How to Capitalize on “Back-to-School”

It’s August, which means that we’re in full on back-to-school mania everywhere you look. With less than a month before the kiddos are back in school and college kids are packing into dorm buildings, the marketing rush is in full swing. This means that anyone selling laptops, sneakers, and backpacks has already launched their marketing campaigns. But what if you don’t sell something that would be considered a “back-to-school” item? Can you still get on board? Of course!

In the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” the father has this ongoing challenge for someone to think of a word that doesn’t come from the Greek language. Through his inventive use of word roots, he’s even able to relate the word kimono back to Greek. I can do the same thing with basically any product or service and the school-related marketing craze. You tell me what you sell and I’ll tell you how you can “back-to-school” it up!

Here are my top tips on how you can pitch your non-school product as a back-to-school must-have:

Be Complementary
The easiest way to make your product back-to-school worthy is to advertise how it can be used with something that everyone already views as a typical school item. For example, if you sell socks, you can tout how they’ll keep kids’ feet cushioned and dry inside their brand new school kicks. 

Tying your product to a traditional back-to-school product is fool-proof as long as the target market for the original product is large enough. In the case of a product like a vacuum cleaner, you wouldn’t want to market it as “an essential for keeping your new dorm room accent rug clean” because your target demographic would be limited to college students (most likely ladies) that have a dorm room or apartment big enough for an accent rug, who don’t have access to a vacuum cleaner through a roommate or RA. Instead, you’d probably want to pitch your product to parents with messaging like “Go ahead and give your college student your old vacuum cleaner – you deserve an upgrade!” 

Pitch the Application
Sometimes it’s not about what your product is, it’s about what your product does. Does your product allow people to save time? Perfect! No time of the year is more harried than back-to-school time. No matter what you sell, you can pitch it based on this simple fact. For instance, if you sell a business reporting tool, your back-to-school campaign can be “Don’t be the parent that misses all the soccer games – generate reports faster so you can leave the office on time!”

Emphasize the Right Kind of Qualities
Similarly, the specific qualities of your product may make it a natural fit for the back-to-school mindset. This time of year finds parents tired and worn out, and kids excited and nervous. So if you sell something that energizes or refreshes people, your job is already done. For instance, a back-to-school marketing campaign for an aromatic shampoo could read, “Energize your mornings – those school lunches won’t make themselves!” 

Hopefully now you have some creative ideas on how you can back-to-school-itize your products or services. If you need some help, let us know! Contact us today for more information about how our online marketing solutions can benefit your business! We challenge you to suggest something that we can’t relate to back-to-school!

Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Business Blogging and Web Copywriting. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and son and enjoys cooking, watching sports, and spending time together as a family. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about current marketing trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!