To attract a millennial you must be appealing in the right ways; the trend these days appears to be brand experiences over ownerships. A person may buy a product or service from you, but have they been given an experience online or in store?

Even if you are selling something really simple to students there are still tons of ways to ensure they receive a full brand experience. Interaction and engagement are key to guaranteeing their custom. Even after they have made a purchase, you can keep them on board via social media and PR stunts. Millennials are way more likely to become a loyal customer if they are consistently interacted with on social media! Fresher’s Fairs provide the perfect opportunity to do something fun with your customers in a face-to-face setting, 80% of our clients believe this to be the most successful form of marketing!

Check out our blog ‘Three Brands That Are Smashing Their Student Marketing Out The Park’ for some inspiration:

Online presence!

Millennials have grown up with technology and are much more comfortable making purchases via smartphones and handheld devices when compared to older generations. Make sure your websites are optimised for other devices; this way people will be able to check out your products wherever they are!

What do millennial’s look for when spending?

Millennials are more likely to consult social media before making a purchase and more likely to be influenced by video content about a product so it’s worth investing time into your online presence. Sharing reviews and user experiences is another great way to get people talking about your brand! Millennials share a lot of information online and will often take each other’s advice over a brands; so don’t be afraid to put user experiences out there.

If you deliver these three things when selling your product you’re sure to be a hit! It’s also a good idea to follow the trends amongst millennials so you can join in on current topics and engage with them in a familiar environment So keep your ear to the ground or get in touch for some expert advice!

BAM Agency A group of eight freshers joyfully jump in the air with arms raised. They are on stairs, dressed in casual attire, and smiling. The background is a soft, overcast sky, capturing the youthful exuberance of student life. BAM Agency

A student is for life, not just Freshers

Attracting students during Fresher’s Week is important if you want to crack the student market, but it’s also important not to forget them throughout the entire year if you want to maximise your impact among them. Business lesson 101, retention is widely believed to be more profitable than acquisition. If you engaged them during Fresher’s Week, well done, but the job is not over. It’s important to keep engaging with students so that you can build relationships with them and keep them interested in your brand long-term.

Here’s team BAM’s top six tips to put into action throughout the year to ensure you keep students engaged beyond Fresher’s:

Use the Internet

Make sure you’re creating content that can be shared on social media to capture the attention of those students (it’s where they spend most of their time). This is a direct and often inexpensive way to put your brand at their fingertips – even social media advertising is reasonably affordable.

Keep their income in mind

Most students will be on a tight budget, so it’s important to approach them with offers and helpful tips if you’re trying to sell to them. Also keep in mind important dates such as loan drops! (see our Essential Dates to Remember When Marketing to Students blog)

Use students you’ve already reached out to, to help you reach further

Word of mouth is a powerful thing in student communities. If you have students on board with your brand already, why not ask them to become brand ambassadors and spread the word – students are always looking for part-time work and experience!

Offer a student Discount or Membership

Students are usually looking to save pennies; they’ll appreciate products or services at a discounted rate and will probably continue to use them throughout their time at university.

Give away some prizes

There’s nothing a student loves more than a freebie. Giveaways and competitions are great for generating buzz around your brand and getting students interested.

Hit up the University

If you can get permission from the university then why not schedule a few more visits throughout the year so you can get more face-to-face time with students (if you throw in a few freebies I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to come!).

If you can keep students interested in your brand throughout university there’s a high chance they will continue to be a user after they leave. The importance of consistent marketing throughout the duration can indeed lead to an increased customer lifetime value, so don’t skimp out on the student’s people!

However, if you feel you need a gentle nudge in the right direction, get in touch with one of the team here today.

BAM Agency Five people, including members of Generation Z, are sitting in a row, each absorbed in their electronic devices. The group, consisting of both men and women on smartphones and a tablet, exudes a casual atmosphere with relaxed body language and expressions focused on important facts. BAM Agency

3 facts you should know about Generation Z

Generation Z

Although Millennials won’t want to admit it, they aren’t the big thing anymore, Generation Z is where it’s at now. With the oldest people in this generation graduating university this autumn, employers need to be ready in order to compete for the top talent.

Usually identified as being born between the mid 1990s and the late 2000s, this group is often wrongly labelled as millennials, and although they do share many of the same characteristics, they have significant differences. This generation have always known their smart phones, and won’t have any idea what to do with a VHS.

This tech savvy group of young people can be an organisations biggest resource, but be aware that there are less of them than their predecessors, and they do have different principles, so you will need to learn what is important to this group.

Don’t be faceless

One reasons that Snapchat and Facebook Live are doing so well with Gen Z is because they show that brands have a human element. We all want to be able to connect with a brand, but this is more important to younger people. These folks want to see a funny, quirky side of the brand, they want to see human inspiration and they are more likely to share content if they find it funny.

Trolli are a great example of producing great fun content, which is humorous, and shareable. They’ve been running the below campaign on YouTube along with an amusing snapchat filter to tie in. Visual content is where it’s at.

Don’t be afraid to have a bit of fun with your brand, if you don’t then you might just become invisible to Gen Z

2. Dual Wielding

The number of Gen Z members who browse using an internet enabled device whilst watching TV has hit 74%. Although this is one of those traits that isn’t too dissimilar to millennials, it’s important to link content between the screens.

A recent Google study shows that more often than not, a user will view content on a smartphone, then move to a laptop. This shows that the multi-screen experience is more sequential than simultaneous.

Understand that consumers don’t want to consume the same content from multiple sources, but want each platform to enhance their experience, and also to lead on from one another easily.

3. Intrusive Ads

Since Ad Blockers entered our lives, we’ve been able to bypass the majority of the intrusive ads that we get force fed. Although, there are still many adverts that slip through the net. These adverts have been found to do exactly the opposite of what marketers want; a study by Ad Week shows that 56% of people have reduced their social media usage as result of newsfeed ads.

Generation Z are much more likely to listen to a personal recommendation, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a person they know in the flesh. With YouTube being the favourite platform for this generation, a recommendation from a blogger/vlogger/influencer can be 57% more effective, than traditional marketing methods.

Generation Z want to know who you are, they want to know that you do what you do for the right reasons, and they want to learn. Make sure not to annoy them, with the internet as their best friend, they have a lot of other brand options available to them. This makes Gen Z the hardest generation to keep as a loyal customer.

Get in touch with our team for more information.

BAM Agency A yellow tennis ball spins swiftly, creating a spiral of water droplets against the dark background, promising to keep the ball rolling even after Uni. BAM Agency

How brands can keep the ball rolling after Uni

It’s that time of year where students begin to make the huge adjustment from being students, to stepping forward into the wide world as graduates.

This change can be terrifying for many; as soon as they lose the student title it means that all of a sudden there are big responsibilities in mind like finding a job and a home, well, after the initial holiday period! Others may have felt stifled at university and are excited by the prospect of freedom, but they are about to find that they are a small fish in a massive ocean.

Understand your audience

The number of undergraduate students finishing university this year is a little under half a million; it’s an awful lot of people with a huge spending power (and that doesn’t even include postgrads). So it’s crucial to understand what they care about and
how to target them based on their needs and wants. Generally, this includes three things; money, food, and themselves, but be aware not to over-simplify your audience and make assumptions. Conducting focus groups can help to greater understand students and graduates, and what matters to them. Build your content so it focuses on helping to fulfil their needs, that way they will begin to build a personal connection between their interests and your brand.

What is really important to remember is that graduates don’t wake up on the day of the graduation suddenly as different people, with different interests and different values. They are very much the same people, and will be for a while. The only major change will be their student discount card expiring!

With that in mind, it’s best to engage with them the same way you would have before they graduated.

Think of the bigger picture

Appealing to students and their desire to earn money is an interesting one. Now more than ever students are worried about their finances and sticking to a budget.

Intuit, an American financial services corporation, developed Mint.com a free, easy to use, aesthetically beautiful budgeting program. The application is mobile friendly, secure, and it has a strong community centre where informative blogs and videos are shared. It was primarily designed to be a marketing exercise focused solely on offering free information.

This is a good example of appealing to graduates without dumbing down the topic. Giving them informative posts about money and budgeting post university life is as likely to appeal to them as much as a freebie did at a fresher’s fair.

Follow trends and respond

The stereotype is that students just eat takeaways and pot noodles everyday. While there are some students that do fit that bill, there is a large proportion that is hugely health and fitness conscious. This is even truer when students graduate, they no longer have big deadlines to be eating around.

Eating clean is a massive trend among young people, with 41% of under 25s saying that they’d actually pay more for healthier products. As you would expect, health brands are jumping on this, Wholefoods Market, for example, is doing really well out of the newly health-conscious youth.

The organic food shop posts regularly on a community blog, this in itself isn’t anything special but what they post is. Obviously everything is in some way linked back to organic food, but also featured are tips on recycling, tips on how to set the perfect summer table, and unusual vegetables, among other stuff. A simple way to expand the brands appeal, again by being informational and useful.

Alongside the blog, Wholefoods Market is taking education to the next level by putting up posters around its stores explaining where the brand’s food comes from; sustainable seafood safety lists, and what exactly the difference in taste is for customers, with in-store promo sending traffic to the blog.

The bottom line is, create interesting content that fulfils a need of your graduate audience and keeps your brand in the forefront of their minds. By building relationships founded on offering support and guidance brands can reap the rewards from their marketing efforts.

If you would like to find out more about how we can help you keep students interested in your brands post-university, get in touch today!

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Do’s and don’ts for piggybacking

Being able to schedule posts on social media really is amazing, no longer do we have to set reminders to post certain content at a certain time. You can bulk post directly on Facebook or use Hootsuite for twitter! Great.

However, reacting to breaking news stories can put you head and shoulders above other brands. We call this piggybacking, but others use terms like news-jacking, although it doesn’t guarantee attention, when it comes off, you can land yourself some prime time national media coverage.

Be aware, there are very few original ideas. You may think you’ve had a ground-breaking idea that will set the world alight but someone else out there is probably thinking of the same thing. It’s all about how fast you produce and distribute this content in your social media channels.

Be different

There is no point in copying content that you have seen already, as this will have already been shared and engaged with; you’ve already lost your audience. In order for the content you put out there to be shared and loved, it needs to be interesting and original.

If the content isn’t different, you’ll just be seen as a copycat, something which is very unpopular among the younger online market. It can be detrimental to your brand reputation.

A good example is when Skittles recently partnered with Pride in London. They decided that only one rainbow deserved to be the centre of attention, and released simple black and white skittles. A great way to engage with the topic whilst making it extremely brand relevant. Which brings us to…

Be relevant

This year we’ve seen BuzzFeed blow up with sponsored content. You’ve seen them; articles telling you what flavour soup you would be, and at the end you usually discover that they are oddly sponsored by a mobile phone company. These tedious links somehow work in this context. But in piggybacking they don’t.

Occasionally, brands will hit the post button before really thinking about it. The American pizza company DiGiorno, got into hot water when they piggybacked on the #WhyIStayed hashtag. It was being used by victims of domestic abuse to tell their important stories. Unfortunately, someone at DiGiorno HQ decided it would be a good idea to highjack the top trend without checking what it was about and posted a pizza-based tweet. It of course offended lots of people.

Be quick

It’s all very well coming up with ideas days or weeks after a news story breaks, although, generally that is far too late. There is the 24 hour rule of thumb, which is a time limit of 24 hours between a news story breaking and getting the piggyback out there. However, that window is getting smaller and smaller, as technology and the media industry develops, and it depends on the story too, it could be a much shorter time period before your idea is no longer relevant.

You must not sit on your ideas too long, be quick, jump into action, and you could win big.

Here is the most famous example of a brand acting quickly to capitalise on an opportunity – http://www.studentmarketing.co.za/3-brands-that-know-afrillennials-dont-like-it-slow/

Who would have thought that Oreo would be a good fit?

Be discerning

It’s so important be discerning when attaching your brand to trending topic. If you choose the wrong topic then you could
end up harming your reputation. DiGiorno pizza failed to do this, and attached their brand to a hashtag where people shared painful, personal stories. They didn’t come out of that one well. But, people were, and still are, talking about them. So there is the flip side.

An example of when a brand did not manage to gain any positives from their piggybacking attempt was done by Epicurious, a website for foodies. Someone in their marketing department decided to piggyback on the terror attack in Boston. Yes, I know. Someone, somewhere thought that would be a good idea. The tweet has since been deleted but we have a screenshot from Forbes.

The brand received an incredibly negative reaction, as you’d probably expect. Epicurious did send out an apology tweet, but at that point the damage was done. Yes they apologised, but the fact they sent out not only one tweet about the event but two tweets, proves it was not a mistake and an is absolutely horrendous error of judgement.

Social media can be scary, you have such power in your hands, and with great power, comes great responsibility as Spiderman would say.

A good rule of thumb when piggybacking on events, is, if you second guess yourself at all, don’t send the tweet.

Get in touch with our team for more information.

5 simple ways to create brand awareness

Successful brand awareness is more than simply brand name recognition. It means that consumers know what you do on a more intimate level. For example, when you hear the brand name ‘AirBnB’, you probably think of more than just the name. You think about going on holiday, low cost unique accommodation, and their ads “don’t go to Paris, live there”.

Put simply, brand awareness is the level of consumer consciousness of a brand.

Creating an identifiable brand
Consistency is critical when it comes to branding; streamlining your colours, logo and fonts makes this easier, as well as making the brand more instantly identifiable. The big social media brands do this really well, the blue that Facebook use is called Social Butterfly Blue and all their branding is the same blue.

We love clever and effective branding! A great example of a company whose brand awareness is on point is Carlsberg. They are a major sponsor of the European football championships in France this year; a country where alcohol advertising has been outlawed since 1991. To get around this legislation, Carlsberg simply replaces their brand name, with the word ‘probably’ in the same font and style as the brand name.

They have such strong branding that they don’t even need to use their own name.

Paid Social Media Campaigns
Social media campaigns are great way of broadcasting the goals and targets of your brand to your followers. However, when your social media follows are lacking in numbers, what can you do to increase your reach? You can boost your strongest content!

Boosting your content on Facebook can be an effective way to reach a bigger audience, with the potential for many impressions. The data that Facebook collects allows you to target user groups with great precision. Although, this does require you to still have interesting content. Bad content won’t be interesting to your 10 followers, never mind the 100,000 people you boosted it to. Bad content will get lost in the crowd, so make sure to create content that people want to engage with.

Check out our previous blog post on engaging with students.

Fact is, we now live in a world where we have to be investing some cash on Facebook Ads to get the exposure we want.

Don’t be boring, create shareable content
As we just mentioned, an easy way to get people to share your content is to create content worth sharing. A great example of this is Go Pro video content, these clips make us want to jump off things with cameras attached to our heads. Also, they make us want to share the videos with our friends because of how cool they are. Goal accomplished.

We all have an ever decreasing attention span, science tells us that we now have a shorter attention span than a goldfish, at just 8 seconds! Creating shareable and short content is the key to growth and awareness. Just look at the facts: Photos and video get 53% more Likes and 104% more comments than a post without visuals.

Get face time with your target market
Eventbrite recommend getting out there and meeting the people that you’re trying to reach. An amazing way to do this is via freshers fairs, where hundreds of students will be in one space. Again, you must engage your audience with creative content. Dominos always score highly when they give away pizza at these events. Greggs also do really well within this sphere, offering chances to win some great prizes; engaging and potentially free pastries, win.

Freshers Fairs are not the only way to get some face to face contact with this group demographic. Depending on your product, think about whether it could be appropriate to target specific courses, and try to plan giveaways during lectures? Obviously ambush giveaways would need significant planning, and could lead you in a bit of hot water if specific precautions are not organised. Proceed with caution.

Finally, be authentic
Being authentic as a brand is important, we live in a world where there is a lot of competition. Anything you can do to set you apart is good, one major part of this is brand trust. If you promise to do something on social media and you don’t follow through, it can drastically affect your image, ruining consumer relations.

It’s really important to respond to all comments that you receive on social media, not only the positive ones. A common mistake is to ignore, or delete the negative comments, this is bad news. Not only can other followers see that the brand has ignored the complaint but it only fuels the fire for that unhappy person. Responding in a positive way goes a long, long way with everyone.

So that’s that. Be real, be interesting, be consistent and the good word about your brand will spread.

BAM Agency A group of students outdoors, joyfully jumping in the air with trees in the background. They hold white papers and are dressed casually in jeans and jackets, smiling widely. BAM Agency

Essential dates for marketing to students

It can often be difficult to pin down the exact dates most relevant to the student population, with each search providing a different result. So we have strived to provide you with an array of essential dates and pivotal times of the year to add to your marketing agenda.

First up, GCSE results day

25th of August… A huge proportion of under 18s are on social media, 96% are signed up to sites like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp. Generally, students undertake their GCSEs between the ages of 15 and 16 where life exists almost entirely online. On average this age group spend a massive 4.8 hours connected to the internet a day, which equals a lot of snapchat snaps. Given this data, it is no wonder that this group is a prime audience to target with your content and adverts. Although the time spent online may drop drastically during the exams themselves, afterwards however, expect these millennials to ecstatically take to twitter to post their results. Alternatively you can be there with a tissue to offer to those disappointed students who didn’t perform as they may have liked.

A-Level Results Day

18th of August… In the UK there are 1.8 million students, and that figure is on the rise, with an increase of 3.1% of university applicants compared to last year. As these soon to be university students ready themselves for their first steps into freedom. Both parents and students get excited buying new ‘uni stuff’, with £235 on average being spent on kitchen and room items. A perfect time to get your brand noticed. When the results are released, emotions are high. You can positively tap into this emotion by offering support and advice, which should help to build brand loyalty. However, this high level of emotion can also draw negative feelings from students, so handle any comments sensitively and tread carefully.

University Final Classification

4th of July… The day where each student will decide if spending £40,000 was actually worth it. The day where they get the final classification of their degree. The day where they can no longer cling to being a student. The day where they have to decide what the heck they want to do with their life.
Many immediately start looking for their dream job, many get stressed that they haven’t been offered that job yet, but the majority of students just want to have an amazing summer celebrating the past three years; before picking up the responsibilities back up.

We’ve heard the horror stories of being in horrendous debt without a job. Good news is that the majority of graduates move quickly into full-time work, with a third in non-professional roles, and only 7% unemployed six months after graduating. Whether these graduates did well or not, they will all be glad to see the back of final year stress. Each one of them will be hoping to be earning more money, so staying focused on graduates could help to increase your engagement and sales. Why not tweet advice for graduates, Instagram photos of an amazing summer that they could be having, or even try employing them via a recruitment drive?

Student loan dates

Three times a year, students will receive a pile of cash, their student loan. This joyous time of year is when students are more than happy to part with their cash. On average, a student will receive £3,750 in living cost loan this year, however it could be much higher with a maximum of £10,702. Of course this varies because it is means tested. One thing is for sure though, that is a lot of money for brands to be competing for. Although the exact dates are different each year, and will depend on when the students complete their enrolment. They are usually the last week on September, the first week of January, and the first week of April.

Students who receive a lower loan, do often struggle to make ends meet, and have to be much more frugal with their spending, however those with a higher amount can live like a king for a few weeks, until they realise they may have overdone it a little! Offering discounts at this time of year is a really good plan; even better, target the more frugal students with further budgeting tips.

Dissertation Submission

A special shout out goes to the dissertation hand in period, which usually extends from the first week of April to the middle of May. This is a horrible time for every final year student, where they will often attempt to eat or sleep away the stress of writing it. Then add to that the stress of having to fork out £40+ to get the darn thing printed. A little pick up from you can go along way with winning their hearts at this time of year.

Each student is different, you can treat them as if they are all graduating at the age of 21, but that isn’t always the case now. Take note of these key dates that students will have their eye on and use them appropriately for your brand. Aiming useful tips, discounts, and distracting funny cat videos at students during relevant times will go down a treat.

Get in touch with our team for more information.