Although we’re not that far along into the summer break, marketers already are feverishly planning their back-to-school campaigns. Each campaign has two audiences: students and parents—both of whom are influential and make buying decisions.
“Breaking out of the back-to-school marketing noise has become increasingly competitive, with retailers starting promotions earlier and earlier,” said Oren Harnevo, CEO for video advertising platform Eyeview, in a recent press release. Harnevo’s comments come on the heels of the company’s newly released study which features the answers of more than 500 parents and students.
“This survey [attempts to uncover] actionable takeaways, like the importance of geotargeting, relevant messaging, and telling the right story to the dual audience of students and parents,” Harnevo said. “Personalization needs to be the gold standard for brands because, when done right, it can have a great impact on offline sales.”
In other words, analysts at Eyeview say the findings will, hopefully, help marketers break through the back-to-school noise, pick up on key shopping habits, and drive real-world and virtual foot traffic.
Here are a few major takeaways from the study:
Local, local, local
Geotargeting is more important than ever. Sixty-six percent of students and 74% of parents say ads for a nearby store most likely will drive their back-to-school purchases.
It’s nothing personal
Forty percent of students and 45% of parents say some form of ad personalization grabs their attention.
Online impacts offline
Forty-nine percent of students and 82% of parents make at least half of their back-to-school purchases in-store.
Forty percent of students and 66% of parents browse online first—a possible indicator that online marketing drives shoppers to stores.
Nearly 20% of students and about 18% of parents make at least half of their purchases online.
Students and parents work together
Just 7% of students say that parents make back-to-school purchases without their input; 48% of parents say that their school-age children guide purchase decisions.
