Social Media Marketing to Students
When we think about an audience that spends most of their time on social media: sharing images and videos, posting and using links, we instantly name teenagers as the higher users. Teenagers are, more often than not, students, either college level or high school level. There are ways to engage with this demographic through marketing keeping in mind the facts
Influencer marketing
is key to reaching an audience of students because to them an influencer is trustworthy giving their honest reviews on the product or company.
Brand ambassadors
these people can use their social media platforms to expand the audience on your radar, they can use hashtags or tag your company on their posts, which leads their followers to be interested in what you are selling.
Be active on Instagram and Twitter
These are high activity platforms for the age group of students.
It can be an intimidating task for a company to utilize social media platforms but according to Buffer’s State of Social 2019 report, there are three things that marketers should keep in mind when they use social media as their approach to advertising.
Keep the ad familiar
Don’t try too hard to get your ad to stand out on a person’s feed.
If you post an ad to a story on Instagram for example, make it look like other stories on the audience’s feed so it is familiar to the viewer.
Ad Specs are meant to be followed
Don’t have the important content on the bottom or top of the screen
Simple always wins
Don’t confuse the viewer with a crowded ad.
3 graphics are enough
As a college student, when I am using Instagram I am not on the lookout for brands to pop out at me. However, a very effective strategy is utilizing brand ambassadors. When I see that someone I follow is preaching about a product he/she uses, it prompts me to use the link they provide to go check out the website. More often than not, I end up purchasing something. Students tend to believe the people they follow because they have respect for them and believe that they are genuine people. Using this to your advantage as a marketing strategy will increase your student audience.
Students are also impatient, they have a lot on their plate and don’t have long attention spans. Photos are great to spark a message, however, a video can send a message much clearer and if kept short and sweet, more effectively.
To finish off there are certain ads that will perk the ears of college students:
Personalized content
using the algorithm to know what they are interested in, what links they click on the most, and what photos they like, to use ads that cater to those interests.
Live interaction
if you live stream something that the students can see real-time happenings around your business it will capture their attention.
Using social media for marketing is becoming more and more prominent every day, just remember that the audience you want to draw in, is mostly students.
Ariana Stanton
Blog Writer & Brand/Marketing Assistant